A Pair of Second Chances
by obsidian dreamer
Summary: His past is still lost, but he has to move forwards. But, if you have no past, is it possible to help someone who has no future? Continuation from Friends and Lovers. ShadowJulieSu. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1 My Own Two Feet

**A Pair of Second Chances.**

Disclaimer and Author Notes: Okay, time to make that age-old confession – I own nothing to do with the Sonic universe save some very old Mega Drive games; ain't that a shame!

Right, well if you've just joined the train here you might need to go back a few stops to get the whole picture. This story is the eighth one in a series I'm going to hopefully complete this side of the new millennium so you might not get the full story unless you start at the start. In reading order the series goes: Angel of Darkness and Ice – The Best Medicine – A Bloodstone Rose – Iron Skin, Golden Heart – Lose Your Illusions – Psyche Out – Friends and Lovers and now this one, A Pair of Second Chances. I admit the first couple in the series, especially AODAI, aren't as clearly written as the later ones but I was finding my feet back then – it's a lot to read (and review – hint, hint :-)) but I reckon it's worth it.

This story's predominantly a Shadow fic; I have a confession to make therefore. Apart from I think three episodes of Sonic X, I've never seen, played or read anything official to do with the black hedgehog, so I kinda worked from scratch. I think he's a lot different to the official ultimate life-form; you'll have to read the series to understand why. Please let me know if you like my take on his personality! For now though:

Drum roll please – the next act in this show takes centre stage!

Chapter 1 – My Own Two Feet.

It was a fairly average Saturday night in a single apartment in Station Square, the pleasant evening warmth lingering even as the sunlight finally started to wane, when a pair of declarations added a fresh gust of wind to four lives that had already, both individually and together, been through enough change and discord to fill a hundred lifetimes. And of course, as is the way with monumental, life-changing decisions such as these, they started out as a just a normal day.

XXX

Amy let herself in, shaking her head as she realised once again her message about security had failed to percolate Sonic's granite thick skull; both he and the hedgehog he shared a flat with were notorious for leaving their front door unlocked. _It'll take a burglary to get them to change_; the pink hedgehog sighed as she stretched out, turning to slip her light coat onto a hook near the door; _though, I suppose when you move at just below the speed of sound, leaving your door open while you nip out to the shops really isn't as much a robber's window of opportunity, more of a pinhole._ She smiled at her own thought, then froze as something jabbed her in the small of her back, something hard that stayed there as a voice, official and harsh sounding, demanded,

"Freeze", after a second of assuring compliance, it continued, "hands on the wall, feet apart and keep still. You have a right to remain silent"; as she felt gentle hands patting her shoulders, sides and each of her legs, she fought to keep from laughing and play her unseen captor at his own game,

"I choose to waive that right. Help! Help!"

"Around here Ms Rose", she heard the voice get slightly louder, now more of a purr than a demand as it finished, "no-one can here you scream. Turn around". The pink hedgehog sighed, shook her head and then finally complied; as she felt arms slip around her, she reciprocated, hugging Sonic and planting a light kiss on his lips before raising her eyebrows,

"Any reason for that little frisk Sonic? What next, a blood test?"

"Ames", his green eyes hardened slightly as, to him, evil, foul memories bubbled up from the murk of his mind, "after the last time you brought a movie and subjected us all to the horror that is Bridget Jones, I have every right to safeguard the sanity of all male visitors of this building".

"Still not a fan of a chick flick huh?"

"Not now, not ever, urgh", he gave a grimace of deep disgust, shuddering as he forced those rancid imps back into his memory banks, locking them away hopefully for good this time before he realised she'd asked a question, "sorry, come again?"

"I said anyone else here yet?"

"Nah; Shads had gone for Tails, but apparently he's just ending a flying lesson and Cream wanted to come; Vanilla said yes over the phone and he can't carry them both, so all three are driving in the Tornado".

"When was this?"

"About twenty-five minutes ago". Amy bit her lip as she tried to do some mental maths; thankfully those shifts at the Quick Stop Shop helped her out in this respect and told her something wasn't right here,

"Hang on; Tails should have been here by now; the traffic's virtually non-existent out there". Sonic suddenly froze from where he'd been trying to turn around and cringed; before she could ask what the problem was, he looked at her again with a drawn but still humorous expression,

"Tails isn't the one driving".

"What, but…?" She tailed off, hands flying to her cheeks as she felt them go numb through blood loss, imagination already painting pictures of death on the highway as she tried to disbelieve, "no, he wouldn't, she's too young".

"Not really", Sonic shook his head, chuckling a little to try and help Amy see the funny side, "she wants to be a pilot, so why can't she do a bit of chauffeuring at the same time? Think about it; she can land you at the airport and then drive you to your hotel; you never have to step out the, er, the Tornado". Amy's head sank into her hands, shoulders heaving as she imagined Cream at the wheel; _at least if she causes anything she should get away with it – 'sorry officer I can't help you with the description , all I saw over the dashboard were a pair of ears'_.

Sniggering at the thought, the pink hedgehog stepped into the kitchen, accepting her boyfriend's offer of a cup of tea as they waited together fatalistically for the other three to arrive. _And when they do_; Amy squirmed in pleasure at the eventuality, though thankfully Sonic never saw the movement as she pictured the scene; _I'll be able to tell them all the good news_.

XXX

The door opening brought the heads of both hedgehogs up; there were a few seconds of listening to the entry noises and excited chatter before, having figured out from the sounds of tramping feet that there were three Mobians now in the hall, Sonic fought down a grin and called,

"You all made it then?"

"More or less", Shadow answered with a distinct quaver in his voice, "I'm here, but I think I left my nerves scattered all over Station Square".

"Hey", Cream was indignant; Sonic doubled over onto the table as he heard a muffled slap, "I did okay for my first time". The black hedgehog's answer was a second later,

"Yeah, for someone who can't do their ABC's – it's accelerator, break, clutch, not the other way around".

"It only took her three attempts to get that right", Amy raised an eyebrow at her crush as his brother leapt in to defend her sister, "besides, bents can be levelled, cracks welded and I think the paint scratches give the car character". The eyebrow lowered again as Shadow joined in the joke,

"Yeah, characters spelling 'Cream was here'".

"You two are so rude", with a humph and arms crossed even if her face was wobbling as it tried to clamp down on a smile, a smaller rabbit appeared in the door to the kitchen, rolling her eyes as the commentary continued unabated behind her.

"Hey not-so-short stuff", Cream pursed her lips, cocking her head and putting a hand on her hip at Sonic's greeting; everyone was commentating about the growth spurt she seemed to be going through, but it rankled that she was still the smallest out the lot of her friends, "take a seat and tell Uncle Sonic about your first driving lesson". Her cinnamon eyes widened and she shuddered, looking at her older sister pleadingly,

"Rosie, please, please tell me there's no way I can be biologically related to that Artic pineapple over there".

"Okay, there is no way", the pink hedgehog cast a forlorn glance as Sonic looked away sniffily, "he's way too old to be your uncle; maybe your great-granddad".

"Forget that", Cream kept a careful eye on the way Sonic's strained grimace seemed to be stretching even thinner as she ladled the gentle chiding on with a bucket, "he'd be my sixth-father if he's a day; Shadow'd be my seventh". She ducked as the aforementioned hedgehog took a swipe at her ears; she ducked into a seat close to Amy as a disgruntled Shadow sat down next to Sonic, Tails taking a diplomatic seat between the warring boys and girls.

"I mimic Spectre in appearance but nothing like age", Shadow stated just as Sonic had left to see about refreshments; casting his eye into the kitchen to check, he lowered his voice and finished, "besides, you really reckon I'd have something like _that_ as my son?"

There were hastily stifled laughs as the blue hedgehog re-emerged into the lounge area, apparently none the wiser for the joke at his expense as he set down the normal plates of crisps, a cup of coffee for Shadow and of course, the deck of cards that the evening had brought them together to play with.

"Right then", Shadow had his eye on the cards as he reached for his drink; by unwritten law he was always the first dealer, "get the chips ready and we'll be up and running". Everyone nodded agreement and reached for their own choice of condiments; however, as Shadow suddenly lowered his cup, face twisted into a grimace of extreme disgust, they paused. Sucking on his tongue vigorously, the black hedgehog glared across the small table,

"You put gravy granules in my coffee again didn't you?"

"Aww", Sonic made a show of reaching over and rubbing Shadow's shoulder, "you know I love you really daddy".

As howls of laughter echoed around the hall, Shadow spared enough time for a scowl at the sniggering Sonic before reaching for the cards; as no-one looked closely at him, wrapped up as they were in their own mirth, there was no-one to see the pang of regret flash across the former ultimate life-form's crimson eyes.

XXX

The air was still, no noise save that of the cards as they were flickered over the table surface; Tails was a fairly adept dealer due to the necessity for hand-eye co-ordination demanded in his mechanic trade. With solemn precision, each Mobian picked up and examined their hand of five at the same time as try and keep an eye on the reactions of the others – in a game such as this, a single eye blink, a lip twitch, could mean so much for your chances of, if not winning, at least avoiding a dolorous defeat. Tails could tell Cream had a bad hand, she was fairly new to the game and as such easy to read – normally he'd have let this slide, but the game was approaching a critical stage and everyone seemed to know it, the next few hands would be crucial and he'd need every advantage to pull off a win. Trying to believably bluff a worse hand then his three sixes would have had you believe, the fox flicked his eye to Shadow,

"How many?"

"Two please"; _like trying to read Latin with your eyes shut_; he had to disguise his disappointment carefully; Shadow was impossible to gauge with any level of accuracy but he didn't need to know that. Sliding over the two cards the black hedgehog had asked for, Tails accepted the two he'd been passed and shuffled again, turning to the next player,

"Amy?"

"Just the one TT"; _hmm, not a hundred percent but I reckon she's bluffing_; Tails slid over the single she'd requested and his practised hands reassorted the depleted pack again; he was just about to query Cream when the pink hedgehog spoke again.

"They accepted me, you know?"

XXX

All the sound died away save for a sudden scuttling noise; Tails' suddenly numb fingers failing to catch the deck he'd been shuffling, letting the cards scatter carelessly over the table, meaningless now as Amy, suddenly aware of the groundswell of amazement and disbelief being sent her way by four pairs of awestruck eyes, carried on,

"I got the letter this morning; the university, they said yes", her smile bloomed exultantly as she finally let go of all the jubilation she'd been carefully storing since slitting open the top of the carefully pressed envelope in a wild declaration, "this September, I'm going to be a college girl!"

"YE-ES!" A blue blur swept around from his seat, hands of cards left to drop heedlessly to the floor as Sonic threw his arms around Amy, hefting her out of her seat as though she were weightless and squeezing tight, "you beauty – I knew it, knew they couldn't say no", he choked off for a second, planting his lips to Amy's in joy and celebration as the message finally sank home and chairs were overturned in haste to congratulate the now undergraduate hedgehog, "said it would be worth it, all those forms; a few years down the line and we'll be addressing you as Dr Rose; way to go Ames".

"He said it Rosie", Cream embraced her older sister from behind, ruffling her head quill playfully and gently flicking her pierced ear, "you're gonna be a star there; just study hard and you can do it, you can do anything".

"I know; I can do it, I'm going to do it", Amy declared fiercely as she rubbed her hands through Sonic's back, happy that all those mind-numbing hours of ploughing through paperwork had finally paid off, "the loan's already arranged, all I've got to do now is get some student digs at the uni and, just", Sonic looked up as her voice tailed off; trying to follow her gaze over her shoulder; what he saw stopped him in equal parts confusion and concern; _what's eating him?_

Still seated, Shadow alone among his friends wasn't celebrating; if anything, he looked like he was being torn in two; his hands were twisting together on the table like dancing adders, his eyes were closed and he was gnawing his bottom lips. Once or twice it looked like he was taking a deep breath, on the verge of admitting something, before expelling it in a long sigh, heavy with effort of containing a great truth.

"Shadow?" Amy was the one who asked, saw him jerk his eyes open and look around guiltily, as though he should have been celebrating rather than let his own issues bother him, "something wrong? Another flashback – does this bring anything back?" Despite the struggle that was raging inside him, the black hedgehog could smile at this; _Amy, you are going to be a fantastic counsellor – you've got other people at heart all the time_.

"No Amy, nothing's wrong, but", he stood up, all eyes on him as it became obvious to all that something big was pushing its way to the surface through the black hedgehog's normally cool demeanour, "well, first of all, well done to you; you're going to uni, fantastic achievement, but, well, it seems like a day for, ah, news so", he gave a nervous laugh and a weak smile as his friends swapped glances trying to figure out what he was trying to say; _here goes – fingers crossed and hops like hell_; "I've, had an idea for a while now, er; I, I want to move out".

XXX

If Amy's declaration had applied a touch-paper to the fireworks of outright carousal, Shadow's threw a bucket of cold water over the same firework; even as he could see the questions, the unconscious hurt, in the eyes of his friends, he raised his hands and made the first point clear,

"No-one take this as anything to do with them; you guys have done so much for me, I would be the last Mobian on the planet to say I'm running out of here".

"Then why Shadow?" For once, Sonic's voice had lost its cheerful tone; this was a serious, deep question that the black hedgehog had no choice but to try and answer convincingly.

"It", he took a breath, trying to recall the answer he'd come up with what felt like a lifetime ago, "it's just time now; I can't keep looking backwards, trying to find my memories, for all I know I could have lost them forever, I mean I hope I haven't, but I can't keep going on hoping to get back something that might be lost", he paused, trying to remember the next part at the same time as avoid the eyes of his friends; Shadow knew that, if he looked up now, he might see pain and tears and he couldn't handle that, not right now – he needed to get this off his chest first, "so I've got to move on; I've got to see if I can make it out there. In the world, on my own two feet. I'm going to try and make it on my own".

_Well, that's that said_; he still didn't look up, mind full of grief and accusations of desertion that he didn't really want to handle, didn't know how to handle; _but how's it going down?_ He couldn't help it; his head shot up, just for an instant; the picture captivated him – of all the Mobians there it was Sonic who was looking the most decimated, but even through the film of tears over the blue hedgehog's eyes Shadow thought he could see understanding. A brief flicker of hope lit up his heart as Tails swallowed and his suddenly high voice pierced the silence,

"I see; where were you planning on going?"

"Ah, I was thinking, um, Angel Island – you know, Echidnopolis", the black hedgehog answered stuttering, trying to put as positive a spin on things as he could at the same time as act casual, "I don't know much about the echidnas, but worst come to worst I know a few people up there, least of all Knuckles and Rouge and never mind the Chaotix".

"And we can always fly up there in no more than three-quarters of an hour", Cream chipped in, pointing at herself and Tails at the same time a wiping her eyes dry, ambivalent joy and sudden sadness combining to almost more than she could handle, "and you can visit from there".

"You said it floppy, I can, no, I will visit".

"You've been planning this for a while haven't you?" It wasn't accusing, merely stating a fact, but it convinced Shadow more than ever that Amy really had heeded a calling when she'd applied for her counselling degree. Looking up, he gave a smile,

"Well, I asked Vector to start scouting for a place up there, you know, just trawling through estate agents and stuff", a flash of inspiration caught him and he seized it, pointing at the rose hedgehog with a sudden excitement in his voice, "but anyway, forget that, this could be great for you, and you", his finger shifted to Sonic as he outlined his idea, "Amy, you're going to be a poor undergraduate soon, so listen; you can take my place on the contract for this place, rather than rent a single room on campus; that'll halve your rent bill and Sonic will shuttle you to and from uni". Sonic raised an eyebrow and gave Amy a sidelong look at this point,

"Given the right sort of encouragement of course"; Amy cuffed the blue hedgehog even as her cheeks went red and a few sniggers perforated the silence; following this, she walked around the table and softly embraced the taller Shadow, looking up and smiling,

"If you think you're ready, you should go for it; just remember you've got friends here Shadow. If you need us, we're a call away".

"I won't forget", he whispered back, fighting to keep his eyes clear and his voice strong, "I'll never forget. Not about you".

XXX

It was a month, almost to the day, when the time finally came; just as Amy had ploughed her way through forms galore to net herself a place at Station Square's prestigious education complex, Shadow had run up an astronomical phone bill and shuffled around his money in so many different ways it was a virtual joke but the end result could not be disputed. Now, as he stood in Mystic Ruins with his whole life in a selections of bags and suitcases, came the final task and one he hoped never to do again; he had to say goodbye.

"This is it then Shads"; _I used to hate that name_; the memories bit hard as it seemed everything about his maddening but beloved flatmate welled up at once to try and swamp him in a tide of guilt, "your new life's just a plane trip away".

"Nah", he had to correct Sonic that one last time, turning around and shaking his head, "not a new life, the next stage; I'm not going forever".

"Just as well, I need someone to race with occasionally", the blue hedgehog joked even if his face fell; much as each hated to admit it, there was no denying the fact that their chaotic lives had brought them close together and Shadow jetting off like this was hurting them both equally. _But he's right, he wants to go – can't stop just 'cause I like having the guy around_; trying to paper over his hurt, Sonic extended his hand, "give everyone up there my regards, and have a, a…" he couldn't think of the words to say, so said nothing, merely accepting as Shadow clasped his hand and shook slowly, solemnly before pulling away, reluctantly picking up the last few pieces of his luggage and slowly walking up the ramp of the Tornado. Every step was dogged by Sonic's eyes; the blue hedgehog had to grit his teeth and clench both fists to avoid running after him, begging Shadow to stay, for that was both selfish and immature. He returned his younger brother's wave from the cockpit and watched on with a heavy heart as the Tornado's engines powered up and ignited, the plane hurting up the runway, losing contact with the ground and taking its cargo up to the clouds.

Only when the Tornado was a speck in the distance did he let it happen; Sonic made no move to wipe the tears that fell from his eyes away as his head dropped; unbidden, words spilled from his lips, words he had spoken only once before,

"Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog".

Even as he heard them, a smile crept back onto his face and he fought to keep a chuckled held in; at least this time the goodbye was a lot less final than the last, when Shadow had begun his descent through the outer atmosphere. Looking up but failing to see anything other than the clear blue sky, Sonic turned and began to run back to Station Square, feeling only relief that Shadow was away safely, but also a strange empty ache that he hadn't quite expected to feel.

A/N: And what trials await our favourite ultimate life-form on Angel Island? They start next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2 Blessed Normality?

Chapter 2 – Blessed Normality?

A/N: So here we are at last; sorry for the lateness, but the nine to five grind cuts out story time. I have to express gratitude for the reviewers, but here's a challenge for you: what do you think is going to happen to Shadow in Echidnopolis – can you second guess me? If you want to try, drop in a review before you read the chapter, then read it to see how close you were to the truth. Oh, and if you're out there, how was the holiday DH; where'd you go. And HHH, I know the American school system's a bit wild, but when you say you were hit by a kid's head, that head was still attached to the rest of the body, right?

Shadow sat back as he felt the Tornado touch down on the island, bracing out of instinct since he'd been on the vehicle doing the same thing so often it was nearly a second nature. _This might be the last time I do this_; the fear chilled him for a split-second, threatening tears before he managed to control himself again – he could and certainly would visit Station Square again, and only next week Tails had promised he'd rig up another one of those vid-phone devices from his new place to both the Mystic Ruins and Sonic's apartment, so he could always keep in touch. As he felt the momentum bleed off, he stood up, rocking on his heels at the final lurch of the machine coming to a halt; just out of curiosity he looked out the porthole closest to him but failed to see any of the Chaotix, though Vector had been very keen to stress they would be there on time. Shadow had a momentary stab of guilt as he ran through his reasons of not informing the guardians of his change of address, but then again he didn't want to be, the word was maybe a little harsh, but he didn't want to be babied. _It's a hard world out there_; Shadow remembered that quote as he reached down for another bag – his red eyes narrowed a little as he hefted the luggage easily; _and now it's time for me to stand up in it._

With that thought in mind he headed for the disembarking ramp, only to pause as the door between the cockpit and the passenger compartment eased open and Tails appeared – fox and hedgehog eyed each other for a minute before, clearing his throat, Tails stepped forwards and offered,

"Here, I can take some of this".

"Nah, it's okay"; _heart of gold_; thinking back a few weeks to the declaration the foxboy had made at the marriage of Knuckle's mother and her now-husband Wynmacher, Shadow had to smile at his selfless attitude to life, "don't worry Tails, I can manage".

"Okay", the fox drew back, though his hand was still out, "call me when you get settled in so I can install the vid; take care of yourself Shadow". Reading the fox's intention from his blue eyes, the hedgehog smiled again and gripped the smaller hand with his own, shaking gently; he saw a quiver run through Tail's eyes and before he knew it the fox was at his chest, hugging tight as his voice repeated even more softly,

"Take care". Trying to be strong now for the sake of the younger Mobian, Shadow stooped slightly to wrap his arms around the fox and whisper reassurance into his ears,

"Don't sweat it Tails; I can handle anything that happens up here. Tell Sonic, Amy and the rest that I'll call end of next week, once I'm settled. But, I'm keeping the Chaotix waiting and…"

"I know", hastily blinking back his tears Tails stepped back and offered a strained smile, holding out a small stick of boxed up batteries, "these are for Vec, tell him we'll square up next time I'm down for a while".

"That'll be when Lara's back right?"

"Yes and not a second before", the fox shuddered as memories of what had happened last time he'd had to take a night stop over with the Chaotix, "piece of advice; if Vec invites you for a sleep-over make sure you remember to remind Charmy that you're sleeping on the settee. One wake-up call I didn't need; diving bee to stomach".

"Could have been worse; imagine if it had been Vector".

"I really, really try not to", Tails laughed once more before slapping his hedgehog friend once more on the arm, "okay pal, you better get going". Nodding in agreement, the black hedgehog rearranged his bags, stepped out the open door of the Tornado and took his first few steps into the next stage of his life.

XXX

He felt Mighty give him a nudge as she walked past; looking over his shoulder Vector saw Shadow had finally disembarked and was now at the foot of the Tornado's boarding ramp. As he stood up, the unofficial leader of the Chaotix saw Tails disappear back inside his machine; _obviously needs a quick getaway_; before hustling over to help the black hedgehog with his bags. Shadow looked up at the unexpected help,

"Thanks".

"My pleasure", the crocodile assured him, hearing right at the edge of his audible range the sound of the Chaotix's hover van heading their way, "so Shads, welcome to our tropical paradise".

"As long as the guardians are in a good mood", a third voice from overhead spoke; Charmy descended to ground level and pulled in his wings as he finished, "if Knucks is in a bad mood, let's just say fireworks are the least of our problems".

"That bad?"

"Nah, they're okay", Charmy shook his head as the crocodile next to him rolled his eyes and, as though reminded of something, leant forwards,

"Oh, speakin' of which, I never told 'em you were coming; that's what you wanted weren't it?"

"Yeah, thanks for that; I'll tell them when I've bedded in for a bit". _Shadow, Shadow_; Vector shook his head even if he didn't need to look to know what Charmy would be thinking right about now; _you gotta do better than that_;

"Well", the bee rubbed his hands and somehow managed to look innocuous at the same time, "if it's _that_ you're after, I'm sure we can…"

"Thank you Charmy", Shadow's answering smile cut like a knife and managed to choke the bee off in mid-joke, something Vector, despite his larger grin and more numerous teeth, had failed to do for years; having contained his blushes with a combination of iron will and black fur, the hedgehog looked Vector in the eye again, "but yeah, you get the general idea?"

"Sure do, so let's get going", with perfect timing Mighty appeared at the wheel of the van; Shadow regathered his things as Charmy popped the rear doors open, "first off we go get your keys to the new place; been there myself like, nice enough for one. After that, ditch yer bags and then time for the tour; hopefully C.A. will have your new docs ready, just pick 'em up and you'll be away".

"Right", Shadow had got most of that save one part, "C.A?"

"Central Admin", Mighty shouted over as she hopped out the cab of the van; though she could drive perfectly well, it was a well known fact that the armadillo didn't much like driving if she could help it, "it's a big place in town, deals with ninety-nine percent of all the paperwork in this city".

"That's where your contract for the flat has to go through; it'll be a wait, but worth it in the end", Charmy nodded before checking his watch and fractionally after that clapping his hands, tone suddenly laced with authority, "as is this; everyone in, we need to get to the city in the next hour or I'll be late". Not sure what the bee was on about, Shadow looked at Vector,

"Late?" The crocodile laughed,

"Buzz-boy finally got lucky; his girl's waiting for him in town"; Shadow fixed Charmy with a querying glance as, blushing slightly as he shook his head,

"I did not 'get lucky'; she's just a friend hanging out with me and Teri – poor guy's going to pieces, he's got his first start at cadets in a few weeks".

"Ah, he'll be fine, but you're right", Vector helped pick up a few bags and then headed for the ride, "time is money and we're runnin' low on both. Come on Shads, let's get you settled in".

XXX

_So, this is going to be my home_; having bidden the Chaotix farewell at the door of what was now his apartment block, Shadow carefully inserted the key into the lock and with extraordinary care slowly twisted it, the bolt sliding free and opening the way to his new flat. The rent was modest but, since he hadn't seen the place yet, he was a little wary of what that may mean; visions of a place falling apart at the seams with cockroaches forced to use dune buggies to get around the filthy floor had assailed his mind, but even as they had daunted him he realised he could use them as a positive thing; _at least it can't be as bad as that_. With that thought in his mind, he took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

As there was no avalanche of partially decayed food boxes and he didn't fall through the floor, Shadow surmised it really wasn't as bad as he'd imagined. The word that sprang to mind as he looked at the hall was snug; it was wide enough for one average echidna to walk down comfortably, but two walking side by side was never going to happen. Carefully setting his bags down, the black hedgehog took a few tentative steps into the apartment, looking through a door to his right; he clutched at the frame as a wave of weakening homesickness swept over him, fighting to keep his balance as he could just see the scene before him.

It was a kitchen/dining room combined; the table stood in the centre of the room a virtual replica of where he had spent so many pleasurable nights playing, talking and eating with the others; he could just picture Cream sat in front of him, scratching her ears as she tried to work out if she had a good hand or not as Sonic took a sneaky peak from her side. The sound of chilli-dogs on the stove was inviting, as was the phantom taste and smell; _but it's not real_. He'd have given his right arm for it to be so, but he had to face facts now; with a second long, deep breath, Shadow forcibly reminded himself that he was no longer in the apartment he had shared with Sonic; he was on his own, in a place where no-one really knew him, a fresh start. Taking a second to recompose himself, he leant back out of the kitchen and took a look at the other three rooms; the lounge was a real treat, a large settee for him to really recline on as well as an extra chair as a bonus. There was also a television mounted on the wall at about solar-plexus level, just high enough so you wouldn't have to crane your neck to look at it as you were sat down. He'd have to shuffle the furniture about a bit, but apart from that that this room was far more than he'd bargained for. The third door led to the water closet, complete with a power shower; Shadow had heard of these but never actually used one; _have to have a shot at that tonight_.

But it was the bedroom he was really interested in; nosing the door open, he saw the single bed and large wardrobe by the side of it, the commode at the foot of the bed a fair size as well. _Nice_; compared to what he'd been afraid of, this place was a real eye-opener; heading back to start the long, slow task of unpacking, Shadow decided that, given a few days, he really could get used to this place. As he packed away his toiletries on the shelf in front of the mirror in the bathroom, he mentally ran a checklist; he didn't really need to go shopping until tomorrow, Sonic had broken the habit of a lifetime to make him a special packed lunch as a going away present so he could eat tonight, but if what Vector had said was right he needed to hit the Central Administration at some stage today; it would be just his luck to be called on if he failed to pick up the relevant paperwork as soon as he could. As he whipped the duvet up and down rapidly to give it some air before he started making his bed, he made his decision; _I'll finish here, thankfully there's not a lot there left to do, then I'll go get my blurb_; a sudden idea, mentioned in passing by Amy, he paused again as a second wave of nostalgia passed over him again before reasoning through her idea; _yeah, I can go get a file first, there has to be a stationary store around here somewhere, then I keep my files in order and not lose anything_. Nodding in self-satisfaction, the black hedgehog put the finishing touches to his bed before tucking in the bottom of the quilt and heading for the next of his bags.

XXX

In keeping with most things in his life, what should have been a relatively easy trip to the Central Administration Centre of Echidnopolis turned out to have a lot further reaching consequences than just making sure his rented place was legally his own. Unusually, however, the consequences didn't involve either a virtually complete memory loss or a one-way ticket on the world's highest unparachuted skydive; in fact, his promptness in dealing with his new home actually helped Shadow solve one of the major stumbling blocks of his new life.

Not that it started out that way of course; having walked to the place he needed to be, being careful to avoid showing off his super speed in a bid to remain unnoticed for the moment at least, Shadow tapped on the bell on the main counter and, when the resultant receptionist appeared, outlined what he needed. After taking a second to size up the hedgehog in front of him, the echidna whistled,

"Okay, I'll buzz up", as he tapped a few keys on a panel to the left of him, the echidna looked over the counter again, speaking conversationally, "unusual to get people actually calling for their paperwork; usually just wait for it to drop through the letter box". Shadow, who wasn't at all sure how Echidnopolis worked compared to Station Square, looked over,

"Really? You send it through the post".

"Not exactly; we've got our own couriers, sort of a mini-post system. Gets the essentials…ah, hello, housing section? Got a client here, a Mr…?"

"Shadow, Shadow Hedgehog"; the receptionist raised his eyebrows in thanks and went back to his conversation,

"Yeah, Mr Hedgehog, first name Shadow, says he's just rented someplace, needs the scribblings for it…got it? Okay, I'll let him know", the black hedgehog pricked his ears as the receptionist put his phone down and turned to him again; just from his smile he felt reassured, "okay, take a seat Mr Hedgehog, we'll send the work down as soon as we can".

"Cheers"; _Mr Hedgehog – oh no, they've all been to the Cream School of Manners, Sonic'll have a fit if he's up here too long_; smiling at the thought, he took a seat and glanced up at the clock, drumming his fingers on his knees as he ticked off the seconds until he finally had his own home.

Contrary to what his sometimes quick temper would have you believe, Shadow was actually fairly patient for a guy who lived several seconds in front of everyone else; when compared to Sonic he really did have the patience of a saint. However, even he had limits, and thirty minutes of sitting on his rear end was right on the border lines, especially as his nerves were frayed by seeing a large number of echidnas run in, yammer a few words at the receptionist and then run up the stairs behind his desk. It was as the sixteenth echidna exited in such a manner that his temper finally gave; with an air of grim finality, Shadow stood up and stalked towards the receptionist's desk again. Tapping on it, face ever so slightly less pleasant than last time, the black hedgehog spoke,

"Listen, not wanting to criticise how this place works, but any idea how long it's going to be". The echidna shook his head,

"Your guess is as good as mine", seeing Shadow's already dark face darken even further, he hastily added, "we're just busy at the minutes; like I said, we normally deliver to you".

"Right", a pair of red eyes flicked sideways as yet another echidna darted past, dreadlocks flailing as he or she hammered up the stairs; this time Shadow noticed something held by the running Mobian and, curious, indicated it just before the echidna was lost to sight, "that one of your delivery boys?"

"Yeah, just going for a refill".

"To the paperwork room, right?"

"Yeah, that'd be… hey, where are you off? You can't go up there". Shadow had slipped towards the staircase and, looking back, let a sly smile sneak over his lips,

"Well, if you're busy, I can get a job off your hands at source, so to speak. Won't be a minute". The receptionist opened his mouth, thought for a second for a comeback, found one and made to deliver it only to see the staircase was now deserted. Shadow was gone.

XXX

_Well if nothing else it's easy to get around_; as far as he could tell, every department in the Central Administration was clearly signposted and indicated internally; all he had to watch for as he headed inexorably to the Housing and Location Issues Department was the current of running echidnas that must have served as the miniature post force the echidna downstairs had described. As he pressed himself to the side of the corridor to let another past, noticing the small helmet held in one hand and bulging bag in the other, Shadow wondered how they got around; dismissing the thought after a second, he pushed open the door adjacent to him and entered the department that housed his precious files.

He'd expected a hothouse pressure-cooker of bedlam and confusion; it was the only rational explanation as to what was holding up his documents. What was actually behind the door was almost nothing of the sort; apart from the delivery echidnas, everyone else was seated at their desks, typing away at screens in front of them, occasionally pausing to shuffle papers on the holders in front of them, stretch in their seats or hold a short, casual chit-chat with their neighbours. Raising an eyebrow at the apparent casualness of the set-up, Shadow was about to step forwards when a voice to the side of him called out,

"Hey, you shouldn't be in here".

"Technically, I'm not here", the hedgehog turned to see a pair of what looked like security guards standing just to the side of the entrance, guarding it like stern sentinels as he raised his hands placatingly, "I just want to pick up some papers; I've been sat downstairs for the last half-hour and I've got places to be – I'm going to be minutes if that". The two leant closer together to hold a whispered conversation; after a few seconds of frantic conversation, one of them pointed to a desk by his right and Shadow's left,

"Talk to her, she's like the boss of this place; if anyone knows who's got your files it'll be Snappy". Deciding it was probably better not to ask, Shadow obediently headed to the desk that was, he noticed as he drew closer, slightly larger and more ornate than the ones behind it, making the female echidna that headed it look that little bit more ominous and imposing as he drew closer and cleared his throat,

"Ah, hi, I…"

"Name"; the brisk, biting voice cut through his attempted greeting like a cheese wire, taken aback, the black hedgehog stuttered,

"S,Shadow".

"Why are you here?"

"I, er, I just got to Echidnopolis, I'm renting…" Without looking up, the echidna hit some keys on her keyboard and a few seconds later, drew their conversation, such as it was, to an end,

"Three back and seven across from me; good afternoon". Understanding himself to be uncompromisingly dismissed, Shadow nodded at the Mobian who hadn't even looked up at him, trying not to look like a scolded schoolboy even if he flattened his quills as he walked past.

A few echidnas raised their heads as he brushed their desks, looking for the one that had been indicated by the uncompromising boss of this office; their eyes, after they'd accepted his odd appearance by echidna standards, radiated sympathy. _Four, five…ah, here we go_; stopping short of the indicated workstation, Shadow recomposed himself and spoke,

"Excuse me Miss?" _At least this one actually looks at you_; the petite, blonde-furred Mobian glanced up and, realising she had a visitor, straightened in her seat, smoothing out the long, neat plait that held all her hair halfway down her back as she answered,

"Can I help you?"

"Maybe", her tone was pleasant at least; Shadow reacted to this with a gruff chuckle, "I just want a room for the night; according to her at the front, you've got the docs I need – name's Shadow". The echidna's brown eyes sparked and she instinctively thumbed down a stack of papers resting in what Shadow guessed was her in-tray; it was certainly piled high he realised before she clicked her tongue.

"Yeah, there you are", his heart leapt up in his chest, only to be slammed back down as she sighed, "with a bit of luck I'll get to you before the end of this month".

"What?" Sudden images of him living in a cardboard box for the next twenty or so days prompted his desperation; crimson eyes widened in concern, he had to ask, "how come?"

"I can only do five at a time", the echidna sighed again, sitting back in her chair and looking around for someone, "I need a runner to get these delivered; until these five are gone", she ran her finger down the top section of her workload before finishing, "I can't get them signed off and until then, I'm not allowed to process anything else". _That's crazy_;

"Not even when I'm stood here?" She laughed, though there was nothing mocking in it, more a sense of victimised camaraderie as she looked at him again,

"Those are the rules; they stink and they keep dropping me in it but I have to follow them. Snappy's going to have me for breakfast with this – not my fault the runners aren't around".

"Snappy", the black hedgehog's eyes darted to the back of the desk he'd come from and he swallowed softly, "your boss?"

"My living nightmare", she rolled her eyes and scowled at the pile of paper in front of her as if wishing it would spontaneously combust, "she's a right old battleaxe; doesn't matter I've done as much as I can do she still gets me by the ear every time". She folded her arms, scowl deepening, not seeing the germ of an idea being evolved by her chatting partner; it began to multiply across Shadow's face as his gaze travelled from the high-backed chair at the office front, to the echidna in front of him, to his precious documents. _You know_; he made up his mind with a suppressed snort of laugher; _for an idea that hasn't got a hope in hell, this might just work_.

"Hey listen, er…?" He made to read her name badge, but she covered it with one hand and shook her head,

"Call me Honey, everyone else does; honey blonde, you know?" She teased a couple of the hairs on her arm free for his inspection and he nodded, grimacing as a sudden thought occurred to him,

"Just don't call me Blackie and we're square, but anyway", he moved back to his original idea, "what would you say if I had a plan to get one over on the old Snapdragon over there?" _Just maybe_; his hope was lifted as her eyes widened in expectation and secret fun, a slight smile tugging her lips,

"I'd be interested; keep talking".

"Just process the rest of that lot…"

"Are you nuts?" Honey hissed to keep her voice low, checking left and right too see if he'd been overheard, "that's breaking the rules like you wouldn't believe".

"The same rules that are going to drop you in it?"; Shadow replied with an easy smile that betrayed false confidence; internally he was sweating bullets and praying this would come off, "I can stop that happening; trust me".

He called on every iota of his acting talent to look convincing; if he needed any chance of legitimately staying in his own place tonight he needed this shot; for a second he feared he'd been unlucky as her scanning eyes searched every inch, every hair and every crevasse of his face. Then they stopped, inspection over and, as her hands ever so slowly moved towards the console, gaze not breaking from his, he let out an internal sigh of relief. _Now for the second step_; trying to disguise the rising excitement in his voice and act casual, the black hedgehog queried nonchalantly,

"The runners, they the guys I see legging it all over the shop?"

"That'd be them", Honey replied, not looking up from her work now as she became immersed in it, "they deliver everything all over this city; a lot of leg-work involved so we call them runners".

"How'd they do it? I mean", he rephrased the question as she broke off for a second to look at him uncertainly, "they come in, but I've not seen one go out the building". Honey jerked a thumb over her shoulder,

"Elevator at the back of the office, we've all got one. Drops them in the basement, they get on their rides and go from there; when they come back, they drive down and have to sign in the front. That's why you never see them leave".

"Oh right", he left a little pause, just long enough to make his next question seem unconnected as his eyes settled on the small book on the corner of her desk, "you got one assigned to you permanently, desk to desk like?" This time she really laughed properly, sniggering into her sleeve as she shook her head,

"Officially yes, otherwise we've never been fully staffed for as long as I've worked here. We get about half a dozen per office; that's why stuff takes so long to get where it's meant to be going. They only take five at a time so the packages are easy to keep track of – if one runner's mugged or runs off, it's five out of, what? Millions of pieces of paper? Stops theft really; not had a runner attacked for years".

"Nice to know". He waited in silence again for a few minutes, planning his idea again before he heard Honey hiss in triumph; looking over, he saw the blonde echidna's printer chewing in paper and spitting it out; she took these prints and slipped one into each of the elastic bands holding the sheaves together. Shadow counted eighteen in total, his being about fourteen or fifteen in the list.

"Right, that's the receipts…"

He didn't need to hear any more; he couldn't explain what he was going to do or she'd have flipped and hit the panic button. Instead, he used action; reaching forwards, he quickly snatched up all the paper in the in-tray, now complete with signing chits; in the same action he'd grabbed the Echidnopolis A-Z resting on the corner of her desk and taken off. Desks blurred past as he accelerated, the elevator clear in his sight as now as he heard dimly uproar behind him, but too late. Throwing himself into the open shaft and slapping the down button, Shadow had enough time to grin as he reassembled the papers in his arms, checking the address of the first and beginning to thumb through the A-Z.

Not more than a minute later, a black bullet raced out of the back of the Central Administration Centre of Echidnopolis.

XXX

"Hey, you. Hold it!" _I was coming back to you_; Shadow sighed as he saw the twin security guards, now posted on the front door rush over; _I'm hardly going to run away am I?_; he didn't struggle as he was seized and a voice called out,

"Yep, netted him", the same voice dropped lower to snarl in his ear, "B and E, grand theft and fleeing the scene of the crime; boy when the EST get through with you…"

"They already here?" The captive hedgehog writhed a little to try and loosen the painful hold on his arms at the same time as twist his head to see his captor, "well, listen, before you haul me in, I need to see the Mobian in charge".

"Yeah", the echidna laughed; Shadow hissed as his arm was forced further up his back, "you'll see him when you're in front of the jury and going down for twenty or so years". The hedgehog's answer was thick with contained pain; he held his anger in check with willpower as he remembered he had decided on this,

"No, I never stole anything", the pace stopped as if the echidnas couldn't believe what he'd said; while they were stunned he continued, "it was a delivery; check my pocket, I've got the receipts there".

He froze as he felt the hold relax a touch, then after a few seconds some extra pressure in his phone pouch, hearing paper crumple under rough fingers and a couple of disbelieving oaths.

"What the hell…? I reckon they're all here, save that one".

"Yeah, those docs are mine", Shadow made that clear as he saw a hand inching towards them, "I just wanted to give Honey a hand; she helped me find what I needed and said she was snowed under; I just turned snow-plough for the day". He didn't get an answer; instead there was a burst of static and he heard one of his two captor whisper into his security radio, so softly he couldn't hear anything despite his close proximity. The conversation dragged on; Shadow thought about breaking the slackened hold and making a break for it – after all with those receipts he was in the clear, but thought better of it. Just as he'd made his mind up, the two security guards started off again; he had to keep pace or risk dislocating his own elbows. As he saw the main entrance of the C.A pass overhead and heard the receptionist's startled oath, he whispered out the corner of his mouth,

"Where're we going?"

"Apparently the boss is as crazy as you are", a voice to his left, deeper and more drawling than the other one he was used to, answered, "he wants a word with you". _Ah well_; Shadow would have given a shrug had his shoulders not been threatening industrial action had he tried it; _I can explain it to him – after all, I just made his life easier._

XXX

"So", the spurred hands hit the table again as the older Mobian made a visible effort to overcome profound disbelief, "let me hear this again; you come in and need some documents to do with your rent, so the receptionist points you in the right direction, correct?"

"Near as dammit", Shadow replied easily, a bit more at ease now as he could liken this Aria-Mu, head of the C.A, to Sabre; same sort of build, height and quietly efficient, mild manner, only lacking the monocle. He was also a fairly forgiving sort and for that the black hedgehog could be grateful; last thing he needed right now was another clone of Snappy giving him grief. Having confirmed this, the more senior company member turned his stern eye to the other member of this meeting, who was sat with her head down, shooting eye lasers at Shadow whenever Aria wasn't looking,

"So this Mobian asks for his documents and you locate them, then you begin to engage in a conversation with him, breaking, by the way, company policy on professional communication with clients?" Honey's cheeks went red and she mumbled into her lap,

"Yes sir".

"Having done so and explained why he couldn't have them, he then asks you to process your remaining paperwork, and you did?"

"Yes sir".

"Knowing that by doing so grossly breaching the processing rules?" _You cruel sod_; Shadow masked a smile as Honey went redder, though Aria was careful to keep his face neutral as Honey tried to shrink even lower in her seat and continued her Knuckles impression,

"Yes sir"; his eyes shifted towards the black hedgehog again and this time he really injected some steel into his voice, getting even Shadow a little nervous,

"So you then take it upon yourself to steal the processed forms and deliver them all before returning here", the head of the C.A shook his head, disbelief back on his face as he asked the clinching question, "why the hell did you come back – you must have known you'd be wanted for theft".

"Exactly, which is why I'm here, to prove it wasn't a smash and grab job", Shadow half-stood, only to see the two guards now stood just inside the door head his way; he hastily settled back in his seat as he finished, "you've got the receipts, I didn't steal anything, I was just paying back a favour was all; Honey over there helped me get my docs but was going to get in trouble because there was no-one to do her deliveries and if there's one thing I do well it's run".

"So it would appear", Aria held the former ultimate life-form's eye for a second before a snort of laughter broke out from his stern mask and he tapped his fingers in front of him, turning to look out of the window, "well, it's not the most orthodox application I've ever come across, but I can't say it's not a good one".

"Excuse me?" Shadow blinked as all eyes in the room fell to him – as he worked out what Aria was offering he held his hands up, "hey, I was just repaying a good deed, I wasn't looking for a job".

"Well, you've got one", Aria sat down and looked at his own, refreshingly empty in-tray, "don't want to let a running talent like yours go to waste now do we? Show up next Monday, that'll give you time to settle into your new place. We'll give you the normal breaking in period then have you running by the end of the week", without standing, the echidna offered his hand across the table, smiling broadly now, "welcome to the Central Administration of Echidnopolis Mr Hedgehog".

XXX

Shadow slumped against the wall just to the left of the door in a kind of daze; he vaguely remembered exiting the office as if walking on air; _a job? A job on my first day in the city?_ He was too shocked to feel elated, just leaning against the wall as it began to sink in; he was still there when the door opened again and he saw Honey hove into view out the corner of his eye. Realising that his new employment was mostly due to her, he beamed from ear to ear and started talking,

"Hey, thanks for that; so, guess we'll be…" SMACK!

There is precious little in the world that can deaden a conversation like a slap in the chops; Shadow fell back mute as the echidna, who barely came up to his chin, advanced on him menacingly, fists clenched and cold, deliberate ice in her voice,

"You prat", Shadow fell back a little further as Honey recocked her fist, "that little stunt nearly got me the sack; the only reason I've still got a job is because Mr Mu's got more of a sense of sympathy than most – if it were Snappy I'd have been out on my ear so fast my tail would still have been at the desk. Don't you come over all happy-go-lucky on me, as far as I'm concerned you're nothing but trouble". _Right then_; Shadow didn't want an argument, not now; all he wanted to do now was go back to his new place and celebrate his good fortune – with that in mind, he borrowed a leaf right out of Sonic's book. Running a hand through his quills, he adopted a devil-may-care voice and met her flinty glare head-on,

"I've heard some girls like trouble", he raised his eyebrows quickly as her eyes widened, red eyes glittering like angelic sins full of false promises, "would you happen to be one of them?"

Honey's mouth fell open and her fists fell slack to her sides; before Shadow could deduce if this was a good or a bad thing, she'd burst out laughing at his purposeful over-acting.

"Ju,just for thahahahat", she shook her head, plait swinging behind her as she tried to reassert some self-control so close to the boss's office, "I won't pummel youhohou; oh you're going to make Snappy's life a misery".

"That alone should put me in your good books".

"I guess it could be worse", the blonde echidna rubbed her eyes and checked the clock, "you weren't gone more than an hour; at least with you around we can actually get some work done around here".

"Just happy to help", he looked over his shoulder at the clock and nodded, turning back to her, "listen, I've gotta split; I'll see you on Monday Honey; thanks again for these". She nodded as the black hedgehog waved his documents again and replied,

"You and me both; the boss'll have filled my in-tray by now – no rest for the wicked".

"Oh, so I was right", Shadow pressed his corny act, "you are looking for trouble". She snorted and gave a playful shove,

"Get out of here; I've got until Monday before you're a permanent fixture in this dive, let me enjoy it in peace". With a last laugh, Shadow headed for the elevator, just turning over his shoulder to see Honey heading for the stairs, shoulder still shaking with suppressed mirth. _Well, if all my work-mates are in that sort of mould_; the black hedgehog thought as he hit the down button; _Echidnopolis should be a barrel of laughs_.

XXX

_Typical_; just as he'd opened his lunch and recovered from the nostalgia the chilli-dog sandwiches had evoked in him, his phone went off in his pocket. Pulling it free even if his eyes devoured his meal, the black hedgehog swallowed his excess saliva and spoke,

"Hello?"

"And there was me thinking it was Sonic who went in for flashy entrances?" The suave voice laughed as Shadow gasped; how had she found out where he was?

"Rouge?"

"The one and only".

"How did you know…?" The bat laughed again; after a second where he guessed she was recomposing herself, the guardian answered,

"Oh come on; Knuckles gets a call from the EST about a theft involving a Mobian who isn't an echidna moving at phenomenal speeds; it's gotta be one out of two and we're pretty certain Sonic's still in Station Square".

"How'd you figure that?"

"Cause if he were here he'd be making our lives a living hell", Shadow smiled as he remembered the simmering feud between his former flatmate and his one-time team mate, currently poised delicately with Rouge having a very slight edge following Sonic's period of weakness after her husband's stag night.

"Well, you found me; I'm up here now with a new place and", with a hint of pride in his voice, Shadow admitted his most recent acquisition, "a new job as well".

"A job?" The bat echoed disbelievingly, "how long have you been here?"

"About eight hours; long story, I'll fill you in later. Let's just say I'm going to be all over the place from now on; I'm going to be a runner for the C.A, so at the minute I'm catching up on my local maps". There was a snigger from the other end of the line,

"Well there's a job made for a speedster like you; listen", her tone became more serious and Shadow paid a lot more attention to her next words, "when we figured it out we made a few calls; Amy said this was your idea and Vec found you the place – personally I think you're right, you can't just look back and hope to find something"; _I've got one ally then_; that put the hedgehog more at ease – ever since she'd done him the honour of allowing him to give her away at her wedding, he'd grown closer to the bat when they'd been closer together, "but you need anything…"

"I know, the Chaotix said the same thing, and I'm grateful", he was quick to make that point, "but I have to try this on my own; I'll see you guys soon, but for now I'm just sort of, getting used to the place, you understand?"

"Yeah, I've been there as well Shads; I was first up here apart from Knuckles remember? It's a big step, but hey, you can live with Sonic for as long as you did, you can live through anything".

"I guess; oh, by the way, any news on the Legion? Last I heard they'd taken a pasting after they tried to snatch Lara-Le; was it true he was there?"

"Yeah, as far as he goes with Knuckles, there's no debt any more", Rouge quickly changed the subject and Shadow didn't blame her; her next words, though brought a little hope to his heart, "but as far as we can tell that was a rogue move; they're pretty pacifist as far as we can tell. Spectre's got his eye on them but there's nothing aggressive so far; we're just sitting pretty with the M.E. and making sure they don't try anything stupid".

"Nice one; if you need a hand, you know I'm there".

"Thanks, hey listen, if the gopher work doesn't pay off, you can always join up with the Chaotix".

"No thanks; Tails warned me about the inherent dangers of a Chaotix sleep-over. He's just waiting for Lara to get back with Wyn".

"Not long now, more's the pity. A month goes so fast, but they'll have had the time of their lives. Anyway, battery's going, take care Shads, see you soon".

"Bye Rouge, give Knucks my regards". The hedgehog waited until he heard the click of the bat cutting the connection and set his phone down; _well, they know now_. At least Rouge was supporting his plan; that had to be a positive thing, especially coming from someone with as much life experience as she had. Running the conversation over in his head, enjoying the warmth of friendship in the guardian's voice, Shadow tucked into his lunch with gusto, devouring his last real memento of Station Square and loving every second of it.

XXX

By the end of two weeks, Shadow would have been the first to admit things had gone better than even his most optimistic expectations. His job was a breeze, he always had the opportunity for a quick chat to the people he was to pick up from and deliver to and most of them were grateful for the opportunity to lose a couple of minutes, Tails had managed to rig up the vid-phone so he could see as well as speak to everyone in Station Square and, as he bade goodnight to his partner and began the walk home, he smiled; _I even found a club to go to as well_. Looking at his suddenly revitalised hands, Shadow smiled as he remembered something Amy had said a little while ago – she'd be starting her degree soon; _you said you'd help me sort out my mind Ames_; he flexed his hands, feeling the muscles move in ways he'd never thought about before tonight had opened his eyes; _maybe when it comes to that I can help sort out your body_.

It had been a crazy idea of Honey's, suggested in an idle moment one lunchtime at work; she'd said he aught to go out on the town a bit more, he'd mentioned he didn't like going out to pubs and clubs because they were cramped and smoky – even now the memory of her devilish answering smile chilled him. He'd agreed to meet her outside work at about six, more to get the chance to meet her boyfriend at long last than the offer of a different kind of night out; Honey and Micah had duly arrived and, completing introductions, had taken the black hedgehog to a smaller building in the suburb area of Echidnopolis. It had been ten crests (he often wondered where the new name for the Echidnean currency had come from – Knuckles had denied all knowledge, but he couldn't help but suspect…) to get in; what he actually had found in there had come as equal parts shock, astonishment and embarrassment. Having been introduced to the instructor, who had proclaimed he'd arrived at just the right time as they were moving onto legs, he had been partnered with an echidna who insisted on being called Andy.

_He's a nice guy_; Shadow's brow creased in consternation; _but there's something there I just don't get_. Andy was very proper and polite, but there was something in his manner, his eyes; he had a vacant, ever so slightly lost look that the hedgehog found unsettling. But anyway, he was forgiving and patient and as Shadow had taken his first clumsy, heavy-handed steps towards learning the art of massage, he couldn't have asked for anything more in a partner. It had been awkward at times when he'd got it wrong, but overall he'd had a good time; certainly his legs felt as good as new due to Andy's ministrations. Now, as he walked home through the fine drizzle; falling mist to coin Sonic's phrase, he relaxed and was at peace with his new home city.

The peace lasted until a hover-car sped past; an event so rare compared to Station Square that Shadow actually jumped at the noise. The music was blaringly loud and he scowled; he'd been in a pleasantly happy mood until that damned engine had broken the silence; _hang on_; he strained his ears a touch, now more alert after the slight shock; _there's no silence any more_. He stood still, trying to listen; from what he could tell, someone just ahead of him was laughing, but no, they weren't – even as he listened the laugh curdled, folding in on itself into quiet, heart-wrenching lamentations. _Someone's crying_; that much he could hear, but he couldn't see; the overcast sky and falling rain made it hard to pick anything out…wait, there they were, huddled on the verge, oblivious to his presence and their face was buried into their arms. Shadow licked his lips; grief, as far as he was concerned, was a private thing and he was intruding, but at the same time it just wasn't in him to leave someone sobbing in the street. Plucking up his courage, the black hedgehog swallowed, then in a dry voice that was nowhere near loud enough for his liking, he called out,

"Hey", they must have heard him; the head came up, looking towards him as he finished his question, "you okay?"

A/N: So it looks like Shadow's finding Echidnopolis al right; everyone's behind him and he's already got a new life. Next chapter tells a different story, a story with no happy ending.


	3. Chapter 3 To Break a Dream

Chapter 3 – To Break a Dream.

A/N: The reviewers as always get the first shout:

HHH – Pervy kid, urgh, the stuff of nightmares. Well, at least the school should help you sort him out – remember, getting help from a teacher isn't weak, or being a snitch, it's being smart. If someone causes trouble, get out of town and get some help; they might act big and tough, but they all look the same when they're in detention.

DH – I am very touched and humbled; my work's not bad, but I don't know how I do it. I just sort of have an idea, think about it, try all sorts of combinations and go with what seems to fit. Just glad people like to read it, and as for the lack of reviews, I like to think of that as, hey, at least no-one's flaming me!

Ri2 – I will say this – close, very close…

In the space of seconds, Knuckles had blinked his eyes open in the darkness of his bedroom.

The guardian had always been a light sleeper, but even more alert than usual of late; the new threat of the Dark Legion, and the fact he seemed to have more to protect than just the Master Emerald, had honed his abilities to new heights. _If they were to strike, I can't be found wanting_; eyes softening as he looked to the right of his, a hand that could crush steel slowly, tenderly moving to caress the wings of the bat who slept beside him, not disturbing her rest as Rouge dreamed on; _not when there's so much more at stake_. He heard the siren's song once more, the insistent scratching at the back of his mind telling him all was not as it should be and, bound as he was by the blood than ran from his earliest ancestor, Knuckles could do nothing more than obey. Quietly he slipped on his shoes and gloves, making no noise in the darkness of his home, not wanting to rouse Rouge; this was something he would face alone and hopefully prevail against before the bat awoke. _I'll be back soon_; stilling the need to be gone for a few moments, the echidna softly padded back to the bed; his lips brushed the downy fur of his wife's cheek even as his mind made the promise. Lilac eyes closed as he at last realised the time had come to face whatever was threatening the shrine and that which he had devoted his life to protect; quickly exiting his home, insulated from the slight chill in the air by the thicker fur on his body, Knuckles jumped and caught the wind, gliding to the Master Emerald as it's silent imperatives warned him of the potential danger approaching it.

XXX

The journey had been long, and it had been hard; isolated, alone from everything, if this failed to work; _but it will – it must work, there's no way it can't_; there would be no way back. To even get this far, acts heeded as treasonous had been committed without a second thought and the theft had taken place that had provided sustenance for the arduous trek that had followed. A deeper shadow in the darkness shifted; the guardian would be coming, he who had struck and caused such pain, not only with his fists, or more correctly his elbow, but also with his own body, his own presence. _I should hate him, him and his friends, for what they've done to me_; a robotic arm flexed in the darkness, careful not to reflect the moonlight and cause a glint that would have given away the ambusher's position, a mind fighting to keep the emotion of a burning, passionate heart in check as the truth behind the mad logic revealed by coming here, to the near-mythical place where the guardian was sure to be, was run over again, the maddening frustration and helplessness chafing; _but I can't – I can't hate him. He's stopped me hating, I can't do what I've been doing any more. It took weeks to even find his name, and now I know who it was that caught me like this. Knuckles_; the silhouette shivered as though tasting the very finest nectar, the memory of the guardian's name evoking the scenes of victory it knew would be following, the pleasures that were sure to follow; _you've got me forever, now it's my turn to do likewise_.

XXX

With barely a rustle, the guardian touched down on the shrine, eyes closed for not longer than a split-second as he made peace with the soul of Angel Island. What he read there was comforting to a small degree; _no-one's in the shrine, the Master's safe, for now – hang on, that was quick._ The last realisation was a bit of a shock; it had taken less time than usual for him to scan the area adjacent to the Master, but he stored the response away – he could deal with that later. Right now, it was his sworn and solemn duty to ensure whatever threat had summoned him here was deal with quickly and efficiently. Dropping into a slight crouch, allowing his eyes to adjust to the dimness even if the moon was full overhead, the guardian crept forwards, alert to the slightest change in circumstance, the barest hint of someone or something else being here. A noise like a slight gust of wind behind him, wind where there was no wind, sent him spinning around, seeing something hidden in the shadows of a nearby copse of trees. Raising his guard, wishing for not the first time that he could see like Rouge could in this darkness, Knuckles issued his challenge,

"I know you're there; come out and face me".

XXX

Every detail, as exquisite and perfect as last time, stood out even in this darkness; it was a curse the augmented vision couldn't be used – it would have alarmed the guardian. His senses must have been extra-ordinary – for such a shallow gasp to have alerted him was beyond the ken of almost anything thus far seen, no technology yet seen had been so sensitive to the audible wavelengths. Drinking in the sight raptly even if the menace behind the pronouncement was undeniable, the figure who had tracked the guardian to his ancestral seat of power, risking it all to claim him forever, stepped forwards from the safety of the hiding place.

XXX

It was still too dark to see clearly, but Knuckles instinctively knew his opponent had moved forwards; just how far didn't become apparent until he blinked and suddenly there were a pair of shadows; someone stood before him dressed in an enfolding robe that, if not black, had to be an evil shade of colour. _The Legion_; he felt hot blood course through his veins, battle lust waiting to overtake him, but as there was no movement from his sworn enemy, or at least one of them, he stilled the impulse. Guardian and Legionnaire regarded each other for moments, lost in analysis or imagination, until Knuckles decided to take the initiative,

"Who are you?" He stepped forwards, planting his feet solidly in the earth in a stance that would allow him to move in any direction, for defence or offence as the situation called for it, "and what do you want here?" There was a slight chuckle for his answer; this was probably a trick, but then a voice answered him, the unseen trespasser taking further steps forwards and answering in a voice that really made the guardian sweat. Not because of the words, but because of the tone.

"You, Knuckles. Everything I want is you".

The guardian had been prepared for anything but that; dropping his guard to disguise his shaking arms, Knuckles licked suddenly dry lips and swallowed, trying desperately to think of something to say, some sort of previous experience he could draw upon, the thought of Amy not really helping much as he recalled what had happened at the end of her fan-girl approach to chasing Sonic. Taking advantage of the silence, he saw with dread that the Mobian before him was approaching, that same soft voice weaving its way towards him as he backed off, trying to force his stunned mind to think clearly as to what to do next,

"I knew from the moment we touched", a laugh, not ugly or evil, one of gentle merriment, sank blissfully into his ears, "all right, we struck each other in anger, but it was there, I knew it. You're the only one for me guardian, and I need you. I can, I will be yours; I can do anything you ask of me, I just need you to be as bound to me as I am to you". The distance was closing, it was almost short enough to reach and touch the one who'd made an indelible mark on…

"I can't".

XXX

Whoever this was stopped short, trembling as though he'd screamed at her, the whisper that passed his lips stopping it's progress dead. Knuckles wasn't sure quite what he was dealing with, but there was no way he could ever think of betrayal. Not of Rouge; his mind drifted back to the memory of her striking a blow against the greatest enemy he'd ever faced even if it had almost certainly meant her injury, her foot slamming into Dimitri's face, forcing the ancient, crazy echidna to deal with her rather than brush his dreadlocks aside. He loved that bat with every fibre of everything he was; there was no way he could break a bond that strong, no reason he would ever want to do so; compared to the brawling, squabbling, passionate love he shared with the woman of his dreams, whatever this strange figure was offering was only, could only ever be, a pale imitation. _And not an offer I can accept_; his mind made up, the guardian still faced an unpleasant task, ever more galling as he realised no matter what he did, someone was going to get hurt. Slowly bracing himself, the guardian raised one of his massive hands.

XXX

The second the glove slid upwards, the quest died, blood rupturing from it just as it did from a shattered, mortally wounded heart. To preserve nothing but pride, all that was left now that ambitions, hopes and dreams had been sundered forever, obliterated by the jewel that sparkled in the light of the silvery moon, there were no tears, no screaming and no sense of blame. Logical thought overrode everything else, sealing off the ruptured emotions until they could be vented safely, away from the one who was destroying her again. Someone else had claimed this incredible Mobian forever – denial was futile and pointless, it was obvious in Knuckles' manner and, as he began the tortured explanations, his voice as well, that he would not be tempted to stray,

"I'm sorry"; _there's nothing you can say_; he wouldn't stop though, each word, mangled through a contrite speech that he didn't need to use, twisting the knife he had unwilling used to slay everything she'd aspired to, "I can't…I love another, and I'll always love her. We've fought, nearly died…" Speech couldn't be trusted, no weakness could be shown now, for if it was he might attempt to cross the gulf between them at that really would be the end, there would be not even the slimmest hope of a recovery. Escape was the only option; _I have to get away, let me die in peace Knuckles – you killed me without even meaning to, just like you smashed me down without even knowing who I was._

XXX

He choked of his ramblings as the black hood dipped, then raised again, obviously not wanting to listen to apologises that sounded horribly contrived even to his own ears. Whoever this was, they were now desperate to leave, as desperate to go as Knuckles was to offer reparations; even if his head told him there was probably nothing he could do, his heart demanded he do something. Closing his eyes, trying to make sense of this, the guardian called out just as they reached the hiding place his visitor had previously occupied,

"Wait"; _at least they've stopped_; he'd had an irrational fear that his rebuff would have forced them to run, get away as he'd hurt them cruelly, even though there had been no other way – he could no more betray Rouge than he could have thrown the Master Emerald from the side of Angel Island, "is there anything you need? Money? Food?"

"No", the answer was short and to the point, but just prompted another question; he bit down on his tongue, trying to imagine what it would sound like to her, but in the end he had to know. He needed to see who would come out here, into the wilderness, just to find him, proposition him as this figure had,

"Wait", he said again to the figure's retreating back, again feeling a relief in his chest as it did, head lower this time but still listening as he asked his final, most caustic question, "who are you?"

XXX

_Why not?_; fatalistic humour dredged up from the core of her soul flooded out all over her deadened emotions; _not like he'll care too much. Just tell him, then I can walk off and die_. The words came slowly to numb lips,

"Julie", she saw the guardian cock his head, digesting her name, "Julie-Su". Under his gaze, a look that had seared her mind just before his savage strike had sent her reeling into unconsciousness, she retreated forever, walking without seeing where she was heading for, the water in her eyes not falling yet as she refused to show any weakness before the one who had broken the dreams of her heart forever.

XXX

She had been confused upon waking, not feeling the pressure to the side of her where Knuckles normally lay; the confusion had deepened to fear and shock when she'd rolled over, only to feel more soft mattress beneath her, her movement not arrested by the warm, firm body of her husband. Galvanised by such loss, Rouge had quickly interpreted the most likely cause of Knuckles' absence and rushed outside, not feeling the coolness of the air through her nightshirt as desperation to discover where Knuckles was at this late hour. Anxious eyes scanned the sky, followed a second later by the sounds unique to her species; ears twitching, Rouge had assimilated the returning sound waves from her ultra-sonic bursts; clutching the doorframe, she let out a long, slow breath of relief.

There was no way she could mistake that silhouette; even though echo-location gave only vague proportions to shape and orientation, she knew her husband's form when he was gliding. _And he's heading for home_; smiling slightly, wishing abstractly for a rolling pin to really hammer home the image, Rouge waited on the doorstep for her wayward partner, calling as he came within earshot,

"And just where have you been sneaking off to Knuxie? Another merry little jaunt with your eldest but one father, per chance?" Strangely the echidna didn't reply, merely changing his direction slightly to get home faster; either there was something big on his mind or, she tensed, ready for him to try and tackle her as he swooped in, he was going to use body language rather than words. She sniggered a little; six months ago she would have bet her life he'd have been to shy to even consider some of the thing he now did routinely, taking a few risks in his life now just to spice things up; _I've been a bad influence on his no-risk attitude – oh well, he's never complained_. She put a hand over her lips to cover her spreading smile, a smile that withered away, replaced by concern as she saw the state of her husband as he touched down and stumbled to a halt.

That alone was reason to be worried; Knuckles never made mistakes on landing for fear of twisting ankles or knees if he botched it. Coming off the shelter of her front door, Rouge was struck by the seeming emotion that was permeating the normally confident echidna that shared her life; rather than the focussed, get-the-job-done glint in his eyes, there was only a disbelieving haze, as though he was trying to come to terms with some monstrous decision and not having a lot of luck with it. Stepping closer, she reached out, trying to meet his gaze, and put her hand on his well-muscled shoulder; the touch seemed to jar him, help to snap him out of whatever fugue he was in; a process aided further by her first words,

"Knuckles?" His eyes cleared up a certain amount, lilac meeting aqua blue as she made her next words clear and deliberate, "why are you up this late at night; what happened out there?" He was silent for a little while before shaking his head, the movement making his dreadlocks ruffle. He pointed towards the still open front door,

"Let's go inside first; you're freezing"; as though reminded of her boy by his words, the bat shivered as chill air threatened to seep through her skin completely. Letting her go on ahead, walking slowly as he tried to come up with some kind, any kind of explanation on the fly, Knuckles paced slowly towards his home, still thinking deeply as he solemnly closed the door. Turning back around, seeing Rouge shivering more violently now as she registered the cold, he concentrated on that problem first; his larger hands quickly and vigorously rubbed her shoulders and arms, generating heat, helping her warm up. She smiled at him, making no move to dissuade his work,

"It's late, come on", she jerked her head towards the bed, only hoping the blanket there had preserved some of the warmth that had been there of late, "we can talk there". The echidna nodded; for some reason he and Rouge always seemed to do most of their important talking in bed, a habit that had been born on their first night in Echidnopolis.

A few minutes later, combined in warmth and comfort, the two Mobians were tucked in together, Knuckles with his arm under his wife's head, her nearest wing similarly draped over his chest and stomach. As he carefully stroked the fragile membrane, he heard her voice question, as he knew it would,

"So then", she had to handle this delicately, calling on all her previous experience with feelings to try and make this as painless as possible, "where were you up and about so late? I take it something was up with the, ah, third member of the family?"

"Yeah", he propped himself up on one elbow, looking at her even if all she could see was his silhouette set against the darkness, "my guardian powers must be getting stronger, I must be growing up more quickly now". Unusually, extenuating circumstances dictated by the strange behaviour her husband was displaying the face of a threat to the Master, Rouge let a golden quip opportunity slide, allowing him to maintain his momentum with a careful question,

"They never specified a time scale for the powers, did they? You've been able to glide since before I knew you, you were just starting when Sonic gate-crashed Angel Island you said earlier", Knuckles smiled, remembering the first time the wind had kissed his dreadlocks, allowing him to soar free in the skies of his island, "and now this, you can really sense the Master Emerald shrine; pretty soon you'll be able to scan like you grandfathers".

"Yeah, just think of that; I can keep tabs on you even when we're at work". This time Rouge couldn't turn it down as she raised a causal eyebrow with a laugh in her voice,

"Are you insinuating…?" He replied in the same vein,

"Well Vector does have a dashing smile"; he didn't need to see her gag to know it was there, but the memory of what had just transpired killed the humour instantly; he couldn't get this Julie-Su out of his mind. She was wandering through the wilderness of Angel Island, in the dark and on her own, but him being there would only make things worse. Knuckles was first to admit he wasn't a leading authority on emotions, but even he could tell she had been after him in a big way; the shudder that had run through her body when she'd seen his wedding ring, well, he'd only ever seen that shudder once before, when his father had explained that his ex-wife would be married once more. He started as a smaller hand slipped into his own,

"Talk to me Knuxie"; _well, I know I made the right choice_; the echidna relaxed slightly, nothing else could chill him out the way Rouge could, "what happened at the shrine?"

"Someone was there; I think it was another echidna, maybe one from the Dark Legion". The hand tensed its grip,

"Did they attack you?"

"Worse", and it was, the feeling that he'd crushed someone in the callous way he had was eating him up inside as he sighed, "she propositioned me".

There was a very stunned silence for a few seconds before an audible snort broke the air; Rouge, as he had suspected, was having a hard time believing that; _as am I_; but laughing wouldn't help here.

"Rouge", he spoke over her giggling fit, "I'm serious, I think, no, in fact I know she was serious. I never really saw her face, but I could just hear it in her voice, she really did want me".

"What, er, what did you do?" The bat's question was attempting to be supportive, but even so he could still detect the faintest quaver of doubt there; would his answer be what he needed to hear?

"I showed her my wedding ring, but I never said who my wife was", that was certainly true; the last thing Knuckles wanted was the Legion to have a more eminent target in the form of his wife – as far as he knew, all the information the Legion had was that the bat was, at best, the fifth member of the Chaotix, "after that, she, ah, she just left, turned and walked away; I asked her name, but she didn't want anything else. I hurt her".

"You didn't have a choice", Rouge slipped smoothly into the conversation, easing the guardian's concerns as she realised this was an area where even Knuckles, formidable as he was, would have a problem understanding the motives of the jilted woman, "if you'd have stuck around or chased her she'd have got more desperate; you just came back here right?"

"Yeah". She nodded,

"Right, that was the best thing you could have done; she's very upset and highly emotional – if you'd have gone after there's no telling what she could have done just because she was feeling so bad. You got out the danger zone, let her cool off in her own time; I'm not sure about echidnas but if they're anything like women from the land below she'll have a good, long cry and then start to sort herself out".

Knuckles was silent for a few seconds, then settled into bed with a sigh, gazing up at the ceiling,

"I hope so", he shook his head again, "I don't know where she is now, but I hope she stays safe – I'll get one of the Chaotix to look around tomorrow morning, see that she gets somewhere safe okay. If what you said was right it's probably better she doesn't see me".

"You're learning Knux", Rouge leaned over and gently kissed his lips, rubbing his forehead softly as she settled back down, "slowly but surely, you're learning". The guardian prodded his wife in the side for revenge and rolled over, seeking sleep that was a long time coming, even when the gentle snores of his soul mate sounded out in the darkness.

XXX

She slept as she walked and ate, when her body demanded sustenance, from the last of the rations she had stolen from her former home; when all was gone, she tossed the bag, meaningless and empty as she now was, into a nearby stream, the flowing water swallowing the bag and the contents that had taken her weeks of hard, patient work to attain. The data disks containing the Dark Legion's most accurate predictions of the guardian's lair, the shrine of the Master Emerald, were destroyed by the water as Julie marched on, seeing nothing, feeling nothing in her blank state. Abstract thoughts told her what she already knew; she was now more of an outcast from the Legion for her treachery than she had ever been before, and the rest of the echidnean society would revile her for her augmentations, the physical marks that she had been part of something they reviled. Strangely, she couldn't be bothered enough to care; it didn't matter what happened next, either the Legion or the EST would get wind of her location and she would be in serious trouble either way. _But what the hell?_; she snorted slowly, dimly aware of lights on the horizon and that she was heading towards them; _I've lost – nothing's left for me now. The guardian chewed m up and spat me out, who cares what happens to the carcass?_

The sun was fading in the sky when she realised she was on her way into Echidnopolis; Julie chuckled, a low, mirthless sound as she realised this made it certain who'd get to her first as she pulled her now ragged robes, concealing her cybernetics just a little longer, up against the rainy sky. Her feeling was returning; now she could feel the nip in the air, the atmosphere soaking her fur and, she grimaced, the dull, empty ache where her heart used to be. She moved forwards, eyes fixed forwards, feeling her clothes pull water up from the pavement, drenching her legs further, trying hard to clamp down on the welling misery in her soul for just a little longer:

_...bad day, please don't take a picture._

_It's been a bad day, pleeaaaassseeee……_

The words were distorted by speed and whipped air, but she heard them; the irony hit her like a kick in the face and, suddenly, she laughed; _bad day, this redefines bad day – days don't come any badder than this. Not for me_; unbidden, unexpected, tears fell from her eyes and she began to shake, all her energy focussed on dragging her body a few steps to the left before her knees gave way; _not for me_.

Finally, Julie's grief was released; sobs tore through her soul as she mourned the loss of her dead, broken dream, the only one she'd ever had since her first was destroyed by her father, her real father. The guardian was lost to her, the Legion had hurt her twice; what else was there? She curled up, her knees hugging her chest as she let her head sink, defeated, onto her arms, muffling her crying, letting her release her injustice, her anger at the aching, unfair world, in peace.

"Hey", he voice broke in on her private mourning; she let her head rise to see a blurry picture as to who was trespassing, "you okay?"

A/N: The lyrics were taken from REM's Bad Day – awesome record, awesome band. So, what's going to happen next?


	4. Chapter 4 The Cold Lights

Chapter 4 – The Cold Lights of Dawn and Dusk.

A/N: Again, the job's a pain as it detracts precious writing time; oh well, grin and bear it I must. Still, glad I'm still getting the same reviewers:

HHH – Good, just as long as that problem's sorted out; if you get any more hassle, you know where the principle's office is, he can deal with it. Until then, glad you like what I'm writing.

DH – Okay mate, here's a toughie for you; regarding the mention of Julie's 'injury' you made, read the last chapter of this story ad the big fight in Lose Your Illusions and see if you can see where she makes a (very) minor mention, she's not named then. If you get the answer, I'll be very impressed indeed; it's one of the subtlest plot hooks planted to date!

GTP – Hope you had a good break; which other stories have you read to catch up?

Ri2 – Yep, Julie's made her entrance, but where's it going from here?

"Oh yeah", the question was a dumb one; Julie answered it with the only things she had left in the face of her crippling desolation; sour ashes of bitterness and sarcasm were flung heedlessly at this innocent before she could control them, "I'm fine; I just love coming onto the street and having an absolute breakdown for no real reason; if it's raining so much the better, makes it harder to see you know? So", an ugly laugh broke up her stinging tirade, "I'm feeling as good as it's possible to be".

She felt shame, disconnectedly, as though it wasn't directly hers; she knew she should apologise for her harsh words but she just couldn't, she didn't have the energy. She felt a hundred years old, letting her head sink back onto her knees simply because she couldn't hold it up any more, sudden, crippling tiredness sweeping over her. The grass underneath her was all of a sudden soft and inviting; if she stretched out on it, she could just close her eyes and let it all go away, at least until morning dawned. It was her ears that prevented her taking his option; just as she was preparing to fall backwards and surrender to encroaching sleep, they informed her of a steady set of footsteps, muffled by the rain and the grass, but still steadily growing louder, heading towards her. _What now?_; fighting a desperate battle to keep her eyelids open, Julie looked up to see someone stood up in front of her; she had to crane her neck higher to see a hand extend downwards; it was as she examined the offered hand that the same voice spoke again,

"Come on".

XXX

Once, if what the others had written about him was to be believed, he would have just walked on by without turning a hair, but now this was different; Shadow just couldn't consider leaving this stranger crying her eyes out in the middle of the road. Danger signals were present in his mind, but he discounted them; he honestly didn't think this huddled, shivering wretch was a serial killer in disguise; _or if she if, she's one hell of an actress_. Sighing, the hedgehog walked closer, seeing the echidna, or who he assumed was an echidna, drop her head lower, back down onto her knees; _better make this quick_. Clearing his throat, trying hard to raise his voice so she'd hear it and praying she wouldn't take his words the wrong way, he made the offer he really didn't think he had a choice but to make,

"Come on". She looked up; he found himself wondering why she was wearing such heavy clothes in the summer before her answer came through,

"What?" _Great, do I have to explain it as well_; swallowing his discomfiture, Shadow quickly said what he could see,

"Listen, it's late, it's dark and it's going to throw it down with rain pretty soon; I can't leave you out here like this. You look like someone who's going through hell and back and I don't think I want to know why; my place isn't the best, but anything's got to be better than this, sitting on a verge getting damp and shivering". For a second, she was silent; he was about to move on, give her up as a lost cause and find out if there was some sort of homeless charity that could have helped her when he saw her shoulders shaking again and his face softened; _she really is in a bad way, must have touched a nerve_; he dropped to one knee, only to suddenly be passed midway.

XXX

His words were funny, just because they were so true; Julie had to chuckle as she realised he was right; quite literally anything was better than this. She was at the absolute rock-bottom, she just couldn't get any lower; it was a choice between laying there and letting life start shovelling the dirt on top of her now, or slowly start to somehow claw her way back up again. _At least I can have one last night in relative comfort_; she chuckled as she pictured his face, just when he looked past the robes that still luckily concealed who she'd until recently been affiliated with; _then the EST can step in and cart me away – wonder if prison's running any self-help classes these days_. The gallows humour wasn't much, but it was the small spark she needed to begin a tiny ignition, get back a miniscule speck of purpose in her empty life; if she could walk just a little further, she could sleep somewhere safe and comfortable, at least one last time. Tiredly, she put her hands behind her and pushed up, gritting her teeth against the cramp she could suddenly feel eating its way through her tendons like acid; though they'd probably be the evidence that would have her imminent conviction signed, sealed and delivered, she was grateful that her robotics were still functioning; they were enough to get her on her feet. The other echidna jumped up as she stood, swaying as she faced him, drunk on fatigue but holding it off just a little longer. Trying hard to control her tongue into not slurring her speech, she gave a nod,

"Right – where's this pit of yours?"

"Hey", he sounded indignant, drawing himself up primly, "I just got the place; the only reason it's untidy's because I haven't finished unpacking". _Great, he's house-proud_; there was something new; in Julie's experience of the male members of the Legion, most of them didn't give a damn about the state of their barracks unless an inspection was due imminently – this was a rather pleasant change. Not trusting herself for further conversation, she nodded again and walked forwards, trying to keep his back in her blurring vision, fighting the tinge of grey that threatened to crowd the silhouette of her inviter into encompassing shadows.

XXX

He wasn't really happy with this; in fact he was more than a little concerned at the slow pace he was being forced to adopt, constantly checking over his shoulder to make sure she was still on his tail. Though the slowness of the walk didn't chafe with Shadow anywhere near what it would have done if Sonic had been in his place, the drizzle and constant looking back were starting to grate. _But never mind that_; the irritation he felt with each backwards glance died instantly as he saw the staggering, listless figure he was leading – under other circumstances he may have been tempted to pick her up and just run her back to his new home. But the situation was a little too delicate for any heavy-handedness. For all he knew she was running away from someone who'd mistreated her; any unwanted physical contact could stir up bad memories and cause her to run off again. So, ignoring the rain that now clung to his sodden fur as best he could, Shadow continued to lead the girl with no name towards a safer place where, finally, introductions could be made.

Going by the most direct route, Shadow completed a journey that would have taken him, at worst, fifteen minutes at a walk some thirty-five or so minutes later, bedraggled by the steadily thickening rain and in a foul temper with frustration because there was zilch he could do about it. Still, at least they were here now; fishing his keys out his pocket, Shadow fumbled with the front door of his apartment block, grateful that he only lived on the first floor – at least getting there from here shouldn't be too much of a struggle.

XXX

It was almost too hard now – only the primal knowledge that falling whilst climbing ran the risk of damaging something vital kept Julie on her feet, every sinew in her legs screaming for rest, a fractional pause in the exhausting climb. _Not long now_; the blood thundered in her temples, making her head feel like it was swelling, her vision swimming as her eyes expanded, each step upwards allowing her ascendance to a new plane of absolute tiredness. The greyness, sensing her weakness, closed in; she had a vague sensation of falling forwards, legs finally giving way, before it raced in to claim her.

XXX

Shadow heard movement behind him and spun; next thing he knew there was a heavy weight crashing into his chest and he was forced to one knee, grunting under the sudden strain as he fought to keep his balance and avoid being sprawled under the collapsing echidna. _Man, she's soaked, and heavy_; it was more of a struggle than he'd anticipated dragging his unconscious companion back to her feet, and even more of one just to get moving again. His eyes flickered left and right as he trudged along the darkened hallway, hoping against hope that none of his new neighbours would take this opportunity for a late night introduction; _ah, hi, I'm Shadow – what body? Oh this one, well, er, you see, don't worry, she's not going to be around long_. He had to bit his lip to stop laughing at the thought, his only exclamation a sigh of relief as he saw his flat door hove itself into view; quickly selecting the right key, he unlocked it and pushed forwards, quickly dragging the stranger forwards and setting her down just inside the door. Slamming it hastily shut, he span and leant against it, sinking down as he rubbed his arms, looking at the next problem in front of him, one he had absolutely no idea how to deal with.

She was out cold, there were no two ways about that; she was also in his hallway in damp clothes in a fairly chilly environment; Shadow dimly recalled some risk of hypothermia existing in such circumstance – it was at that moment he remembered the treatment and blushed. _Take off the wet clothing and put on something dry_; the black hedgehog looked over in despair, swallowing a lump in his throat even if his face went as red as his eyes; _wonderful – I've known this girl less than an hour and I'm pulling her clothes off already. Sonic'll be impressed_; the last thought sparked out of nowhere and he immediately chided himself for it. Here was no place to be thinking like a dirty-minded schoolchild – right now, he needed, and she needed him to, think and act like the responsible adult he was. With this in mind and a deep breath in his lungs, he regarded the problem again, this time with a more critical eye.

He didn't have much clothing as a rule as he didn't really suffer from the cold and it was summer, so there wasn't a lot of help in his wardrobe. So, with that in mind, he had the idea to kill two birds with one stone; she obviously needed to sleep off some of her stress and, though tempting, he couldn't let her do that in his hallway with any level of decency. So he needed to get her to bed; he was suddenly very grateful Amy had convinced him to take a sleeping bag with him to Angel Island, so his sleeping wasn't really a problem, the settee would do for him. With that made up in his head, the black hedgehog stood back up and moved down beside the unconscious echidna; reaching up, he flicked on the light switch to get a better view before dropping to his knees, fully intending to scoop her up and walk the remaining few feet to his already made bed. It was at this point something glinted in the sudden light, making him squint; when he realised what the light was reflecting off, he leapt back, pressed against the wall of his apartment, the harsh pin-point of light capturing his eyes and draining the strength from him. _Oh no, it's all a set-up_; he was seized by certainty, the memory of his capture by the former lord of the Dark Legion standing out clearly in his mind as he beheld the metal that winked from the gap in her hood; _she's here because they remember me. The Legion knows where I am!_

XXX

Panic tore at him; Dimitri had held him helpless as no other living creature ever had, and now his legion were finishing the work he'd started in his stead. Shadow's thoughts whirled; his first instinct was to call Knuckles, but that was overridden by the lateness of the hour – he didn't think the guardian would appreciate being called out this late. _Wait, the EST – they'll know what to do_; yes, a Dark Legionnaire was their problem, it was their job to keep the technocratic faction's work to a minimum, so they'd know what to do. Fingers fumbling, the black hedgehog ripped the phone out his pocket, eyes never leaving the prone figure at his feet as he sought to look through her sham act – any minute now she'd realise he knew her game and leap up to strike him. _But wait…_

His dialling finger stopped centimetres short of the first button as another inner voice, unclouded by irrational panic and utterly calm, pierced the haze around him; _…if she is out to get you, don't you think she'd be a little more battle ready? I mean, look at her_; the black hedgehog did so and to his amazement, almost of their own volition, sudden small details became more and more apparent in his eyes. Her face, now he could actually see it in the light, was drawn and pale, the shallow breathing barely lifting her chest as the echidna slumbered on, oblivious to the tumult that was deciding her fate. The bags under her eyes, no way those were fake; she was completely exhausted, and still soaking wet; the black hedgehog shook his head, angry with himself for forgetting that – never mind what she was, he still had to make sure she was okay before he decided what else to do. Quickly scooping her up, guard still high just in case, Shadow darted down the hallway, easing open the bathroom door with his foot and snagging to towel off the rail with his teeth, draping it over the echidna to keep his head up and see where he was going. Luckily his bedroom door was still open from before he'd left for his massage classes; in a flash of insight he had the bright idea of laying the Legionnaire on the floor by the side of the bed, rather than on the blanket directly to avoid getting it wet. _Right, that was the easy bit_; slowly as he gazed up and down his new flatmate, the hedgehog felt his blush return, hand shaking as he reached forwards to tug at the first layer of her sopping wet clothes, trying hard to look as little as was necessary; _now for the hard work._

XXX

A short time later, Shadow was sat at the kitchen table, steaming mug of coffee in his hand to let his think clearly as he sipped from it mechanically – of all the things he'd expected from Honey's idea of a novel way to spend an evening, making sure an unconscious female Dark Legionnaire didn't catch her death of cold really hadn't even entered his mind. Well, at least she was safeguarded now; he took another swig as he thought about his options, only to snarl a little as he realised he didn't quite have enough to go on. Not yet anyway.

_Right, let's start with the basics_; one thing he did know was that, whatever the reasons she had for being here, she really had gone to a lot of trouble to make it this far. The few glances he'd been forced to take had revealed her condition had been worse than he'd thought; she was looking rough, tired and really generally in a poor state of repair. She wouldn't wake up tonight, that much was for certain, so he had a little breathing space to plan his next move; half of him was tempted to hand her over to the EST, but he just couldn't picture the bedraggled echidna now wrapped in his blanket as a threat. No, he needed to speak to her before he could come to any real decision; he needed to know why she was here and what he had to do with it, if anything. He gulped down the dregs and, noticing the late hour, made a couple of mental notes and went to turn in for the night himself. A night's rest, he told himself, then look at it again in the morning; that's make everything seem better, the light of a new day.

XXX

When eventually she could ignore the dreaded reality no longer, Julie muttered a barely audible curse and grudgingly let herself wake up; it was as she did so, her sleep-encrusted eyes finally managed to unglue themselves from her eyelids, that she realised three very important things in very quick succession. The first was that she was, or at least had been, sleeping somewhere warm and comfortable, the second was that had only a very vague memory of how she'd got here, something about walking asleep and then falling downwards, to account for that fact. It was, however, the third realisation that caught her immediate attention, causing her to whip the blanket up and exclaim the same curse rather more vehemently as she realised without any doubt that it was true.

She'd been sleeping dressed only in her underwear.

The blanket slammed down quickly, hiding anything that could have been seen by an improbably well-concealed eye as her cheeks went red, embarrassment and fury warring deep inside as she tried to think how this could have happened; _how did I go from fully clothed but outside to nearly naked and in a soft bed? Wait, who was that guy…?_ She strained her memory to try and think through the haze that was blocking out most of her recent recall; that might have been a mistake as it just seemed to re-open raw wounds; once more she saw her dream break, shattered like fine porcelain and leaving her with just pieces in her hands. This time, however, the memory, though sour and sore, had a slightly different angle to it as well; the echidna gritted her teeth as she had once before in her life and fought back, put her trust in the guts and gristle that had carried her so far in her unfair and unloved existence to once more take her own fate by the scruff of the neck and give it a damn good shake.

It took moments of strife and anger, but when her eyes opened once more, Julie-Su was once more in control of herself; though she still had a lot of pieces to pick up, the groundwork had been laid and could now be built upon. _And for my first extension_; she looked under the covers again, still red in the face as her memory traced backwards still, trying to refine and clarify the images out of a sea of empty tiredness that still dogged her even now; a huge yawn delayed the urge to curl up and go back to sleep as she tried to ratchet up the gears and get to some serious brainwork. _Well I was out in the rain, then this guy shows up and, aha, this must be the place he was on about_; excited at the headway, she half-rose and glanced around, letting out a hiss of triumph as she realised that was more likely than not correct – he'd mentioned just moving, and right in front of her by the wardrobe were a pair of suitcases, opened and with items still in them. Items that really belonged in a guys' room; try as she might, Julie couldn't really see any woman she knew having much need for that sort of deodorant and a small electric razor. _So I assume this is his place, and I assume he undressed me_; her eyes narrowed as she rubbed her hands together, clenching a fist and gently fingering her knuckles as she plotted her revenge; _so I know that when I get hold of him, I'm going to rip off his dreadlocks and ram them down his throat!_

The thought warmed her; good Samaritan or not, there was no doubt he'd taken liberties while she'd been under and that was cause for a pasting if nothing else was. Next second, the warmth drained out of her, extinguished like a torch being plunged into a river of ice; Julie groaned and pulled the covers over her head as something every sensible suddenly chose this moment to make a petition for its acknowledgement. She was here, in her underwear; that meant he must have seen certain areas of her that had otherwise have been concealed by her robes. _He's probably gone to get the EST already_; she shut her eyes again, determined that if she was going to be dragged away to a new life doing hard time, she'd go into that life the same way she'd entered this one, kicking and screaming; _he knows I'm a Legionnaire, or, at least I was. Wait, now there's a thought_…

Something occurred to her then, something she'd been in far too gloomy a mood to even begin to consider earlier; in the entire history of the Dark Legion, it must have been inconceivable that she was the first one who'd gone rogue. There must have been others who'd joined up, realised only then what they were letting themselves in for and run off scared, the same way she now was, after a fashion anyway. She'd never heard of it, but then again it would have been a real downer on morale to know it was possible to escape; in fact, in history she'd probably been fortunate in her timing. Enerjak was probably the most pacifist grandmaster in the Legion's history; he expressly forbade combat save as a last resort; _just as well following the botched capture of the guardian_; Julie rubbed her jaw wryly, though the memories hurt too much for her to be left with them for long, the mere thought of the guardian's wedding ring sent slivers of ice lancing into her soul, burrowing deep like shards of freezing glass to skewer her soul. Shaking her head, she tried to concentrate on other things, positive things, like when the EST came how she'd have a chance to explain what had happened, the fact she could still enjoy her last night in comfort, and the thought that, when she got hold of the pervert who'd stripped her, she'd be able to put her strength enhancers to good use. Smiling wolfishly at the thought of the pervert moaning and clutching his favourite friends on the floor, Julie-Su let her eyes drift shut once more and slumbered again.

XXX

_Most of the others_; Shadow thought bad-temperedly as he thrust another article into the basket he was carrying, reminded of what he was missing back at the Central Administration to go shopping; _are at this minute enjoying fresh fish in a really nice mint sauce that is on special offer on Wednesdays and that I happen to adore. I, on the other hand_; he examined something else on the rack and, after seeing the promise of one size fitting all, pulled it down and added it to the small collection he had now; _am clothes shopping for a girl I've know less than twenty-four hours and picked up off the street. And, just for a cherry on top, the absolute icing on the cake, I have to go into the woman's department to do so. Right, that's it – she wants anything else she pays for it_. Sick of feeling the eyes following him everywhere in a questioning manner, the hedgehog headed for the check-out, glancing at the clock to see he had ten minutes to finish here and get back to work. He also, he noticed, had less than four hours before he had to return to the even more embarrassing problem of explaining to his new and unexpected flatmate what had happened last night. _And it's any money she'll want all the gory details…_

XXX

Yawning again, Julie this time managed to pull herself out of the bed, glancing around blearily as she rubbed her eyes clear; there was a clock on the side that was handily displaying the time. It was about five past four; she'd slept most of the day away, but at least the last linger traces of exhaustion were finally spent, so she reckoned on the whole it had been worth it. Standing tall, not overly concerned with her lack of cover as the curtain was drawn she massaged her temples, trying to put her needs in the appropriate order. _Hungry, check, thirsty, check_; her nose caught a distinctly unperfumed odour and she shook her head; _and in need of a bath – right, kitchen and bathroom in that order_.

By putting her needs in that order, Julie was actually strangely fortunate; as she entered the kitchen in search of a cup to drink out of, the echidna noticed something propped up prominently on the table, folded but definitely meant for her. Picking up the paper, bodily needs temporarily suspended by curiosity, Julie smoothed out the crease and read the short message her erstwhile host had left her:

_To the late sleeper,_

_We'll talk when I get back – I'm currently at work. The front door is locked, and if you're not there when I get back I'll call the EST. Help yourself to anything you need to eat and drink; I should be home around five – we both owe each other an explanation._

_Your 'flatmate'_

_P.S – you were soaking wet last night, I didn't want you to catch hypothermia; I didn't look at anything and had the bedroom light off_.

She read the note several times, each time seeing a new angle in the message. First off, he didn't trust her further than he could throw her and that she could understand – as far as he knew she was a Dark Legionnaire and as such one of 'the enemy'. However, the 'flatmate' term and him poking fun at her sleeping in made her suspect that there was a sense of humour present, though his remark about why she wasn't wearing much more than a wide smile suggested he liked to act proper when he could help it. _I guess it could be worse_; overall, the note set her slightly more at ease – above all he hadn't called the EST straight off, so she had a chance to state her case before being thrown to the wolves. And as well as that; she licked her lips, eyes straying to the fridge as she remembered his invitation – anything she needed, well, after a walk that long and hard, she needed to build her strength up again.

XXX

Shadow was caught right between a rock and a hard place; behind him was the ribbing and snide humour of his workmate, all of whom by now had their own theories as to why he'd rushed out at lunchtime to buy a set of woman's clothes, while at home was the actual reason behind his unusual shopping spree. In the end, he'd done what he did best; shrugged, squared his shoulders and approached the problem head on. His key ticked into the lock of his front door, the black hedgehog slightly relieved it was still in one piece – he'd had doom-mongering visions of his new guest taking offence at being locked in and simply making her own exit. _Going by what I saw last night_; she shook his head, ready to step to the side in case of any unpleasant surprises waiting for him on the other side; _I wouldn't put it past her_. Swallowing the slight nervous lump in his throat, Shadow suddenly acted; simultaneously twisting his key and his body, he pushed the door open and threw himself to one side, bracing in case anything came roaring past like a bull in a china shop.

The first sound from inside thankfully dispelled that possibility; he let out a small whistle as he heard the distinctive sound of his shower being run at full blast. _Well, that's actually solved two problems at once_; now he could hand over the clothes he'd brought and, following that, speak to her without risk of her taking offence. Shutting the door behind him, the black hedgehog cleared his throat and called out,

"Good afternoon".

XXX

After a second, Julie came up with her answer,

"Hi", turning the shower down a fraction to make her voice clearer, she made her next request frank, "listen, you, ah, you got anything for me to wear after this? I can't find my old gear anywhere".

"It's in the wash", the disembodied voice called back its answer and she shook her head; _great, he's planned this to go one better than…_; "I've got some stuff though, I'll leave it by the door".

"Good", her answer was snappy to cover her own doubts; she'd taken a cursory look in the wardrobes and failed to spot anything that she could decently wear – he must have had it well concealed, "you wait somewhere else – I'll see you in a minute".

"I'll be in the kitchen"; with that, he fell silent; cutting off the water completely, Julie heard the soft thump of a light but bulky burden flopping to the floor and footsteps walking away. Stepping out of the bath and wrapping the larger of the two towels in her around herself, the echidna walked over to the door, resting her ear against it for a moment. Satisfied she could hear nothing, Julie opened the door just enough to get and arm around the jamb; she felt something soft beneath her fingers and pulled it in quickly, spattering it with water in her haste.

_What the…this is brand new_; shock made her blink, then blink again; _he's given me brand new clothes_. It was true as well, the labels were still there as she slowly slid them on; one size was supposed to fit all, but there was no disguising the fact the sari was a little baggy in some places, and a little tight in others. Actually, that was a good thing – if he'd have given her something that had been a perfect fit, well then she'd have had cause to get really concerned. Tightening the last cord, she shook her head one last time she looked herself up and down in the misted mirror and twisted the door handle.

XXX

Shadow heard his bathroom door click open even over the kettle and braced himself; this was it, the explanation he was both looking forwards to and dreading in equal measure. _Well, this is it_; turning around slowly, Shadow turned to see someone else looking right back at him, someone who really failed to answer the main question he'd had since last night. In fact, if anything, she only increased his gut feeling; that this particular Mobian wasn't exactly sure what colour she was meant to be.

It had started the previous night, once he'd seen her face and the fur on it; that fur, was it a really deep pink or a lighter shade of purple? He'd hoped to see some answer in her eyes, which he now realised he couldn't see; if anything they hammered home the point; he couldn't decide if they were dawn's darkest blue or deep-sea green. _Seems to change depending on where the light is_; he shook his head, looking away slightly, not wanting to be caught staring and anticipating the question he could see brimming on her lips, germinated in her furrowed brow,

"You", her voice was deeper than most of the women he knew, but it was still feminine as she finished, "you're not an echidna?" _Well_; his lip twitched upwards in amusement; he'd almost forgotten that little detail of Angel Island as most of the C.A staff now knew him; _ask a silly question…_;

"Oh you noticed", he pointed at the quills on his head chuckling a little now as he put a little fake frustration in his tone, "these are such a giveaway". He gauged her reaction carefully; to his surprise, after beating down a threatening smile, she tapped one of her arms, the metal giving a slight tapping noise that echoed around the

"Much like these are", she lowered her arms and her eyes, looking down slightly as she spoke through gritted teeth, "you know?"

"About the Dark Legion?" _She flinched – are they after her?_; now that was something he'd not considered – he disguised his thinking with a casual shrug, "I've heard rumours, but you're the first one I've actually met".

It wasn't strictly true, but he reckoned Dimitri didn't count because he hadn't had anything remotely robotic about him when they'd crossed paths and swords; all his power had come from the Bloodstone. He buried the memory of the red ruby, reminding himself it was gone now, in time to hear her question,

"Lucky me", she put her hands on her hips, analysing him as though trying to size up if she could take him on if it came to that, "so you know what I am, but what are you supposed to be?"

"I, am a hedgehog", Shadow was stung by her remark; it seemed she had a biting sense of sarcasm to rival Espio's, "I'm from the lands downstairs, here to seek my fortune". That got the reaction he'd been hoping for; as Charmy had told him once, laughter was the universal language and broke down barriers like nothing else – the echidna chuckled and shook her head,

"I see – any luck yet?"

"Well I don't think I could get much for you on the open market" he answered sardonically; her eyes flashed and she settled onto her back foot,

"Really, maybe I'll go somewhere they'll appreciate me better then; I hear the EST's got a bit of a head-hunt on, I could hand myself in for a couple of hundred".

"Maybe later", Shadow heard the kettle boil behind him and stiffened a little, "anyway, forget the EST for now; I haven't told anyone about you".

"I suppose I should be grateful for that", in the blink of an eye her tone went from bored to questioning, her eyes clear and probing for his reasons as she demanded, "why?"

It was the question he'd been preparing for all day and he had a ramshackle answer of sorts; his main problem had been convincing himself of his answers before he could even think of convincing anyone else of them. But there was nothing for it now; looking her dead on, Shadow answered,

"For the simple reason it doesn't make sense"; _she wasn't expecting that_; while the confusion unsettled her, the hedgehog went for it, "look at it in my shoes; I find someone, a girl to make it even more interesting, breaking down in the street; I can't just leave her there because she's obviously in a lot of distress, so I invited you back here and dragged you down the hallway when you passed out. I had half a mind to call them when I realised you had", he pointed the robotic areas of her arms and her single cybernetic dreadlock; casting her gaze up in annoyance, Julie filled him in on the details,

"Augmentations, that's the technical term for them".

"Right, well I saw them and that's when it really got screwed up", he leaned forwards, his crimson eyes burning and words measured; had she not been so confident in her own abilities Julie would have been forced back a pace, "I know next to nothing of the Legion, but what I do know is that they don't tend to wander around on their own in Echidnopolis in tears; I'm not a genius but I reckon something went wrong somewhere down the line and that's why you're not, er, wherever Legionnaires are supposed to be".

"Necronopolis", she spoke dully, reminded of a place she could never return to now, not after her thefts; she wouldn't be disgraced officially forever, but the ostracism would be worse than ever and she couldn't handle that right now, "yep, you've hit the nail pretty much on the head. I screwed up, no, in fact I made the mother of all screw ups, it blew up right in my face and I ended up here".

"I see", he knew she wasn't giving away the whole truth – he hadn't expected her to, but never mind, he wasn't expecting that so early on – in fact she'd surprised him by being in a fit state to talk now considering what she'd been last night, "drink?" She looked across, followed his finger to the kettle and nodded,

"Yeah, whatever you've got, just make it strong".

"Right, take a seat, er"; _now there's a good point_; he suddenly remembered he didn't know the most important thing about her – turning around, he realised she'd arrived at the same conclusion, "you have a name?"

"No, they call us by number in the Legion".

"Ouch, bet that gets…." Her smile blossomed and he realised the trap too late,

"Suckered", Julie took a measure of satisfaction in seeing the hedgehog wince; _better put him out of his misery_; "name's Julie-Su, Jules is fine, Su isn't".

"Right, call me Shadow or Shads, I'm not fussed". He heard her repeating the name, taking it in as he poured the water in and asked,

"Milk? Sugar?"

"Neither, as it comes".

"Right", he turned again, heading for a seat opposite his new named flatmate and pulling it out with his foot, she likewise sat down and accepted the cup as he pushed it to her. In silence, each thinking of something to break the ice, they took their first sips.

XXX

The bitterness of the drink caught her cold; spluttering, Julie put her cup down hastily, face screwed up as the coffee soured her palate. Noticing Shadow looking across in consternation, she wiped her lips with a free hand and pointed at he gently steaming liquid,

"What is this?"

"Oh, sorry", once more his forgetfulness of where he actually was proved his undoing; all he could do was apologise, "it's from my home town, it's called coffee. Bit of a refined taste".

"Right", this time prepared for the sharp tang, Julie took her cup once more and knocked back a generous measure, blinking to make sure her eyes wouldn't water this time, "not bad, something I could get used to".

"Don't get hopeful, you can't get it up here yet; pal of mine delivers it when I run low, so I get a bit of a supply going", Shadow answered her curious look with an easy smile, all the time wanting to keep talking, break down the walls between them – it was the only way he was going to figure out where he stood with Julie now. The echidna snorted, looking at her arms once more,

"Put in an order for some multi-grade while he's at it – I'll need something to stop me giving a new meaning to the phrase squeaky joints". Shadow examined her augmentations more closely,

"They rust?"

"Not really, they're supposed to be rust-proof, but they still need oiling occasionally", she put her head in her hands and leant forwards, muffling her voice slightly as she tried to add that to her already large to-do list, "something else I've gotta try and sort out now". Sensing an opening, Shadow leant forwards,

"What's on your mind?" The fingers parted, he caught a glimpse of those colour changing eyes in the speckled darkness and heard her give a weary laugh,

Well for a start I've gotta actually get in touch with the EST", she saw the hedgehog's brow knit and shook her head at his apparent naivety, "try as I might I can't hide forever – if I let them know I've gone rogue of my own free will they might have a better chance of believing me. After that, well I can go from there, try and scrape together a new life".

XXX

_Gotta give her credit where it's due_; Shadow had to digest the plan – from what he could see it was a good one, and it took a surprising amount of guts to put into practise; _the fact it also means she really doesn't know about my history with the Legion's just a bonus_.

"Sounds like a good idea", Julie looked over as he stretched back in his seat, reaching for the fridge handle as she suddenly dropped her gaze a little; _ah yeah, about that_; "first though, I need something to eat". The door gave easily to his tug; Shadow admired the perpendicular view for a second and then slowly shut the door again; settling his chair back down, the hedgehog looked over at where Julie was looking away innocently,

"But I won't find it in there; what…?"

"Oh come on", she pre-empted his question, "I hadn't eaten since I couldn't remember when and someone gave me an invitation to an all you can eat buffet? Thank you, drive through; don't look at me like that, I left you some".

"What, you think I can live on ice-cubes?" She chuckled again as he groaned, cursing himself for not seeing this earlier, waving a hand over to the front room in a token of defeat, "right, plan B; fetch the telephone directory".

"I call the salad bar"; Julie slid off her seat, only to be stopped by the hedgehog's voice,

"Not a chance; its fish or nothing in this house".

"Hey, I'm the guest".

"And I'm paying for it".

"I'm fetching the directory".

"It's my house". Both looked at each other, locking eyes, daring for a sign of weakness; it was a few tense seconds before Shadow, stomach registering serious complaints, made the first step towards a concession,

"Right, we get salad, but you're clearing up afterwards; washing and drying, deal?"

"Done".

XXX

With her fork clattering to the plate, Julie sat back, suddenly bottom-heavy as she swung from one extreme of absolutely famished to the other of full to the brim in the space of seconds,

"Ohh, I can't eat another bite", she patted her stomach, sitting on the floor propped up by the chair, "tomorrow, I diet".

"Well don't get too comfortable", she glanced up to see Shadow smile and point towards the kitchen, "you got the marigolds to don yet tonight".

"Oh yeah, wonderful", he followed her into the kitchen; as she filled the sink, she surprised him by her first question, "aside from ogling a barely clad female, how was your day?"

"Pretty good", it was then the first part of her question hit him and he fought to stop blushing, "hey, I did not look; I was just making sure you didn't catch your death, you were soaked to the bone out there".

"Really?" She turned to look at him over her shoulder, smiling a little as he just about managed to meet her gaze; her lips twitched with a shrug, "your loss". Shadow's mouth fell open, but before his appalled mind could even consider a comeback she'd left him in the dust,

"While we're on the subject, where do you work anyway?"

"C.A, the Central Admin", he growled, trying to keep the shame that was plainly visible on his face out of his voice, "I'm a runner there, just delivering whatever they give me; not much, but it keeps me fit and active".

"Don't remind me"; _of what exactly?_; "I gotta start getting back into shape now, oh I can just feel that meal making it's way right where I don't want it to go".

"As a purely neutral third party", Shadow felt his own smile nip onto his face as she turned around, holding a couple of soapy utensils and glowering as he looked her up and down, "I can't see anything moving anywhere".

"That's 'cause this sari's a little loose; thanks for that, by the way", he could tell by the way her tone softened what was coming next; he made to stop her but she ignored his fledgling voice and carried on anyway, "I owe you one".

"Listen Julie; I wouldn't be here now if people hadn't looked out for me in the past"; _wish I could remember more of it like, but I should be grateful for what I've got_; "my friends helped me up when I was knocked down; if it hadn't been for them, I'd never have been able to get to Angel Island, out on my own. Last night you looked as though someone had just knocked you out completely; take a breather, get back on your feet and go from there".

"Good idea, not like I've got much choice now", a laugh, tinged with bitterness, interspersed her words, Shadow listening intently as the echidna finished, "I can't go back to the Legion, so I have to start again". The statement was an irresistible lure; Shadow suddenly found a valid reason to ask the question that had plagued him all day but had feared asking in case it caused the wrong sort of reaction. Twiddling his fingers nervously, the hedgehog asked quietly,

"Why Julie? Why won't the Legion take you back? Why did you come here, to Echidnopolis"; he hastily added, keeping the query as innocuous as possible just in case, on tenterhooks for the answer.

XXX

_So, it comes to this_; the pain of the memories, though dulled, was still enough that she wanted to avoid it if she could, not to mention the fact that her decisions would make her look like an idiot now she had the benefit of hindsight. But just as she couldn't hide her partly cybernetic body from the eyes of the city forever, so was the reason for her leaving the Legion eventually going to be forced out; _and at least he's been cool so far_. With a long, mournful sigh, half-remembering a fantasy crumbling in her hands, she replied,

"I…fell in love".

"Oh, right", there was an uncomfortable silence before he added, "that's a crime in the Legion?" Despite the grim circumstances she had to give a quiet laugh, sorrowful, but a laugh nevertheless,

"It is when you break into massively encrypted data files, ransack stores and then go AWOL trying to make that love happen. And especially when you fall for the enemy"; the image of the guardian stood before her, the ring on his finger gleaming in the moonlight causing tears to well up; she crushed them down, refusing to let herself slide into mourning after such a day of progress.

"What, you fell in love…?"

"With the antithesis of everything the Dark Legion stands for"; _no point holding back now – lay it on with a spade_; Julie had gone through the barrier of embarrassment to the realm of 'I dare you to contradict me' and spoke accordingly, exacerbating how unusual her love must have sounded, "With the one who shattered the Bloodstone and destroyed the grandmaster Dimitri. With the one being who would be denied eternal life under the Legion's teachings. With the guardian, Knuckles".

She'd expected a reaction, but as a sudden crash echoed throughout the apartment she leapt up, spinning with her heart in her mouth as she saw Shadow on his feet, chair on its back behind him, face white under his black fur as he exclaimed,

"Knuckles! You, love Knuckles!"

"W,What?" She was as confused as he was shocked, then it became clear – despite her cautious side hope burst forth into her chest as she gasped, "you know him, don't you? You know the guardian – how? What's he like, what's his wife…?"

"Shush!" The hedgehog was in front of her in seconds, his eyes suddenly solidified into pitiless rubies that chipped into her mind. Pressing his face close to hers, not concerned that, push come to shove, she was a lot stronger than him, Shadow spoke in a menacing undertone,

"Yes, I know Knuckles, and I know his wife as well; the Dark Legion doesn't know about that and as far as I'm concerned they never will. You could be a genuine asylum seeker or you could be a fraud but you listen to me Julie-Su", he hypnotised her in the same way a dancing viper could paralyse a small bird, pinning her to the spot as he growled, "if the Legion finds out he's married, and especially who to, I will hold you responsible and nothing will stop me finding you, do I make myself clear?"

"Y'yeah"; it was all she could say – in the face of so much menace she'd forgotten her augmentations, her own strengths; Shadow stripped them from her not just with that dread promise, but with the desperation in his eyes; _he thinks I didn't know, I never told him…of course_; a chance to clear her blackened name beckoned enticingly and she leapt at it,

"He showed me his wedding ring; that's how I knew about her", Julie saw Shadow prick his ears, interest piqued as she swallowed something unpleasant, "I knew he was married, but I don't know who to and I didn't really care – I just, knew it was over. So I kinda gave up, wandered around until you found me".

XXX

Each Mobian stood not an arms-length from the other, taking in and absorbing what had been said, trying to sum up what it meant. All was still as the brainwork continued until,

"What's she like? His wife I mean – I don't want specifics", Julie held up her hands as Shadow snapped his eyes on her, "I just, well, just of old time's sake I guess. Is she fit?"

"Yeah"; _no names, places or dates and this should be okay_; Shadow was careful to guard the facts as he answered, "she's the only one I know who can keep pace with Knuckles all over this place and", he saw one indeterminable coloured eyebrow raise and his mouth dried up, "oh, _that_ kind of fit? Well", he took a second to compose his answer, "yes, she's not bad, but she could have had a face like a smacked crab and he'd have still gone with her. They've fought together, look death in the…what?" He cut himself off as Julie suddenly disintegrated, laughing at a joke he couldn't see and clutching the counter side, wheezing,

"Smacked crab", she giggled again, the mental image of someone disciplining an unruly crustacean playing out on her mind and torturing her funny bone even as she tried to regain her composure, "that's a good one, have to remember that. But anyway", she tried to pull herself together and shook her head, metallic dreadlock clinking against the side of the sink as she tried to inject a note of sobriety into her voice, "I knew in his face, he's going nowhere, he's out of my reach. Nothing I can do about it, I don't play like that, unlike some people I could mention", Shadow wisely decided it was safer not to ask as her face darkened, letting her walk in her memory alone before she seemed to come back to herself, "so all I can do now is, like you say, go on up from here".

"That's the spirit", keen to keep the conversation off the guardian, Shadow steered it in the right direction, "speaking of which, about the EST, they're open an hour before I have to get to work".

"I see where you're going with this", Julie smiled a little, a little relieved as the black hedgehog subconsciously picked up the dishcloth and set to work on the drying up pile, "and, after I'm done there, it'd be a good idea for me to…"

The ideas were bounced around for the remainder of the night as the clearing up, along with a few other chores, were polished off, hedgehog and echidna taking raw thoughts, moulding them to a more refined idea and storing them away for future reference. Eventually, however, the passing time caught up with the pair of them and, by mutual consent the same arrangements as the previous night were adopted and both new flatmates fell into sleep, sure that the next day would be a turning point for the both of them.

A/N: But which way's it turning? That is the question.


	5. Chapter 5 Beginning the Adaptation

Chapter 5 – Beginning the Adaptation.

A/N: Woohoo, a couple of good nights in the groove and a new chapter for you reviewers to enjoy:

HHH – I think ShadSu's the better name, but keep your eye on the ball, things can change very quickly. And can you spot an old face from the past in this chapter?

DH – Right sort of lines, but you make one little mistake – Julie didn't get her cybernetic arms after the fight. Try again, but remember it was Knuckles who put her down (and what he put her down with); aside from that it was a really good guess. Her character was pretty spot on as well; much like Big and Mighty, I don't think Julie-Su gets the credit she deserves on this site really.

Biting back an unpleasant snarl, Shadow hammered on the bedroom door again,

"Get up in there; you said it was the EST HQ first thing, you live with it. I gotta be at work by nine". The black hedgehog thought he heard some bleary, unintelligible noises from the other side of the door before a second, sharper noise grabbed his ears; _oh no, the phone_.

Shadow raced into the front room, grabbing the phone by the third ring; with a bit more planning than normal, he remembered to hit the button that activated the vid-screen function Tails had been kind enough to hook up for him. His television went fuzzy for a second before an image sprang into focus and Shadow blinked in recognised surprise,

"Sonic?"

"The one and only", the blue hedgehog chuckled for a second before, seeing Shadow had forgotten his earlier reassurances, he cut himself off with a shake of the head, quills chafing as he explained, "wanted to catch you before the job started; how come you never called last night? You forget?" _Oh hell, I was supposed to wasn't I?_; with all the previous excitement that tiny detail had slipped his mind completely; it had been his turn to phone Station Square rather than the other way around.

"Oh, blast it, sorry Sonic, I completely forgot, something came up and…" he tailed off as he realised the blue hedgehog wasn't paying him the slightest attention; both Sonic's emerald eyes were fixed over Shadow's shoulder, towards the entrance to the front room while his mouth was caught between a grin and a gasp of shock. Before the black hedgehog could question, Sonic raised a hand, the tips of the fingers huge from Shadow's point of view, and asked breathlessly,

"Shads, who's that?" Looking over his shoulder, the black hedgehog felt his eyes widen and his stomach disappear.

Standing in the doorway, looking like someone had dragged her backwards through a hedge, Julie didn't seem to have acknowledged the animated picture of the blue hedgehog that was pointing her out; her half-shut eyes were locked onto Shadow as she absent-mindedly smoothed down part of the crumpled sari she must have slept in. Shadow swallowed softly and closed his eyes, silently incanting a curse of the irony gods; he knew Sonic well enough to know exactly what would be running through his mind right now; _this is not a good start to the day_;

"I don' do mornings", she mumbled through sleepy lips; _and it's just got worse_. Judging the stunned silence as having made her point, she turned and seemed to head towards the bathroom; as the last vestiges of her tail edged out of view, Shadow cringed as he became aware of a very firm look trying to part the quills on the back of his head; _it's too early in the morning to have to come up with an excuse_. Turning around, he found his slight shrug squashed by Sonic on the verge of hysteria, trying not to laugh like mad; taking the opportunity to try and clear the matter up, Shadow quickly exclaimed,

"It's not what it looks like, I…"; good try, but he wasn't quite quick enough; laughter boomed over the speakers, Sonic's head temporarily vanishing as he doubled over, hugging his stomach as he drew his own false but still hysterically funny conclusions; Shadow could do nothing but grin and bear it until the blue hero stood up again, wiping his damp eyes as he tried to communicate legibly,

"And there we all whehehehere", he gasped as Shadow tapped his foot, grateful for his black fur hiding at least part of his blush, "thinking you'd get lonely; job on day one, now this in week three – what you planning for the end of the year, the world?"

"Believe me I've thought about it", Shadow allowed the blue hedgehog to laugh for a little before turning serious, only hoping Sonic wasn't so far gone he wouldn't listen to reason, "but seriously, no I am serious now", he added sternly, seeing Sonic's mock-petulant expression; he waited for that to vanish before continuing, "she's nothing to do with me; last night she was in tears on the street and I found her, I'm just helping her get to the EST now and they should take it from there. You saw…?"

"I was wondering", Sonic's expression likewise darkened as Shadow tapped his arm, though he didn't say the name as he let the black hedgehog draw in another breath and explain,

"She's left them, that's why she needs the EST, make it official, show she's quit. After that, I'm not sure; never met a Legionnaire before, never mind an ex-Legionnaire; no idea what'll happen". Sonic seemed to digest the words for a minute before nodding in a sagely manner

"True, but that was a good thing to do Shads".

"You all did the same for me", the black hedgehog answered solemnly, looking his blue counterpart in the eye, "least I could do was pass on that message when I could".

"Right"; _uh oh_; Shadow could see Sonic gearing up for his parting quip and braced, "something went up last night you said; hope it lasted long enough to…"

"Wrong, just wrong", Shadow cut him off, grimacing at the inflection as Sonic laughed at his discomfort, "that's the sort of thing I expect from Rouge; so, so wrong".

"Maybe, but funny all the same; see you later lover boy"; Shadow grinned like a piranha and, grudgingly, touched his fingers to the vid-screen, pressing them virtually against Sonic's before cutting the connection, shuddering at the blue hedgehog's double entendre.

XXX

Shadow's morning, as is so often the case, got worse before it got better.

He'd waited impatiently for the sound of the shower to cease and, when it did, whipped past a surprised echidna to rapidly brush his teeth and run a thick comb through his quills. Rubbing a corner of the mirror clean, he looked his reflection over with a critical eye; _been better, but could be a lot worse_. With this in mind, and checking the time to see that he really had places to be even before work started, he had to get both himself and his passenger going to make sure they could get where they needed to be. He opened the bathroom window a crack to vent it, pulled open the door and exited…to come face to face with the waiting Julie-Su. The echidna tapped her fingers together before looking at him sweetly and asking,

"Face or gut?" His face was a picture of confusion,

"Er, come again?" She repeated the innocuous question, this time with a picture-perfect smile,

"I asked, face or gut?" He scratched an ear, really in the dark as to where she was going with this,

"Er, gut?"

The second he was able to force air into his suddenly evacuated lungs he glared up at the echidna, eyes blazing as he demanded,

"What the hell..?"

"Principle", she shot back just as quickly, and at comparable volume, "there were extenuating circumstances I'll grant you, but you never undress a lady and expect to get away with it clean, just like, I may add, you don't try and wake me up in the morning; I really don't like that". Slowly, Shadow pulled himself to his feet, rubbing his now-sore stomach and glaring,

"Right, I'll remember that"; strangely she didn't flinch, meeting his glare with one of her own before suddenly smiling and tapping her metallic arm,

"Be grateful; believe me that's the least I can do with these – tell you what, that makes us completely square. We never mention how we met again, okay?" Shadow considered for a few minutes, watching out the corner of his eye as she slowly offered her hand,

"It needs an apology, but apart from that it'll do"; _let's see if she's big enough to say sorry_; Julie rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh,

"Okay, I'm sorry – right, matter dead and buried".

"Fine", despite himself Shadow smiled as he took her hand and shook – in fact he was so caught up in the sensation of relief, no longer could she bring up that embarrassment to make him squirm, that he nearly missed something important. Julie felt the hold on her hand tighten suddenly, Shadow speaking as she looked down,

"Hey, your hands, they're not metallic?"

"No", she was confused for a second before understanding; _gotta remember he knows nothing about us_; "these augmentations just replace the connective tissue; I haven't had my forearms replaced so my hands are still alive".

"They can do that; oh, course they can; I remember the gossip, one of your leaders had a claw for a hand, or something". _What did I say there?_; he must have hit something touchy as he saw a flicker of something nasty race across Julie's chameleonic eyes, though it was gone when she blinked again and slowly drew her hands away.

"Yeah, he's there, but he's not so much of a boss any more; he made a real cock-up and he's still paying penance for it. We can do a lot more than this believe me".

"I'll take your word for it, but anyway", Shadow remembered the next issue on the agenda at the same time she did; Julie finished the sentence for him,

"Yeah, we got places to be"; as she turned, she missed the calculating look that flicked onto Shadow's face. In fact, she didn't hear much until she paused, letting him duck out the door first to check the coast was clear,

"Right no-one around", he turned to regard her again, trying his hardest to keep his plan off his face as she asked the peach of a question,

"Okay, so any ideas how we can get from here to the EST without me being seen too much?" _Thank you, drive through…_

Anyone who stepped out of their first-floor apartment in a certain block at that precise moment might have been a little confused as to the noises they would have heard; a door slamming, a quickly fading scream and a rush of warm air wasn't the average start to the morning in Echidnopolis.

XXX

He hit the button without needing to look, quickly swallowing his gum and wondering why, why did the buzzer go just when he wanted to have a go at the crossword, even now, first thing, when he'd arrived early with the purpose of having a few uninterrupted minutes with his pet passion. Choking down his annoyance for another day, Remington spoke into the speaker,

"Remington, go ahead". There were a few seconds of silence and that struck him as odd; normally Yesa was quick and to the point if nothing else, not like him to lose his tongue, or sound as unsteady as he did when he eventually spoke,

"Ah, sir, there's a situation, out here in the front".

"Situation"; _that narrows it down to…however many thousand_; already short-tempered by missing his crossword, the head of the EST demanded, "can you explain?"

"Er, not really sir; I really think you should come and see this". The copper echidna gave a small, gruff laugh,

"Will I need any gear?"

"Not yet, but a couple of riot shields might be useful in a minute".

"I'm on my way"; with a practised manoeuvre, Remington simultaneously switched off the intercom and rolled onto his feet, heading for the door to his office and inwardly wondering what could have had Yesa so confused so early in the morning.

Unlike most disturbances in the EST HQ, Remington actually heard this argument before he saw it; coming to a stop, he strained his ears and listened, absorbing everything he could hear. _Domestic disturbance_; he shook his head and rearranged his hat, snarling as he recognised two separate voices going at it hell for leather, one of them definitely a woman's. As he got closer, passing other employees who'd been ensnared by listening to the enthralling verbal brawl, he began to pick out specific sentences,

"…like principles? Well that's you here and no-one seeing you all in one".

"I like principles, but I prefer life. You crazy…you nearly killed both of us; if that hover-car had…"

"I knew what I was doing, there were seconds in it".

"Yeah, seconds; nowhere near enough of them; I nearly had a heart attack out there".

"Chance'd be a fine thing".

"What did that mean? You want me dead?"

"It's crossed my mind before now".

"Nowhere near as often as it has mine". _Jesus_; Remington whistled softly as he saw the confrontation through a pair of Perspex doors; he shook his head, rubbed his eyes, turned around and looked away before looking back again – only then did the full absurdity of what he was seeing sink in.

There were two Mobians stood in the central reception area of the building he ran, and both of them were engaged in a no-holds-barred, all-out verbal apocalypse. Sarcasm, volume and even name-calling were all called into play in a bid to get the advantage. He had to blink to make sure what he was seeing was actually real; even from here, it looked like one of them, the girl unless his ears deceived him, had metal parts to her. _Is she…? Well if she is, what's she doing here?_; it was too early in the morning to think clearly, so he spared his brain the effort by pushing the door open and shouting even over the argument,

"Everyone, shut up".

_And there was silence_; like a bucket of water, his authoritarian voice calmed the stormy seas of troubles and let a relative calm settle down. Pressing while he still could, the head of the EST gave a series of swift, snapping orders,

"You and you, with me", a pair of officers who had, up until then, been sat on the sidelines, jumped visibly at the barked order and quickly fell into flanking positions beside but behind Remington, "you lot, get back to work and you two", the non-echidna and the suspected Legionnaire looked at him, one with more defiance than the other, "shut up and come with me". He jerked a thumb over his shoulder and, miraculously, everything fell into place as calmly as you please. The receptionists and desk sergeants resumed typing, the other officers filed off to their offices or squad cars and, most importantly in his eyes, the two troublemakers sidled towards him, glancing at each other with venom as he waited for them to pass, then followed them, giving clipped, curt directions to the nearest interview room.

XXX

"So, you're saying the row out there", Remington recapped after so ten minutes of claim, counter-claim and furious denials, "was caused by you, Shadow, running Julie-Su here?"

"Yeas, I'm a bit faster than the average, so I must just have caught her off-guard", the other seated echidna gave an audible snort put, with the two uniformed EST officers on the door, said nothing, "I should have warned her, but we really wanted to get here soon as possible".

"So I see"; _and because of that, my crossword's still missing a few words, and I reckon I've got the answer now_; thrusting such thoughts aside for the moment, Remington looked across to where Julie-Su, the so-call ex-Dark Legionnaire, was sat brooding, regarding her with a critical, steely blue eye as he spoke,

"Well, regardless of how you actually got here, why are you here?" She didn't answer immediately, instead taking her time to smooth out the ill-fitting sari she wore and then lean forwards, the metal on her arms glinting in the light of the interview room as she drawled,

"Thought I better let you know I've quit the Legion"; _is that so?_

Shadow, sat on the sidelines for this, almost fancied he could see the invisible struggle going on between Julie-Su and Remington as they sat opposite each other, not five feet apart, one trying to be believed at the same time the other tried to disbelieve the story. The silent, ceaseless war carried on until, it seemed, some sort of wall was breached and Remington sat back slightly, apparently satisfied the echidna in front of him had passed some sort of test. Running his tongue across his teeth, the head of law and order in Echidnopolis tapped the brim of his hat and spoke,

"Right, well this might come as a surprise but you're not the first, and I can only hope you're not the last", she tried to stay calm but he saw her pupils dilate, slightly, as she took in the news and was simultaneously relived and excited by it, "but, as you can imagine, we have reasons to be sceptical".

"Only too well, that's a smart move", she sat back, pulling her poorly fitting clothes closer into herself with a frown of irritation as she asked, "so, what's the deal?"

"First off, we'll need your details, including what those augmentations are actually capable of, the specific details", he added at the end, hobbling any hope of her getting away with the nothing but the bare minimum, "then you'll have to agree to a programme of D.O to ensure you're still in the city, that should last anything from six to nine months". He spoke into the interview room intercom, ordering the necessary forms before sitting back, waiting for a response, only to get a question from her companion as something puzzled him,

"D.O?"

"Daily Observation", Julie filled him in, explaining off-handedly, "basically I have to show up here every day so they can be sure I'm not sneaking off to make a report, that about right?"

"Yep, be warned we have turned other asylum seekers away for non-compliance" Remington added warningly, raising a finger as the door opened again and a third EST operative entered, handing Remington the paperwork he needed before silently departing. Scanning the form and realising all was as it should be, he picked one of his numerous pens out of the brim of his hat and clicked it out, glancing up as he made to note her answers,

"Personal details we can deal with later; how long have you been a member of the Dark Legion?"

"I was born there, lived in it all my life". _Strange_; Remington's face betrayed nothing as he penned in the answer; _most of the ones we get are ones who've only been in a few years at most – why would a lifer drop out?_ The next question on the list would make for interesting listening,

"Reason for wanting the leave the Dark Legion?" Julie's eyes darkened; Remington had been reading people long enough to know what was and wasn't going to be admitted, so opted for the get-out clause, "if you want to divulge it?"

"I don't – I made a mistake, that's enough".

"Okay", he cocked his head acquiescingly at her remark and moved on smoothly, "current place of residence?"

Most of the ones who came back lived with friends or family who would, eventually, accept apologies and accept them back; Remington didn't want to admit it, but he was mildly curious as to where a life-long member of the Legion would go. His face was carefully neutral, though the mask was sorely tested as, after communicating briefly with their eyes, the Legionnaires companion answered for her, though not without his own reservations becoming mildly viewable,

"At the minute, she's living with me…"

"Temporarily", Julie chipped in, making the point clear beyond doubt as the other Mobian nodded before carrying on,

"Yeah, she, ah, she wasn't in the best of states when she arrived here, so, I, just stepped in as a concerned citizen".

"Citizen"; Shadow had to hold his temper in check as he recognised the faint trace of disbelief in Remington's voice, as though the echidna was disbelieving that a Mobian other than an echidna could be a citizen of Echidnopolis, "well Mr…?"

"Shadow".

"We'll need your details as well, but they can be got later, we'll send you a form through the post; with a little luck you'll receive it…"

"At work", the black hedgehog cut him off, half-smiling as he explained, "I work in the C.A; if anything gets there I'll hear about it. Speaking of which", Shadow checked his watch and realised he wanted to get a move on; standing up, he headed for the door, "I have to get going or I'll be late; how long is this going to take?"

"Two hours, not much more than that".

"So you'll be done before me then", fishing his keys out of his pocket, Shadow slid them along the table to Julie, who caught them in one hand, "let yourself in, but if anything's missing when I get back you'll be seeing these gentlemen sooner than you anticipated". Julie snorted,

"Right, see you at home, and pick up something to eat while you're out". With a dismissive wave, the hedgehog left.

XXX

_Right, well that's tonight's lodgings sorted_; Julie tore her eyes away from the door and settled them back on Remington, leaning her chin on her fist as Remington seemed to nod approvingly and looked at her again,

"Right, at least we'll know where you live pretty soon, that'll make life easier for all concerned", he then stood up, Julie matching him as his voice became swift and business-like again, "right, next port of call's the main labs, they should be ready for you by now. These two officers will accompany you", Julie didn't need him to tell her the reason why; she could put two and two together and realise the escort wasn't just for decorative purposes, "after that, barring a few extra forms, you should be free to go".

"Praise the spirits for that", Julie remarked frankly as she stood up as well, nodding to each of the silent officers that would serve to take her where she needed to go within the EST headquarters, "so, let's get this show on the road".

XXX

"Good morning"; _can you speak up a bit_; Julie had to strain to pick out the words of the rose echidna who now faced her, trying not to be impolite by looking at her listing left eye and wondering if she really was blind in it or not. Grateful for once to the rigidity of Dark Legion training, she stood in a classic relaxed stance, not breaking visual contact with the other echidna's single remaining eye as she examined the augmented areas of her body.

"We'll leave her with you Dlez, that okay?" One of Julie's honour guards offered, the lighter red echidna, obviously a lab worker due to her coat, nodded,

"Of course, I'll shout if I need anything"; _the rate you're going you'll have to shout if you want me to hear you_; Julie wondered how well this was going to go as Dles-Za, the echidna she had been told had examined other former Dark Legion troopers in the past, stood aside and invited her into her private domain. Not really having a choice in the matter, Julie stepped forwards into it.

It wasn't as bad as she'd expected; rather than the electrode and implements designed to dissect her augmentations, there were only a few, much less dangerous looking machines that wouldn't have looked out of place in your average gym. She heard the door behind her shut quietly and a few seconds later, Dles was stood in front of her once more, a clipboard in her hands, not saying anything as she began a visual assessment; though it rankled being stared at like this, Julie was acutely aware that she couldn't do anything about this if she ever wanted to join mainstream society again, so she just had to put up with it. To break the silence of the room that was complete save for the scratching of a single pen, she gave a slight smile and asked,

"Do this often, do you?"

"Not as often as I'd like", Dles answered, not breaking her writing rhythm to answer her latest challenge, "but you mustn't think you're the only one who's ever been here; there are a few other former Legionnaires in the city, you just don't see them much because they get drowned out in the crowd". Perhaps needing a little reassurance, Julie pressed with this line of questioning,

"How are they all now? Have any of them ever, you know, gone back?" This made Dles pause; looking up sadly she nodded,

"Some of them do, but the vast majority, once they've had a little time to adjust to the surroundings"; Julie couldn't help herself at this point,

"You mean people staring at them, whispering, that kind of thing?"

"I won't deny that doesn't happen, but it's like everything", the elder echidna spoke philosophically for a moment, "if you stand up and don't get phased by it, it will go away eventually; if you run off, you'll just confirm their suspicions and it will get worse. Can you do that?"

"Believe me Dles", Julie answered after a moment's thought, a quiet laugh on her lips as she answered, "I've been standing up to life for a long time now; a couple of schoolyard taunts won't do anything to me any more". Letting the pen fall from the paper and clipboard, where it span at the end of a short piece of string, Dles smiled and pointed to the first of the pieces of equipment present,

"Excellent, that's what you need right now. First off though, we'll work from the head down; I need to examine that dreadlock more closely".

XXX

As Julie would later recollect, the 'medical' for her cybernetics went relatively smoothly; the main areas of testing included checking the sensitivity of her metallic dreadlock, accessing the main control panels to check all was still functioning as it was and running a small electric current through the limb capacitors. That had been a literally hysterical experience; Dles's hand had slipped with the voltage and Julie's resultant hysterical giggling fit had brought the officers from outside running in, looking around in alarm. Now, as she waited for the tingling to subside, she sipped from a glass of water provided by the dispenser a short way down the hall, still sniggering occasionally as the last remnants of tingling sensations earthed into her scalp,

"Never had that happen before", she finished the last few drops and threw the empty cup towards the bin, shaking her head and getting ready to carry on, looking at the one conducting the tests with a stern but not unkind eye, "hope it doesn't happen again if you catch my drift?"

"Don't worry, that's all the results I need for that area", Dles assured her with a smile before her one good eye travelled down to Julie's arms, "but these I haven't seen for a while, they look like a newer model than the ones I've seen in the past. Have you had them long?"

"Not much more than a year; they're supposed to be a better version of the older technology, similar sort of power but more compact", she flexed her arm, watching as she had countless times before the metal contract ever so slightly before relaxing as her arm did, "I don't reckon their as strong as completely metallic arms, but they're not quite as obvious".

"Indeed not", Dles reached for the clipboard again, "well, for a start, what sort of strain are they capable of bearing comfortably?" Julie thought for a minute, then, almost of its own volition, a single idea slipped into her mind and she smiled craftily.

Dles watched on with interest as her subject walked over to the door and rapped on it, rewarded a second later as it opened part way and one of the two officers stationed on the door poked his head around it,

"Anything you need?"

"Yeah", Julie beckoned with her finger, "come here a minute; don't worry, this won't hurt". Casting his eyes to Dles and a little more emboldened by her nod he stepped inside, standing in front of the former Dark Legionnaire and not moving as she gripped a handful of his shirt.

"Nothing personal"; having made that clear, Julie straightened her arm, lifting him clean off the floor with a single hand, holding him calmly as Dles-Za scribbled down the notes she needed – only when the observer finished making these notes did she set her demonstration down with a cheery, "thanks for that". The officer looked at her partially metallic arm with renewed respect,

"My, ah, pleasure"; not wanting to feel more awkward than he already did, he excused himself and departed; Julie shook her head as he left; _this isn't too bad_; as she pressed onto a pressure pad Dles indicated, she felt her mind begin to drift, thinking of what would happen when she left this room, this building. When she went outside.

XXX

Shadow hadn't been exactly sure what to expect when he arrived home, but he had gone there as soon as was possible to ensure he had as much time to check everything was as it should be before he had to jet off again in the evening; the massage classes he had decided to continue with, much to Honey's evident delight, ran twice weekly and this would be his second shot. He'd also had a particularly thorny problem stinging him al day; he knew Julie had met at least one of the guardians and, as such, they would know about her – should he contact them, let them know what had happened to her? He wasn't exactly sure on this, but had postponed the decision for now; telling Knuckles and Rouge might be a good thing, it might not – there was too much he didn't know to make sure he made the right choice. Luckily the front door was open still, Julie was obviously inside and, yes, she must have been watching a little T.V; he could hear the set from the front door.

"That you Shadow?"

"Yeah", he pulled the door shut behind him, still unsure as to what to do next; while he was deciding, Julie asked a valid question,

"You remember the food? I got the kettle going".

"Excellent", Shadow moved into the kitchen, hearing the television suddenly die away and, as he looked up, he saw the echidna pulling out a couple of chairs, "we can use the hot water to cook with; saves electricity".

"Good idea", she commented, unwrapping the small bag he'd deposited on the table and examining the contents carefully, "umm, fish isn't my favourite thing in the world, but I guess I can make an exception".

"Just as well, it's either that or go hungry". She started to laugh until she saw the look in Shadow's eye and, seeing the severity of the situation, fell silent, seeking another avenue for her small talk. This time, Shadow turned provider,

"How'd it go with the EST?"

"Fine", Julie waved dismissively, "they just wanted some specs on my mechs; I just told them what they needed and signed up for a programme that'll make sure they see me at least twice a day. It went a lot better than I expected, truth be told"; _well, it nearly did_; one aspect of that trip stuck out painfully in her mind but she squelched it deep – she had enough on her plate already and besides, since when had the opinions of others mattered to her really? _Not for a long time now_; she clamped down on those other painful memories as well, the one brief conversation she'd had with one half of her family echoing in her mind until she looked away. Shadow, preparing the meal at the stove, failed to see the flicker of memory which was probably just as well; Julie never really dealt all that well with awkward questions.

It was as they were polishing off a shared meal that Shadow looked up again; Julie followed his eye and chortled,

"What are you clock-watching for? Working overtime or something?"

"I can wish – they won't put me on the overtime roster until I've finished my probationary period", Shadow shook his head, the thought of a little extra spending cash out of his reach of another three weeks annoying him like a mosquito would have done, "nah, I'm going out a little later tonight; just…off out with some friends". It wasn't quite a lie, but he reckoned he'd seen enough of the echidna before him to know that admitting he took classes in massage was a one-way ticket to mockery. _It'll probably come out later, but I can deal with it then_; the black hedgehog shook himself, indicating her with his fork,

"You…?"

"Turning in early", She answered abruptly, not wanting him to make an offer she knew she'd have to turn down; covering up the suddenness in her tone she stretched backwards, "still not feeling a hundred percent, get a good night's sleep under my belt, should be all right in the morning, as long as wide-awake hedgehogs leave me alone first thing". Shadow reflected her bale glare with a cool glance,

"You wanted to get to the EST early; I got you there". Julie growled as memories of the crazy morning run and resultant bowel-clenching terror that had occurring during the brief but terrifying spell over the black hedgehog's shoulder resurfaced; _first time in how long since I screamed like that?_

"Yeah, about that", she speared him with the phantom of a pointed knife, "you pull another trick like that and I'll make sure you don't run for a week, got it?" _Sounds like a challenge_;

"What are you going to do?" Shadow leered across the table, mocking her attempt at intimidation, "carry me everywhere?" Julie didn't answer in words, for a second it looked like she wouldn't be doing anything at all, until he realised she was reaching forwards, dipping her hand into the fruit bowl that sat in the centre of the table. The black hedgehog watched as her fist closed around a pair of hickory nuts; with a sudden jolt, he heard a crack and, as she opened her hand, two shelled nuts sitting in the palm of her glove, he winced involuntarily.

"Get the picture?" Squirming uncomfortably, refraining from crossing his legs with great difficulty, Shadow nodded,

"Impeccably".

XXX

Looking over her boyfriend's arm, Honey squinted for a second and, as the figure she thought she had seen earlier walked under a street lamp, she waved and greeted,

"Hey Shads, back for more huh?" As he approached, the hedgehog smiled,

"Heh, nothing you lot can do will wear me down; hey Micah, how's the job going?"

"About as enthralling and exhilarating as Honey's", the dark red echidna answered with a groan, rubbing his hands over his eyes as Honey shook her head and gave Shadow a this-is-what-I-have to-put-up-with look, "still, it keeps the bills paid and food in the fridge, so can't complain too much".

"Same here", Shadow commiserated alongside the echidna for a second before, recalling something that had been mentioned earlier in the day, brightened, "and anyway, Honey tells me congratulations are in order; eighteen month anniversary for you two; Micah, I have to say I'm impressed, she drives up round the bend after eighteen minutes". His work colleague gave an ironic smile, though as her boyfriend chortled and squeezed her shoulder gently, she softened her look and reciprocated, Shadow looking away absently to grant them both a little privacy. As they broke apart, Micah pointed down the pavement and stated,

"Right, let's get going or we'll not make the start; Jerricah said he had something for us to read he'd be handing out and knowing him there won't be enough to go around".

"True", Shadow concurred and set off at what to the others was a brisk pace; to him, of course, it was the equivalent of racing with a snail, but then again they weren't to know that – the last thing he needed now was to isolate his friends by showing off.

XXX

_Still don't quite get you_; Shadow's face didn't display anything as he shook hands with his partner for the evening again, letting the echidna take the lead in greeting,

"Hello Shadow, have you been well?"

"I'm getting on fine, you?" Andy nodded, the vapid smile that seemed to hang around him like an attentive pet bird fixed onto his face as his almost vacant eyes strayed to the table they would be working on.

"As well as can be expected. Would you like to start this evening?"

"Yeah, sure"; the black hedgehog was more grateful than he let on as the echidna lay on his front, taking that disconcerting manner away from him. Shadow eased off his gloves and slowly washed his hands, letting them warm to the temperature of the water to prevent his partner getting a nasty cold shock; just to break the silence, the only thing more off-putting than Andy's proper and polite manner, the hedgehog spoke,

"Reckon I can get this grip on the calves sorted this time".

"I'm sure you will; just remember to keep your thumbs a little more flexible and you should do okay".

"Got it"; Shadow, having meticulously dried his hands on the towel provided, looked at the problem he'd be facing and, having decided to tackle the left leg first, gently, almost tentatively, placed his hands on the echidna's leg, feeling the fur give, the slightly firmer muscles underneath tensing automatically at the unexpected pressure. This was the fine point of massage; the pressure had to be such that the muscles would feel it, but not so great that they would register the intrusion as painful; Andy could get the balance without even seeming to think about it, but it was a real battle of wills for Shadow, having to focus on his fingertips and what they were feeling, trying to untangle that information and make sure they were going their work properly.

The first few minutes were always the hardest and, after a while, Shadow fell into a routine, so much so that he was able to concentrate on other things save just his hands; Andy wasn't saying anything to criticise his unrefined technique, so he assumed he was getting it right. Glancing left and right, seeing Micah give a thumbs-up from his prone position, the black hedgehog smiled before thinking back a bit; _it's not like I can do much more, but then again what should I do? She can stay, well, she can't get a place on her own, but what about…?_

"Something on your mind Shadow?" Train of thought abandoned as the voice broke in on him, the black hedgehog shook his head,

"Huh?" Andy twisted to look over his shoulder,

"I can tell when you're thinking", the vapid smile suddenly earned a little more depth, becoming slightly more meaningful as the echidna finished, "you start pressing harder".

"What?"; it was only when he looked down that he saw his thumbs were leaving deep furrows as they rubbed along the echidna's calf muscle; shaking his head in annoyance and correcting his grip, the black hedgehog tried again at the same time as answer,

"Yeah, just thinking".

"What about – anything I can help with?" Shadow paused at this, tooting something up in his mind before meeting Andy's innocuous look; _maybe, if I skimp at bit on specifics…_;

"Yeah, actually, you might be able to give me a hand".

"How so?"

"Well, what would you do if…?"

XXX

It was only after he'd said goodbye to Honey and her boyfriend and making sure they were out of eyeshot that he put his freshly massaged legs to work; rather than running straight home as he would have done normally, Shadow made a quick detour to get what he needed out the machine. _Have to say Andy was right;_ Shadow mentally raised his respect for the seemingly spaced out echidna as he realised a lot of what he'd said rang true; _she can always pay me back later, and until then I can hang it over her head…well, just a little_; smirking at the thought, Shadow activated his shoes again and raced off into the darkening dusk.

XXX

_Fantastic_; it was an awful thing to think, but as she stretched and let loose a cavernous yawn, Julie had to admit it was true; _no Shadow forcing me to get up at the crack of dawn_. She looked at the clock and quickly realised why – unless the timepiece was dramatically out of sync he should have been at work an hour ago, that left her with seven hours to fill. Shrugging, she eased herself out from under the covers, reaching for the sari she'd been wearing for the past couple of days before stopping her arm, looking at the garment with a critical eye; _that needs a wash and a iron – there, that's thirty minutes sorted already_. Having made up that part of her mind, Julie carefully bundled the sari up in her arms and walked with it into the kitchen, not overtly concerned with her state of undress as she knew this time there was no chance of anyone seeing her. So, casually whistling and wondering if her old clothes were dried out yet, the former Dark Legionnaire headed into the kitchen; she was so absorbed in slinging her sari into the washing machine that it was only when she looked up towards the kitchen table, thinking about breakfast, that the envelope propped up by the fruit bowl caught her eye. Idly picking it up, noticing it had never been sealed, Julie casually lifted the flap.

Then she snapped it shut again.

_What the hell is this?_; sucking in air that had been released by an explosive gasp of shock, she once more lifted the lid on something that had turned her morning upside-down, this time inserting a couple of shaking fingers into the gap and pulling out the crisp notes of currency;_ there's got to be seventy, no, eighty crests in here!_ She thumbed through the notes, speechless that she suddenly had so much money where before there hadn't been a crest to her name, when she noticed the quickly scrawled writing on the envelope, obviously meant for her:

_Kit yourself out with the essentials – you can pay me back when you get a job. Talk to you later – Shadow._

What the heck had the crazy hedgehog done – understandably, Julie flumped down into a chair, legs turned to jelly as she tried to get her head around this latest bombshell. Eighty crests; what did he mean the essentials? _Does he want me to clear out?_; that sudden though froze her spine, though the chill thawed as she thought about it – if he wanted her to leave, why give her so much? Food was cheap in this city, but other things weren't so easy to come by – clothes, for instance, still cost a little, as did other products she'd need now. So, that meant a whole new day plan, the EST would get their D.O earlier than they expected – if she hit the shops now she might avoid some of the traffic. Quickly rescuing her sari, reassessing that it could and would last another day, Julie tucked the money into one of the pocket and, shaking her head, put the envelope neatly back on the table. _Shadow, you are one manic customer and way too fast for your own good_; a slight smile touched her lips as she reached into a cupboard for some cereal; _but thanks anyway_.

XXX

"Now that's a distinct improvement"; she hadn't heard him come in and, suddenly shy at the attention, she turned and stood up, seeing Shadow stood in the hallway, looking her up and down. Fighting hard to deny a sudden blush, Julie settled for an awkward smile,

"Thanks", she smoothed down the front of one of the shirts she'd brought with his charity, "I'm all set now. Why…?" Shadow raised a hand, denying those questioning eyes their answer with an easy statement,

"Because you needed it; where else were you going to get a new wardrobe – believe me wearing black in this city isn't a good idea". She chuckled a little, pointing at her flatmate and asking succinctly,

"So how do you get away with it?"

"Literally", she predicted his answer fractionally before he elaborated, "I can run faster than them".

"Now that I do believe", this was better, this was what she needed; something to break the isolation chamber that seemed to be over her head everywhere else she went – Julie moved closer, stopping an arms-length from the hedgehog and gently putting a hand on his shoulder, "listen Shadow, and I mean it; thank you for that. It, it does mean a lot, and", the gnawing that had started from the second she'd entered the EST headquarters and only intensified since then strained at the leash she had over it; it took a big gulp of air and a lot of willpower to force it back as she fell quiet. Luckily, Shadow didn't seem to notice, focussing instead on her new look and smiling,

"So, this is the new look Julie-Su then?"

"Part of her; don't even think about looking at other parts of the new Julie-Su you ogler"; once more Shadow was left to steam as she shook her head, fighting not to laugh this time as she turned away, "sorry, tongue like a razor". Aching for revenge, Shadow saw the first thing that caught his eye and retorted sharply,

"And back end like a bus".

There followed an ominous silence, though whether that was because Julie couldn't take in what he'd said or the realisation that, unfortunately, it was true she had a somewhat unflattering posterior was a mute point as Shadow waited for the storm to break. _If all else fails, run out the window_; he settled into his trademark smile as the echidna turned back around, lips compressed into the thinnest of thin lines as she grated,

"Do not mention that too often Shadow Hedgehog; the consequences will be very unpleasant".

"Oh no", he couldn't help himself from getting one over on the fast-talking echidna, "I'll get sat on".

"Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not kill", Julie muttered with her eyes closed, Shadow fighting not to laugh as he realised here was a shot, cheap as chips it was true, but a shot nonetheless he could use if she got a bit too uppity with him. For now though, it was time to put the big guns away,

"Okay, sorry, that was a low thing to say".

"You got that right; now keep it under your hat".

"What do you think I am, a magician – no, I'm sorry", his mouth had run away with him and he cowered as Julie advanced with murder in her eyes, "I really am this time, that just, sort of, came out of nowhere".

"Well"; _as if I didn't get enough of this at home_; the thought send her towards the edge again and she realised she had to wrap this up quickly, "if you could make it disappear I'd be grateful, but as you can't I'll have to make sure you just keep quiet about it".

"Believe me, secret safe"; Shadow raked a single finger over the fur of his chest in the shape of an X, the echidna watched for a second before huffing and turning away; "for now". She paused at the words then, seeing his smile reflected in the mirror at the end of the hall, realised she hadn't heard the last of this. Not by a long shot.

XXX

The weekend was a cause for celebration for most, but for one new member of the Echidnopolis community, this particular Sunday, however, after a week of matching wits with her flatmate and, grudgingly, taking to the streets of Echidnopolis to continue her D.O with the EST, was a day tinged with sadness as even Julie-Su's formidable will was overcome eventually, memories and new doubts cranking up the pressure until eventually it had to b released. Even then she showed remarkable fortitude, sealing herself away in a small, private place and letting the tears come, inviting them to vent the sadness silently and safely rather than risking another explosion. Finally, when she was ready to face the new world again, she ran a sink of water, warm enough to displace the chill of her tears, and splashed her face with it, running her hands over her tired eyes as she fought of the crippling twinges of the sickness that still roiled in her stomach, making her feel unsteady on her feet. It was as she reached for a towel, rubbing the firm material over her face that she heard a sound the made her blood run like ice water; he bathroom door creaked open just as she pulled the towel down out of instinct to see who was there.

"Oh, sorry Julie", Shadow made to depart quickly, averting his eyes, "I should have knocked, wait", despite his gentlemanly conduct his brain had still managed to take a still of the echidna and now it thrust it before his eyes, making him look up again, "have you been crying?" _Pointless denying it_; she nodded sadly, folding the towel up and hanging it back on the rack before managing an answer,

"A little". Hearing the confirmatory answer, the hedgehog stepped into the room fully, face open, not accusatory or stern as he asked softly,

"What about?"

"Stupid little things, they don't really matter".

"That is such a crock", Julie looked up as Shadow shook his head, "if they didn't matter, you wouldn't be here like this; believe me", he leant against the wall, recalling one of Sonic's former phrases with aplomb, "talking helps".

"I know, but it still sounds stupid", she took a seat on the edge of the bath and a deep breath, looking up as much as she could as she spoke candidly, "I never thought I'd say it, but I miss the Legion".

There were a few minute's silence, the words seeming to swirl around in the air as Shadow put a finger to his lip in thought, Julie letting her dreadlocks fall forwards to conceal her embarrassment at admitting that truth,

"That's not stupid"; _excuse me_; that had been unexpected, Julie's eyes snapped back onto Shadow as he looked at her anew, "I remember you told Remington, you were born there, you've basically left your home for the first time, so it's natural you feel homesick. I got it bad when I first got here, you must have it far worse than I did – don't be ashamed of it, I wasn't".

"Why not?"

"They wouldn't let me be"; _another advantage_; Shadow was able to add another string to his bow, make Julie feel less bad in herself and he changed tack accordingly, "I could, and still can, see them whenever I want to; you don't have that luxury – put it like this", he spread his hands, smiling as he used his analogy, "if I had a little dip in the paddling pool with armbands and a rubber ring, you got pushed off the deep end right in with the sharks".

"And hedgehogs, which are worse". Shadow mock-snarled at her catching him out before smiling,

"You can't be that bad if you can still quip".

"Nah, but it still gets me as well that, well, er…", she shook her head, not sure how to continue; she looked up in genuine shock an amazement as Shadow did it for her,

"Wherever you go, people will stare, whisper, and stop the second you look at them, making you wonder if it's just you going mad or them trying to drive you to distraction, that sort of thing?" He waited patiently as she gasped in astonishment, panting air back into her lungs as she looked up, mute for a moment until she could finally bring herself to speak,

"How, you couldn't, you know?"

"Citizen?"; the black hedgehog spoke in a passable mime of Remington, face creased in that same expression of faint disbelief; a second later he resumed the explanation in his normal voice, "you guys as a whole don't get out much, so yeah, I was stared at, and bloody annoying it was, and is to a lesser degree, but you can't quit, you can't let them win".

"I know", rekindled, her determination rose back up, reborn as her residual loneliness was eaten away, spurred on by the fact she knew she was making progress, some members of the EST would speak to her now on almost even terms. Standing tall, the echidna felt disappointment at herself begin to make itself heard; _I should be better than this – reduced to tears by some stupid whispers_;

"I've gotta get a thicker skin, shouldn't be doing this now".

"Don't be daft Jules", she looked over with challenge in her mind, ready to retaliate at any quip that crossed the line, only to find the mobilisation unnecessary, "come on, you've been here less than two weeks and you're already doing a hundred times better than I ever did; listen, back downstairs, when it all went wrong for me, one of my buddies, Sonic, remember him? The blue guy?" Julie nodded; though she'd seen pictures of Shadow's friends, she still had a little trouble putting names to faces, one particular echidna excepted. Seeing this and that he was breaking through, the hedgehog continued,

"Well, I stayed with him before I made it up to here; he didn't push me, just let me be – we got on well, still do come to that. Have a guess how long I was there for?"

"I'd say", she gauged his face before, not being able to read anything remotely relevant from there, she took a shot in the dark, "three months? Four?"

"Try nearly twenty", Shadow smiled ruefully at her look of shock before reinforcing the point, "yeah, I stayed in the same apartment with him for nearly two years until I knew it was time. I guess I'm trying to say, just, don't rush it", she saw something in his crimson eyes, the eyes that had at one stage freaked her out as unnatural now a little more easily accepted as she listened to his accumulated knowledge, "these things take time, and plenty of it; I'm not slinging you out the door just like Sonic didn't me – it's not a race, just take it at your own pace. If you feel like kicking up a stink and you're in a foul mood then just let it happen, don't bottle it up, that's the worst thing you can do. I'm here if you need someone to listen, or to chew up and spit out".

"The food situation isn't that desperate yet is it?" Shadow shook his head at the same time as marvel at her inner strength; _how can she stay upbeat? She's left her home, her family and her friends, gone through a hell of a time and it's not even been a fortnight yet_.

"Nah, but speaking of which, I'll get a mug of coffee going; have to get Tails to wing some expresso around, now there's the stuff that'll get your bad mood gone".

"And tell him to come when I'm in; I'm interested in this little guy now", she'd heard stories of most of Shadow's acquaintances on the surface world but had yet to pluck up the courage to meet any of them – from what she'd heard of his sweet nature and level head, Tails sounded like a good place to make a start on delivering a good impression. The ebony hedgehog turned to leave, only for her voice to stop him again,

"Hey Shads", he saw her looking at him square, face softened into a warm, welcoming smile, "it works two ways; you said you were there, I am as well, for the foreseeable future at least. Don't forget that".

"Am I likely to forget; I keep wondering where my coffee disappears to – I've got you hooked on that stuff now".

"Yes, so go feed my addiction, I'll clear up in here". Shaking his head one last time, Shadow left the bathroom, pulling the door to behind him and giving her a little more space to breathe.

A/N: So the reintegration into society has begun, but, do things ever run smoothly in life? No, didn't think so…


	6. Chapter 6 From Trivial Things

Chapter 6 – From Trivial Things…

A/N: As you've all been good to me in the reviews, Santa delivers this early present:

HHH – A.S.S. huh? I once knew a bloke called Stanley Henry Ian Thomasson, think on that!

DH – Ohh, so close – you're in the right area, but the mention's so slight you must have overlooked it. Remember what Knuckles actually hit Julie with, what part of his body put her down, and you're right there.

Vihnanime (V from now; neat name though :-) – Glad you like it so far, have you read the rest of them up to this one? It's important for the full storyline, but I do try and write so that you can join up at any point and have a fair idea of what's going on. Am I doing that right?

Time, it seems, is a very strange thing; it passes not a smooth stream as traditional thinking would have you believe, but more in fits and starts, everything before it swallowed by the sudden progress, swept up and carried along. As the next few weeks drifted by almost lazily into months, little events happened, every single one minor and trifling but adding to the joint sense that grew slowly in both of them; that there had never been a past in which the two flatmates had not been sharing a one-bedroomed flat in Echidnopolis. Most of these events really were trifling little matters; the right words in the ear, a pat on the back, a supportive shoulder and, of course, an occasional verbal ding-dong battle, but a few of them were genuine milestones, past and remembered easily. And the first, and one of the most important of these little events, happened a mere week after the start of Julie's D.O almost as if in answer to her prayers of something to do in the long hours between Shadow leaving for work and him coming back.

XXX

Not that it had appeared that way at the start of the day; having bade the hedgehog an indifferent farewell, Julie began to get ready for the daily grind that was travelling to and from the EST HQ to report in and make sure they knew who she was. _And after that, I go and get a paper_; she shook her head, angry with herself for not thinking of such an occurrence until yesterday and not a little guilty that she was letting someone carry the can this far – she had always prided herself on her independence and now, after this last week of recovery from the sudden shock of life on the outside of the Legion, she was going to get it back at least partly. So the first thing she was going to do now was go to the nearest off-license, buy whatever local papers they had in stock and scan the job columns. It didn't really matter what she was doing for work, just as long as it was something other than sitting here feeling miserable because she was basically living off Shadow's good sense of charity; _and well he knows it_.

She shook her head as the thought flickered across her mind; despite the numerous times they crossed verbal swords, she'd have to admit, push come to shove, that she'd been lucky to fall on her feet the way she had. Though she'd never have said it to his face for the fact he'd never let her live it down, there was no denying that the black hedgehog had taken her, a Dark Legionnaire, one of the enemy, in where virtually everyone else would have called for her removal as soon as was possible if not sooner. But still, even if he didn't jibe her about it too much, there was the fact that she hated feeling beholden to anything, it just wasn't in her nature to rely on people. As such, she pulled on her shoes, walked over to the door, paused for a fraction of a moment to mutter a brief promise that she wouldn't let the dirty looks get to her at all as she did every time she set foot outside the apartment, before finally letting herself out.

XXX

She knew that she had to keep going; regardless that all conversation seemed to deaden as she approached and the everyone she met either shied away, averted their eyes or offered, at the very best, a curt 'good morning', Julie walked with her head held high, cybernetics free and visible as the EST buildings appeared in the distance of the city. The feeling of isolation, as if there was an invisible bubble between her and the rest of the Echidnopolis population, sealing her in and not allowing her to mix freely with her own species, was still there, still present, but she was beginning to see signs of hope; by walking the same way every day, the other echidnas were beginning to acclimatise to her presence; there was still a long road to travel, but she was making progress and that had to be a good thing. In fact, she was making most of her headway in the place she'd originally dreaded most; the officers and office workers of the EST were on first name terms with her, so that was a bonus. So Julie-Su walked onwards, looking at everyone she met, trying to see if they'd at least make eye contact with her, maybe even reflect the smiles she attempted to send in their general direction. Even with the thoughts of one day being able to walk down the street without getting stared at with whispers surrounding the air behind her, it was still a relief when she entered the headquarters of the law and order in Echidnopolis. With a sigh and after smoothing down her dreadlocks, Julie shrugged and headed for the desk she needed to report to; having quickly reached it, she spoke over towards the occupant, speaking as he glanced up,

"Yesa, this is Julie-Su; I'm still in the city and am not planning on going on holiday any time soon so this situation is unlikely to change. Thank you, see you tomorrow". It was as she turned to leave that, rather than just nod and note in his ledger that the former Dark Legionnaire had shown up as she was required to, Yesa actually answered her back,

"Ah, Julie", he pointed towards the double doors behind him as she looked over her shoulder, "the boss wants a word".

_Remington – what the hell have I done?;_ a thousand and one different scenarios span in her mind, each more grizzly and gruesome than the last as phantom crimes paraded up and down her suddenly fraught mind; _I've done nothing illegal, kept up to date and then some, what could he need to see me about?_ Trying hard to keep her voice level, Julie spoke in a would-be conversational manner,

"Any idea why?"

"No, just said to send you through when he got here – if I were you I'd get going, busy Mobian, lots to do if you follow me?" She saw his reasoning and, remembering how efficiency in the Legion had been encouraged and that it had never been a good thing to keep a superior waiting then, nodded,

"Right". Leaving it there and returning his casual goodbye wave, Julie walked up to the double doors, opened them easily with her superior strength and walked through, face a picture of supreme unconcern – now if only she could persuade her hammering heart to follow the same course of action.

XXX

He heard the knock he didn't recognise and, realising from his years of listening to echidnas knocking on the door to his office that this one was almost a bundle of nerves, he recognised who it was and mentioned as such,

"Come in Julie-Su"; _that was a little harsh_; Remington chided himself as he used that old trick on someone who was already nervous about coming here; a sure fire way to rattle anyone was to use their name before you should have had any chance to see their face. The door opened with a few miniscule pauses, each stage an expenditure of courage as the former Dark Legionnaire entered; Remington waited until the door was shut before allowing an engaging smile to reach his face.

"Sit down".

"Thanks"; _she's good at hiding it, have to give her that_; most of the junior officers he'd had here were often a lot more outwardly terrified than Julie appeared to be; the ex-Dark Legionnaire was obvious made of some stern material. As she sat down and smoothed out her trousers, he sat back in his own seat and made the first point clear,

"Okay Julie, number one, you're not in any kind of trouble".

The tension in the room dissipated as though it were lightning through a conductor, both echidnas suddenly able to breathe a little easier, though there was still a pause of several seconds before Julie recomposed herself to reply,

"Right, well in that case", she mirrored the head of the Echidnopolis Security Team's pose by reclining he chair back as far as it would go, "why the call up? Am I getting time off for good behaviour?"

"Maybe in two or three months", Remington replied, the mere shadow of a smile worrying the corners of his lips before he shook his head, "no, you're here because we've recently had a way to get rid of two problems with one solution, both from out point of view and yours".

"I like what I'm hearing", she leaned forwards, curiosity piqued as she prompted, "go on".

"Well, one of the girls in the typing pool's just handed in her notice; she has to go on maternity leave soon…"

"Congratulations to her"; the interruption caught Remington slightly off-guard, but he recovered with the ease of long practise,

"Well quite, but her fortune could also benefit both you and the EST", Julie still hadn't quite drawn the line when he leaned forwards, a challenge in his face as he offered, "reckon you could do her job?"

Julie's mind was sent into a whirl for a moment, but then her logic took over and everything he'd said up until now started to make a lot of sense; after turning it over and over in her head, she nodded,

"I can see where you're going with this; you solve your staffing shortage and my D.O problem at the same time because I have to come into work everyday".

"Well, if you want to get paid you do, but that aside, it also reassures the public; you, a former Dark Legionnaire, working for the EST – a big morale boost and, just as an extra bonus, you're less likely to be a target should the Legion want you back. This is the last place they'll want to try and attack".

"Very true; has there actually been any, well, have you heard anything…?" Remington raised an eyebrow before shaking his head,

"From the Legion, no, nothing regarding you specifically, but I have to say the signs are encouraging. Enerjak, that is how you pronounce it right?" Julie smiled and nodded, allowing Remington to finish, "well, everything we've seen so far suggests a passive approach; he's hitting the politics rather than the nuke buttons, so we can estimate a forced capture isn't likely".

"I was thinking along the same lines"; _though it's not him I'm worried about_; Julie kept that fear off her face for now as she suddenly tapped her fingers together to ask, "so, what's this job about? Hours, workload, that sort of thing?"

"It's mostly gopher work", Remington said honestly, reaching into one of the draws of his desk and lifting out a paper folder, "typing, managing folders and it's on a part-time basis, you work ten until three, the other info's here". He slid the paper towards Julie, who, having snatched it off the desk, began rifling through the loose leaves as though there were nothing more important in the world. Seeing her about to take an interest, Remington was forced to cut that short,

"Sorry Julie, I'm expecting someone in a second, so I'll have to ask you leave. Think about it and let me know as soon as possible, right?"

"Sure, you'll have the answer tomorrow morning", she stood and headed for the door, considerably more of a spring in her step than when she'd entered as she called,

"Thanks", over her shoulder and departed.

For a second, Remington was still before, with a sigh of relief, he glanced and the clock and realised he'd timed it to perfection; that was over with fast, so now... His hand slipped in and pulled out the paper, practised fingers already skimming through for the daily puzzled fix his brain needed pen already out of his hat band and in his hand, and there was an early start; one across was so easy he didn't even need to think before he reached down to fill it in.

_Bzzt_; "Sir, the council representative's just arrived a little early…" _Why_; Remington cast his eyes heavenward, imploring someone who dwelled above to answer the question he asked, without fail, daily; _why can't you let me have five measly minutes each day with my crossword?_

XXX

She heard the door slam and called almost out of reflex,

"Hey Shadow". After a pause, him wiping his feet on the mat, he answered,

"Hi, fancy a coffee?"

"Thanks", she licked her lips and slid the folder out of sight, underneath the pillow of the sofa by her side, suddenly excited that she had something exciting to contribute to a conversation rather than just listen to his day story, "put the kettle on, then come in here a minute". Her ears tracked his progress; there was a small click as the wall socket went on and, she couldn't hear as the kettle was turned on despite straining as hard as she could – it was, therefore, a slight surprise when the black hedgehog appeared in the doorway, nodded in greeting and sauntered over towards the chair, sinking into it gratefully and stretching out,

"Ah, that's a bit better; my feet are killing me". _Oops_; he caught the look on her face just before she administered the verbal coup de grace,

"Just keep your shoes on or they'll kill me as well"; he smiled back ironically as he span at bay to fence with her,

"No great loss there then".

"You say that now", she smiled coyly, trying to look cute at the same time Shadow tried not to smile, "but what would you do without me?" He acted like he was thinking for a second before brightening and giving his reply,

"A lot better than I do now?" _Bingo_; here was the shot to ease this in – she clapped and sat up straight in her seat,

"Maybe for now, but not for much longer", she saw his brow knit but before he could question her declaration she'd gone for the kill, "the EST just couldn't help themselves; they saw what I could do with a computer and they just had to have me – the D.O hours have been extended ten 'til three".

It took him a few seconds to put the pieces together, but when he did his face lit up like a Christmas tree and he leant forwards, excitement obviously coursing through him,

"Wait, you're now working for the EST? How the hell did you wangle that one, and no bull about them needing you either". The last clause rankled; she'd made up a wonderful story involving three or four highly skilled hackers and a mutating sentient virus, but now she'd have to settle for plain old boring reality,

"Yeah, Remington called me in when I went for my D.O; one of the typists has gone on maternity, so they need someone to cover. Helps them, helps me and helps the public confidence, so he offered me the post; the info's here". She flipped the folder towards the hedgehog, who caught it and pulled free a few pages, flipping through them with a quick-moving eye.

_It's not the most technical job going, but who cares – it's something_; Julie hid a smile and averted her eyes as she looked away from Shadow's perusing of her job details; _and who was it said anything's got to be better than nothing?_ There were a few moments silence, broken only by the rustling as her flatmate casually turned over page after page, absorbing the information in the blink of an eye, skimming over it as she waited expectantly.

"Well, looks like you're moving up in the world", Shadow commented as he slid the pages back into their proper places, "look out people, Julie-Su is going places".

"Not exactly quickly mind", the echidna shook her head as she reached up, taking the folder he walked over and offered back to her, "still, better than bumming around here all day". Her choice of words was perhaps unfortunate as Shadow couldn't help but make the reference and needle her again,

"Both I and my couch agree", Julie glowered toxically as Shadow pointed to he cushion beside her, "come on, you're starting to put dents in it".

"I'll be putting dents in you in a second Blackie", Shadow winced and called that one even as, darkening mood suddenly lifted by her smile, Julie sat back again, thinking forwards as she outlined her next idea,

"Leaving your forthcoming beating aside for the moment", this time it was Shadow who smiled, "it's part time, but with this I can start getting some cash behind me, and I still owe you eighty". The black hedgehog met her eyes and, seeing the sincerity there, raised a hand,

"Ah, forget it…"

"No", the denial of the offer came from both her independent streak and sense of fair play in equal measure as the former Dark Legionnaire turned that down flat, "if it hadn't been for the loan I'd still only have that sari, which you brought anyway".

"Necessity; didn't want you wandering around…you know", Shadow used his speed to overtake the echidna and land the first blow, "that lot uncovered, urgh, nightmare"; this time Julie went on the offensive with a comeback,

"Never stopped you earlier".

"Once bitten, twice shy", she clapped in triumph,

"So I was right"; _damn, that was good_; Shadow recoiled as he realised how slyly he'd been caught out; now all he could do was sit through the crowing of her victory, "you filthy-minded hedgehog – taking advantage of helpless young ladies to satisfy your perverted desires; I am disgusted". There was nothing he could say to this; the reprieve of the kettle boiling couldn't come fast enough as he quickly excused himself and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the echidna sniggering in the lounge.

XXX

A week into her new job, Julie was definitely enjoying the benefits of working part time; though she and Shadow had thrashed out a deal to ensure that their new finances were split evenly to cover the necessities; rent, food and amenities, she had a little finical independence now. As an added bonus, there was more free time for her to enjoy outside work, especially in the light of her discovering something that was helping her regain both her self-confidence and the figure she felt she aught to have.

Far too self-conscious to even think about joining any kind of gym because of both her cybernetic areas and her sense of self, Julie had found salvation in the form of one of the three channels Shadow's T.V was able to pick up. An hour every two days this programme came and went, more than enough to keep her in trim; if she jogged home after her shift she'd get there in time, but just in case, she could always set the video. As she came in through the front door, stuffing her newly cut key into her pocket, this was one of the days she was grateful she always remembered to do such a thing; due to a mini-epidemic of summer colds, there were a few heads missing in the department and, as such, everyone had a slightly increased workload, meaning she got home a little late this time. _Pointless joining in_; Julie resisted the urge to join in halfway – she hadn't warmed up and the last thing she needed right now was to pull some muscle or other. So she would wait for another thirty-five minutes the reel off the whole lot and get a better all around work out.

XXX

Panting with the effort now, Julie fought to keep up with the instructor on the screen, her body reacting leadenly to his latest instructions, legs feeling like twin tree trunks as she began an exercise that combined squats and twists to exhausting effects,

"Right, five, four, keep it up, feel the burn, three, two, nearly there guys…", the sight of the unfeasibly fit echidnas of both genders flanking the instructor on the screen spurred her on; she knew that, if she really put her mind to it, she could one day have a body like them. _Like her_; Julie flicked her head to the side, displacing both the sweat threatening to run into her eyes and the memories that, despite the injustice that still saturated them like rank poison, conjured up a little pain – no-one deserved to lose their life like that. With a shake of her head, she realised she'd lost her place in the routine and sought to keep up. Pivot, bounce, kick, turn…

"Hey what's going on? Feels like we're living in an earthquake zone"; _huh?_ Reaching aside and hitting the pause button to the video, Julie glanced at the clock and started; time had flown even if she hadn't been having fun. Dropping into a crouch to re-oxygenate herself, she looked up as Shadow appeared in the doorway, raising her hand as she hadn't yet managed to recapture her breath enough to speak a greeting. He looked at her dampened fur and soaking training clothes before folding his arms, lips twitching,

"So it's you who's been pounding the carpet like that? Stop jumping up and down, you'll have the floor in". She managed a feral grimace,

"Nah, just, keeping fit".

"Julie, the only way you'll keep fit is if you chain him down somewhere", he shook his head at his own joke as, reluctantly, she had to be taken in a small measure by his pun,

"Well I can start", she rose up, beginning to stretch off to avoid cramp, looking up as she did so, "whether or not I can finish is another matter".

"You'll get there; maybe not soon", he added as she stretched off her legs, "but you'll get there. You finishing that video now?"

"Nah, forget it", she pulled the little sports towel she'd brought with the spare money from her first pay-check and rubbed the sweat from her face and neck, feeling the salty liquid beginning to cool in the air and chill her skin, "I'm getting better, but there's no way I can do a full session yet".

"Put it this way, you can do a heck of a lot more than I can"; the echidna looked up; _not like him to be self-depreciating – is he trying to make me feel better?_

"You", she straightened, short routine over, and followed him out of the front room after opening the window to allow a little fresh air in, "I've seen more fat on a cold chip; you lose any weight and you'll float off with the wind".

"Julie, Julie", the ebon hedgehog joked as she turned to catch a shower, "you forget, most of the time I'm the one creating the wind, with my speed", he was just quick enough; she pouted at the lost opportunity as he held up a warning finger, "that vegetable and fried prawn curry was a one-off mistake – never again".

"You said it" she had to agree with him on this – that was a dish that hadn't agreed with either of them, leaving to pronounced discomfort in a public setting for a fair few days afterwards.

Her towel was on the hook in the bathroom as she was on the couch this week; Shadow, as it was his turn to stay in bed rather than the sleeping bag, kept his toiletries in the bedroom for the remainder of the week. Just before she slipped into the warm, welcoming shower, she called out,

"Your turn to fix dinner".

"I'm on it"; with the answer, she hit the power and stepped inside, shivering in delight as the water cascaded over her, washing away the grime and sweat of the day as she relaxed in the steamy interior. She seemed to do most of her best thinking in the shower and, as she massaged some shower ointment into the spaces between her dreadlocks, a sudden thought occurred to her,

"Hey Shads, remember it's your turn to call Sonic tonight right?"

"Yeah, I know, I'll get to that after we've eaten", she nodded, satisfied that she'd done her bit with the mnemonic reminder and went back to washing. At least she did until his voice came through again,

"Gotta give him a call today as well; it's the end of fresher's week – with any luck Ames can give us all the gen on how she's finding it".

"Ames", Julie closed her eyes, trying to paint a picture of the name Shadow had mentioned a few times; _that's Sonic's girlfriend, yeah she's the smaller pink hedgehog, going to that place called university, just like a really advanced school sort of thing_; "reckon she'll have done all right?"

"Trust me on this", his answer came through with a laugh, "you need to meet Amy once or twice Jules; nothing short of a bullet deflects her from whatever she wants and she wants that qualification like you wouldn't believe".

"Still not sure how that education system's supposed to work; it was a lot simpler in the Legion"; this was one of things she and Shadow had spent a bit of time doing, comparing their previous experiences of two completely separate backgrounds and seeing which had the better way of getting things done. Naturally there weren't many areas they agreed on and one such sticking point was this university malarkey; Julie couldn't see the point in studying really hard for three years to get a piece of paper – in the Legion it had been a case of decide what you wanted to be young and you got trained from that point onwards, no changing courses or anything like that, so you were ready to go by the time you were sixteen. Still, to each their own as Shadow was quick to point out,

"Yeah", the black hedgehog was happy talking about his friends on the surface as it made the inevitable reunion all the sweeter, "three years from now, we won't be calling her just Amy, we'll have to address her as Dr Rose, the premiere councillor in all, of…"

He tailed off, the knife he was using to slice vegetables clattering uselessly to the table top as the blood drained out of his face; he'd been so caught up in the image of Amy's degree that he'd forgotten who he was talking to. That was an official open mouth, insert foot; _and from here on in I have to wing it_;

"What?" There was a ghostly whisper almost from the doorway; turning slowly, his eyes were downcast as he saw Julie there, face almost as white as his own with only a wrapped towel around herself, "that hedgehog, is Amy Rose?"

"Yeah, the Amy Rose, the one you probably know about", the words came thickly and slowly, delaying tactics as he groped for something else to say, trying to think about this as if her were a Dark Legionnaire – what would they have been told about Amy? His guess was nothing pretty, and he owed it to the pink hedgehog who had so nearly scarified everything for the whole of Angel Island to disprove such untruth.

"She, defeated…the grandmaster?" _No, can't do it now_; with a supreme effort, Shadow made his decision as to what to do next,

"Julie, listen to me; go and finish your shower; no, no excuses", he cut off her frenzied attempts to carry on the conversation quickly, "we'll talk when you're done I promise, but this isn't something we can rush, either of us. Please, just get dried off and dressed". For a long second, hedgehog and echidna stood looking at each other before, to his almighty relief, Julie-Su began to edge down the hallway, back towards the bathroom; Shadow didn't move until he heard the slam of a door and, much more importantly, the sound of the power shower resuming – only then did he put his brain to work, trying frantically to sort through his rapidly shrinking options.

XXX

Though Shadow didn't know it, much of Julie's shock had come from confusion; everything he had said about Amy, or Ames as he often called her, had been complimentary and described a sweet-natured girl who put her friends first every time. _But, now I think about it_; as she recounted those conversations, she saw, or at least she thought she saw, a pattern – rather than free and flowing, Shadow's speech had been more careful more contained, as though not wanting to give too much away; _and now I know what he was trying to hide_. There was a momentary flash of anger that Shadow didn't trust her but, she frowned as she tried to swap places with her flatmate, what would she have done different in his place? The answer was not much – the only reason he'd let her in on that secret now was because his tongue had slipped and now he needed to think carefully about what he had to say. But then that was the big question; what could the black hedgehog say that would possibly wipe away the Legion's point of view of Amy Rose – the one Mobian who had destroyed their greatest hope of defeating death forever and driven the great grandmaster Dimitri to wherever he was now, hiding, recovering his strength?

She wasn't sure but, Julie told herself, she'd give Shadow a fair hearing; she owed him that much at least. That point of loyalty didn't, however, extend to enjoying her shower for too long; the second the last stains of soap suds were out of her fur she was towelling off most of the water, slipping into her rough clothes still damp and throwing herself out the bathroom door, desperate to hear this, try and believe the Mobian she had heard about and the one Shadow knew were one and the same; _and if they are_; she shook her head as, lump in her throat and panic in her chest; _how can we find any room to agree on this?_

He was waiting for her, sitting at the table; without speaking he gestured for her to sit down, nudging a chair out for her with his foot. When she was sat comfortably, there was a very solemn second of silence before he drew in a deep breath and made the first move,

"Right Julie", he rubbed a hand over his eyes, suddenly seeming tired as he made to explain this, "for a start, what do you know about, I mean, what do the Legion believe happened?"

"Not a lot, next to nothing concrete", even as she answered she was trying to recall the rumours about Dimitri's defeat that had circulated around the Dark Legion like maddening hornets, "basically, this one Mobian, Amy Rose, either destroyed the Bloodstone and drove the grandmaster Dimitri into hiding or helped the guardian do it, depending on who you ask. The higher ranks suppress the story, but everyone knows her name". Shadow nodded; she couldn't be sure, but Julie thought he might have been breathing a little easier than before – had something in her words helped soothe his nerves?

"Right, I see – well first of all I can tell you the former of those explanations is true", Julie's eyes widened but Shadow hammered the point home, eyes flaming heatedly as something more than a mere story spilled from his lips, "Amy did it, all on her own, I know, I saw it, I was there; I watched her fight and beat Dimitri, and then let him go".

"You, you were there? But they never said about survivors, they said the base was destroyed?"

"It was", he replied curtly before seeming to rein himself in with a visible effort, taking several breaths before starting again "listen, I could get Amy on the phone; I know for a fact she's probably at Sonic's now, playing cards with him, Tails and maybe Cream as well, but I'm not going to, I can't. I can't tear the head off that scab for her, I know she wants to forget what happened and move on, so you'll have to settle for my words, get it? Amy's done this once, she shouldn't have to explain it all over again just because I made a balls-up".

"Fair enough", Julie nodded, looking Shadow directly in his crimson eyes, "I've trusted you so far and you've not gone wrong yet". That had been what he'd needed to hear; she virtually saw some of the tension ease out of him – some, but by no means all as he began to recite words formed from images that had melded into his very soul.

"Knuckles had invited us up to Angel Island, said something had been going wrong with the Master and, somehow, an entire city had sprung up out of nowhere, along with the vast majority of Angel Island; this city we're sat in now, Echidnopolis…"

"Wait", that was the first stumbling block for her, "you mean this city just…appeared out of thin air?"

"More or less, though none of us knew why, at least, not then", his face darkened for a moment, stalling her other questions as he carried on, "but more and more of the island was coming back, the Master Emerald", he knew he could talk to her about this subject as she had originally brought it up days earlier, revealing that she, along with the vast majority of the Dark Legion, knew what it was Knuckles guarded with his life, "was tripping out and going haywire. Apparently, the guardian had had a vision…"

It wasn't the whole truth and he knew it, but Shadow had to be conservative with the facts – he couldn't trust Julie with the knowledge of Haven, the Brotherhood of Guardians or the identity of his echidna friend's wife, not yet anyway. He didn't think it mattered now; she was hanging on his every word, not bothering to try and sift fact from fiction as he continued,

"His ancestors, the previous guardians, appeared to him in some kind of dream, or a vision, he wasn't too precise with the details; said something about a gem of blood arising, the child of thorns calling back what had been lost. None of us knew what was happening, but, while we were all up there, Knuckles had summoned everyone who'd ever seen the Master Emerald, not just heard of it, seen it, with their own two eyes, Amy went missing and then everything went to hell". Julie shivered, unconsciously perturbed by what was going to happen next and, despite the grim circumstances, Shadow began to find the role of story-teller a little exciting; it was a bit of a battle to stop himself launching into wild fantasy and keep the facts relatively straight,

"When she went, she used a special stone to do so, called a Chaos Emerald, ever heard of them?"

"Yes", though it was true, it was a struggle to try and recall anything of merit about the topic; after a few seconds of mnemonic struggle, the former Dark Legionnaire answered uncertainly, "they're something to do with the Master, sort of like its children?"

"Similar, but all you need to know is that they're damn powerful, if you can use them. Up until then, Amy had never shown any signs of being able to do anything with them, but then, one night, after she'd been sleepwalking and woke up petrified out of her mind, she used one of them to teleport away, thousands of miles and answer the second call". Goosebumps rising on her skin, Julie sucked her tongue for a second to wet her desert-dry mouth and ask,

"Second call, from what?" Shadow leant forwards, silhouette ominous in the sudden gloom as he answered in a tone darker even than his fur,

"From him, from it. From the Bloodstone".

XXX

There was a chilling silence as that sank in; Julie huddled up in her clothes, suddenly feeling the cold's bite as if something old and maleficent had invaded the room, stolen the warmth from the very air around her. Seemingly impervious to the change, Shadow continued his awful story,

"We only figured it all out later, after it had all ended; what happened then was the result of millennia. Long ago the first guardian and Dimitri had warred for the fate of Angel Island; Master Emerald had fought Bloodstone and, in the end, the guardian had triumphed".

"Beginning the exile of the Legion", Julie broke in, her own sense of history concurring with him on this point, "we were banished because Dimitri was defeated".

"Not quite", Shadow set her right, though he was convinced she had the general idea, "before the last battle began, Dimitri and the first guardian, don't know his name, used their combined powers to seal away the echidna population of Angel Island – Knuckles managed to translate some old texts or other, said they'd never made sense before then. The battle ended with Dimitri and the Bloodstone gone and the guardian near death, nowhere near strong enough to bring the echidnas back, so you, the Legion and the, er, other echidnas alike were lost".

"But safe", Julie underlined that point, nodding at something she only then made clear, "we need to preserve life, all life, so the grandmaster helped save us all, even if it meant a bargain with his most bitter rival". For the sake of speed, Shadow didn't argue the point,

"Well, quite, but for how long this went on we don't know and, let's face it, right now it doesn't matter. What happened next was with Amy; she was…on an expedition, with some friends, pot-holing", he made that one up on the fly, trying hard to remember it in case the issue cropped up again and he had to recall the same story; the last thing he wanted now was to rake over other old memories involving a real creature of the night who had, indirectly, set the whole ball rolling, "somehow she saw the Bloodstone and, more importantly, the spirit of Dimitri that remained with it, no, he wasn't dead, before you ask, but his body was destroyed, he was basically something like a ghost, and he…possessed her; when she was asleep, he took over, moving, seeing, remembering what it was to live like a mortal. Amy just thought she was sleep-walking, never thought about it until, well, Knuckles called us all. Then he made his move", despite himself his fist clenched; even if he was talking to a Dark Legionnaire, one who owed her existence to Dimitri, he couldn't; stop himself growling the next words, "he frightened her with the knowledge that he was there, within her, made her so afraid of what he could make her do to her friends, to us, that she agreed. She united him with the Bloodstone, and with it's power, he regained his body". Julie shot to her feet,

"He lived then, and Amy helped him, well, she did unwillingly, but she aided him return to the land of the living?"

"Yes, and he helped her make sure his stay was brief and unpleasant", Shadow grinned wolfishly until he caught Julie looking at him, strange eyes narrowed in dislike and he caught himself, returning to the tale, "well, not at first; to begin with, Dimitri needed to retake Angel Island and, to do that, he needed to go through us, and he did, easily; with the Bloodstone, we never stood a chance". He broke off a moment, bitter memories of fighting through the mazy tunnels of Haven and, most importantly, the memory it had evoked of his life before this life, before Metal Sonic had jolted his brain and made him forget who he was, what he was meant to be, choking off his speech. To her credit Julie didn't rush him; she could see plain as day that this was a massive thing for the black hedgehog and so waited patiently, even if internally she was burning up with questions, for him to continue,

"Well, he had us there and he explained everything; what the Legion's purpose was, to defeat death forever…" At that, Julie made an important connection and shot to her feet,

"You said I was the first Legionnaire you'd ever met", she stabbed an accusing finger across the table, "you lied; by the spirits, you met Dimitri, the grandmaster of all echidnas in the Legion".

"And thus, you were the first Legionnaire I met", even in these tight corners he could find a loophole; grinning with just a hint of smugness he smothered her accusations at the root, "Dimitri was far more than a mere Legionnaire". _Oh, that was a cheap way around it_; unable to get away from that brand of thinking, Julie merely nodded and, sitting back down, turned her mind back towards taking in the rest of Shadow's recounting of events,

"But he told us this, and that because of that he wouldn't kill us, it wasn't his way, but as he was doing so, there was a bright glare and Amy appeared, right on top of the Bloodstone. She'd figured it out; Dimitri, while he was still inside her mind, had to change her, make her able to use Chaos powers, it was the only way he could get back to the Bloodstone. But because he did that, it changed her forever, and she used it to come back and fight him, fight him for the freedom of Angel Island; think about it, with the Bloodstone alone he could have imposed the Legion's idealism over all the echidnas, never mind if he had the Legion backing him as well. Amy fought him, she was the only one who could because she used the Bloodstone as well, it was basically the most powerful Chaos emerald of the all; she battled it for us all, came close to losing her own life, but she won", he leant forwards, his gaze capturing Julie's and not letting her go as the next words came more quietly but, strangely because of that, they were more hard hitting, able to sink in deeper, "and this is the thing you have to understand Jules; Amy had the Mobian who had basically tortured her with fear, with her own mind, made er feel like a traitor to her friends even if it was the only way he could obtain his freedom. He was in the palm of her hand, and she told him to get out, get away. Could you have done that Julie-Su; I don't think I could, hand on heart. Could you?"

The kitchen was still for several minutes, the seconds ticking by uncounted before, finally, after all the avenues had been run down and taken into account, the echidna gave her answer in a hoarse whisper,

"I, I don't, think I could", her metallic dreadlock clinked against the table as she looked down, fighting to try and come to terms with the enormity of that decision, "I couldn't say, not unless I was actually there, at that point".

"I know; I don't think it's possible to say until you're there; you can take a guess, but you can't say anything for certain. But, that aside, Amy let Dimitri go, then she did the same with us, freed us all and told us to get away; she wouldn't come with us, said she had to make sure what happened there couldn't happened again. You know what she did?"

"The Bloodstone, she destroyed it, not Knuckles?" Shadow nodded,

"She did, and it nearly killed her to do so; if it hadn't been for Sonic she'd have been crushed as the base Dimitri held us in collapsed", Shadow omitted his own hand in those events to avoid the awkward questions as he carried on, "but here's the other thing; as she recovered, she wouldn't hear a bad word against him – said no-one deserved to be a prisoner like he had been, not for as long as he had", the black hedgehog bowed his head, her impassioned words ringing in his mind and still able to bring tears to the corner of his eyes, "before he reawakened the Legion, she said Dimitri took her back, back to her home, in Station Square; he stayed there, talked to her, explained things – he stopped her going mad with grief, he wanted the Amy Rose he knew, the girl in a million he called her, to come back, be the bubbly, loving hedgehog he'd had to use to get back to the Bloodstone again. That's what Amy is", Shadow's shoulder shook with the effort of keeping the emotions in; the panic, the resolve, the fear and the elation that had come from that frantic, frightening episode in his life, "you have to see that, you will see that – when you meet her, you'll know what we all see in her, even Sonic when he eventually looked hard enough". Julie's eyes crossed for a second as she thought,

"Sonic, he's her boyfriend isn't he? I can image how he took this, or", a second idea, brought about by Shadow's expression as he raised his eyes, blinking back tears, took root, "or was that, how, when they got together?"

"Yes, it was; Sonic was beside himself as she was recovering; the night she woke up he was there and he said what she'd known all along". Julie sighed, massaging her forehead with a single hand as she spoke,

"Oh man, that's a head-breaker and then some; I'll need to sleep on that to let it sink in – I can't figure it out now".

"Take as long as you need to, but do not bring the subject up with her", Shadow stated firmly, warning in his mood now as Julie registered it, "she's getting on just fine now; last thing she needs is a reminder of that incident – she still feels guilty that she let the Legion back".

"But at the same time", the former Dark Legionnaire interjected, "she brought the rest of the echidnas out from wherever Dimitri and the first guardian sent them; she rediscovered a whole species and saved them, let them come home", Julie managed a wan smile from under her supporting hand, "I don't know about anything else but I can at least be grateful to her for that – without Amy Rose, if what you're saying if true and I'm not disbelieving you, I'd not be here now. Catch 22 isn't it?"

"Tell me about it – it's like everything", feeling the conversation head more towards ground he could feel comfortable on, Shadow allowed a little philosophy into his thinking, "good and bad points both, nothing's in black and white".

"Just as well, or it'd be a very dull world", Julie added before a sudden growl permeated the air and shattered the mood irreparably; she went red as Shadow had to resort to pinching his nose to stop laughing at her sudden indication of hunger.

"The exercise is catching up on you; that's the gut getting its daily work out". He pointed and made to stand up, intending to start dinner where he'd left it before he voice stopped him,

"Nah, I'll do that; you go phone your friends, I'll handle dinner". The offer stopped him dead,

"You mean that?" The reprieve rooted him in shock, not able to think enough to argue as he grabbed the life-line, "right, deal, I'll clear up".

"I'll remember that, now quick, you're already late".

"Right"; without further ado, the black hedgehog left the kitchen, heading to the front room to dial his friends. _Ah Shadow_; Julie picked up the vegetable knife and let her eyes travel over the fresh produce arrayed before her; _thanks for that, now where to start…_

A few seconds after he'd started talking, he realised exactly why she'd made that offer; excusing himself from talking to Tails for a few seconds, he turned to bawl into the kitchen,

"Stop eating the ingredients".

"Too late; you weren't quick enough and anyway, chef's prerogative". The black hedgehog sighed in exasperation before shaking it from his mind and enjoying the conversation he was having with the crew in Station Square.

XXX

She finished folding up the last sock and, having put it together with it's partner, picked up the pile of ironing and headed for the bedroom, where Shadow was now staying for the remainder of the week as it was his turn on the rota. _Have to air the place when he's out of there_; it was nearly the weekend now – soon she'd be able to have the softer bed for seven luxurious days while he'd be kipping on the settee, so she started to think about what lay ahead when she reclaimed the single bedroom; _don't know what deodorant he uses but he needs to change it – the smell hangs around for days_. Not that it was a bad smell, more…lingering, if that was the right word, than anything else; masculine and alien to a lady's bedroom; _though he'd be the last Mobian on this planet to call me a lady_. Pushing to door open with her foot, she announced her arrival,

"Shads, laundry; you've got…" She stopped dead as Shadow leapt up from where he'd been stretched out on the bed like a scalded cat; her quick eyes saw one of his hands disappear under the bed pillow holding something, then re-emerge empty again. _Right_; she kept the smirking smile away from her face, trying to look abashed as he rounded on her; _this could get interesting_.

"Jeez, you nearly gave me a coronary", he blustered, trying hard to disguise his sudden discomfort with hot air, "don't you know how to knock?"

"Not when I've got my hands full", she shot back, careful to keep her eyes away from the suspect pillow and the dynamite that lay beneath it, she walked forwards quickly to deny his attempts to shoo her out of the room, "just put it here shall I?"

"Yeah that'll do, just, leave it there and I'll sort it out"; flustered, the hedgehog wasn't paying particular attention to where she was and that proved fatal; the second the neatly folded small pile was out of her hands, Julie pounced with a delighted shriek,

"Trying to hide something Shads?"

"No!" The hedgehog threw himself forwards, panic galvanising his instincts to protect his pride forever; he landed a split-second after the echidna, grappling with her to try and stop the pillow being overturned but that was a lost battle from the outset. Even with adrenaline helping him out, he was no match for Julie's robotically-assisted strength hand to hand and was rolled over backwards, coming to a halt just as she tossed the cover aside and, smiling sweetly, began to lift the pillow up to reveal what he'd tried to hide.

"And what were you trying to hide then?" Chuckling evilly, she looked down, but, before she could see much more than a vague set of squiggles something landed across the bed; Shadow using his speed to shield his embarrassment to the last, kicking out at her as he lay prone,

"Get out, it's nothing, leave it alone". Laughing as she was, Julie couldn't reply verbally but, as he felt her move and then growled in fear as first one, then both of his free legs were pinned helpless by her stronger arms, he knew he was in for it this time.

As she decided where to proceed from here and recomposed herself enough to speak, Julie grinned evilly as she realised how much she could use this little discovery to make Shadow's life unbearable. It wasn't that she was any kind of a prude; compared to some of the magazines that had been turfed out following a clearance of the average Dark Legion barracks she was sure this was fairly small potatoes, but then again Shadow didn't have to know that. _Now should I go with the 'shocked, appalled little girl' approach or would the out and out bribery lane cut more ice?_; even as she let these possibilities roll over in her mind, she leant forwards to whisper in the helpless hedgehog's ear,

"Hand it over", she paused for a second, just long enough for him to begin a reply before adding cruelly, "or else". Shadow struggled for a few more seconds before, silently cursing that she'd got him good this time, he had no choice but to invite his own destruction,

"Or else what?" He demanded snappishly; the silence gave him a little hope before, with a jolt, something nibbled into his left side, trying to worm under him; frantic, he tried to press down, only for the hand to pinch upwards, tickling him lightly, enough to make a little more headway as light giggling filled his ears,

"Julie quit it", the only response was another drive forwards and he realised she was nearly there; _time for the desperation card_; "I'll spike you in a minute". The quills on his back rose aggressively to make good his threat but, just this once, he was too slow.

With a yell of delight, Julie snatched her snaking arm back, clutching her ill-gotten gains to her chest and scanning the page frantically, releasing her captive, sensing Shadow leap upwards as he exploded into action, knowing it was too late. _Right, here we go…what?_; the former Dark Legionnaire had to wonder here, something was very odd about this paper. Though there was a picture of what looked like a female echidna there, she was lain down on her front, showing nothing; there was far too much writing for this kind of publication, and what did those little arrows mean?

"Shadow?"; flummoxed by what she was seeing, not at all what she expected, she turned and offered it back to its owner, expression more confused than openly mocking, "what is this, and no smart-talking, the truth". Snatching it back, the black hedgehog recoiled up to his end of the bed, glaring at her as if his eyes could transfer the heat from his face into some kind of thermal lance to burn her for her low sneak attack,

"It's mine, none of your business"; he wasn't able to meet her gaze as she folded her arms, her expression telling him in no uncertain terms precisely what would happen if he refused to tell her. Turning away as his words came thick with embarrassment, the black hedgehog had to choose the lesser of two excruciating evils.

"It's what I do, when I go out, I, just, go and…there's a club, in town, teaches…" Seeing him fall silent, Julie rolled her hand forwards in mid-air, trying to chivvy him along,

"Yes?" _No way out_; and there wasn't – Shadow had no choice but to let this go, otherwise she'd never let him live this down,

"Teaches…people how to, the art of, well…massage".

Silence, until…

"Hahahahaha", the echidna fell over backwards, tumbling off the bed in throes of mirth that she only tried to stifle when she saw Shadow's poisonous look. For his part, all he could do was take it, face combusting and hands twisting to prevent himself wrapping them around Julie's neck.

"S'not funny", he grated thickly, not looking at her if he could help it as she began panting, trying to gain some more air to laugh with,

"Bloody hilariohohohous", she informed him, "d,damn Shads, thahahahanks for that". He gave a mocking smile,

"You're most definitely not welcome"; not hearing him, Julie managed to gulp down some air and choke off her laugher enough to ask,

"And", rubbing a hand across her eyes, she pointed him out with a trembling finger, gasping as she tried to maintain enough coherency to be understood, "and how lohohohohong have you behehehehen a, a masseur?"

"The night I picked you up off the street", he spoke acidly, cutting off some of her laughter before he heaved a reluctant sigh, "that was right after my first try at it. I go there twice a week; didn't you wonder where I'd disappeared off to?"

"I was wondering but, that", she cracked up again for a minute, carrying on only when she was sure her voice was under control, "I never, never ever in a million years; _that_ never entered my mind. Heehee, Shadow the massage machine; the girls at work…"

"Will never hear about this"; _if this gets to the EST it'll get to the C.A in a week – if Snappy gets hold of this my life won't be worth getting up in the morning for_; with this thought lodged firmly in his mind, he stood tall and tried to make his meaning manifest, "you so much as breathe a word of this and you'll be living in a cardboard box this winter, get it?"

She didn't answer, merely sitting there, meeting his desperate look with serenity, tapping her fingers together as though trying to think about something hard; Shadow could only hope it was a decision that boded well for him. She licked her lips slyly and he began to feel unease prickle his spine before she spoke,

"All right Shadow, I'll keep your dirty little secret under wraps, but", Julie's smile suddenly moved up a gear, clocking up a good nine point nine on the evil-o-meter, "I want a little payment in exchange".

"Like what; how much do you want?" _She would have to pick a week when I'm a little strapped_; just as he was thinking about how he could scrape the cash together he saw her shake her head slowly,

"Shadow, I'm ashamed", she looked anything but as she leant forwards, "I don't want your money, I want a different type of payment". That left him mystified,

"What?"

"Well, those little exercise routines I do leave me a little, you know, stressed and…" _Ah, the boy learns_; she stopped talking at his upraised hands, listening with a warm, glow to the disbelief in his answering voice,

"You want me to give you a massage?" The black hedgehog blinked – somehow that didn't make sense – he'd be paying her off with what he wanted her to keep quiet about?

"No"; _that's a relief_; "I want massages on tap"; _what!_; the terror in his look made her chuckle as she outlined the terms, "I want a massage whenever I feel like it, or I'll let the whole EST know and they'll be queuing around the door, get it?"

_I'm snookered_; Shadow's head fell into his hands as he realised Julie really had him over a barrel this time – she didn't pressure him for an answer because she already knew what he'd say. All he could try and do was put the most positive spin he could on this whole sorry episode,

"Right, but I'm not very good yet", he had the chance to forestall her taking advantage of this circumstance just yet; there was a chance, about the same sort of chance a snowball had of surviving in a blast furnace, but a chance nevertheless, that she'd forget this ever happened, "so give me a few more weeks to get better and, well, I'll do what I can, deal?" After a second of examining his outstretched hand, she capitulated with a wide grin, shaking his hand with a last comment,

"Okay, I'll let you off easy; now if you've quite finished trying to hide provocative material from me, I'll take my leave", she stood up to go, grinning still as Shadow snarled; _and now to really rub it in_; "I know you'll want to kick my butt for this, but try anything and, well, I might have to whisper a few words into a certain blue ear, if you catch my drift?"

"Impeccably", he answered through gritted teeth, though as she left he had one last trick to pull, "and I'd never think about kicking your butt Julie; I don't want to lose my foot". She span, anger resurfacing at that cheap shot, only to come face to face with the bedroom door, the slam reverberating into her eardrums as she stood, breathing raggedly, only to feel hope seep back in, her smile sliding back into place as she reran what had just happened over and over in her head; _game, set and match to Julie-Su!_

XXX

It was when the first faint flush of golden yellow was just appearing on the leaves that it struck, a realisation so complete and off-putting that he couldn't be rid of it, no matter how hard he tried; he was well aware of how rude staring was, but having had his brain scrambled by something akin to a phantom sledgehammer he found he couldn't take his eyes away and that, unconsciously at first, she was reacting to his determined looks as he tried to answer his own question frantically. He couldn't bring himself to tear his gaze away and she couldn't ignore him forever; finally, with a huff of pent-up frustration, Julie reached over for the television remote, switched off the documentary she'd been watching and turned to look at her flatmate directly, unsettled at being the centre of his attention and saying so immediately,

"What is it Shadow? You've been staring at me for the past thirty minutes; is there something wrong, something I'm doing, or not doing – what?"

"I", his voice was distant, as though he wasn't quite sure how his voice box was supposed to work, "I just, realised, it just hit me".

"What hit you, aside from me if you don't give me a straight answer in the next five seconds?"

"The strangest thing"; Julie clenched her fist, rubbing her knuckles as she growled,

"Spit it out!"

"You, I just thought I know absolutely nothing about you", he gave an embarrassed sort of chuckle as his expression of wonderment banished her anger, "I've been living in this house, less than fifteen feet from you for over a month, nearly two, and I know virtually nothing about the girl I house-share with. Who are you Julie-Su?"

The basic truth in those few, simple words, stunned her in the same way they'd stunned Shadow; _I know he moved here from Station Square, he's got a few friends, including the guardian, and…_; she racked her brains before drawing a blank; _that's it? That's all I know about the guy I live with?_ Seeing her expression fall into place to mimic his, Shadow held his hands up,

"Yeah, I, sort of threw me for a loop as well, but, there it is", a light chuckle broke up his sentence as he shook his head, "we must have been living with our eyes shut for things to come to this".

"I, er, I guess so", though the thought had chilled her a little, the new thought of actually talking about her past made the former Dark Legionnaire nervous; some things should, in her eyes, stay buried in the closet of her mind, "but is that such a bad thing? I mean", she carried on hastily as Shadow's red eyes locked onto her, slight disbelief etched in his expression, "I'm pretty sure there are some embarrassing areas in your past, and mine; do we really need to know about them? This is a fresh start, do we need…what's so funny?"

This time it was Julie's turn to not see the joke as Shadow shivered with suppressed laughter on the settee, shaking as she looked dumbfounded at him, questions in her mind being sorted into asking order as he spoke again,

"My past, Julie? Oh boy have you been in the dark or what; wait there", he stopped her questions before they even began to appear, standing up and exiting the room as Julie tried madly to see where he was going with this. A few minutes later, her eyes swivelled back to the door, seeing the hedgehog re-enter with, she noticed, a small, leather bound book held tightly under one arm which, after a second's pause, he offered to her with a warning,

"Read this but please be careful with it; this really is all I have left of, well, you'll see". For once not arguing with his logic, the echidna accepted the small novel and, trying to fathom what was going on in his mind, offering this written work to her; it was only when she turned the first page, scanning down it, that with a thrill of wonderment and not a little terror, she began to understand.

Stories are each individual, every single one with a unique personality; some are placid, letting them read you at your own pace, some might even be called indifferent, almost as if the authors weren't bothered if you finished them or not. This story, however, the one Julie-Su was thrust headlong into, was not one of these laid-back characters; if anything, it was the antithesis of them. It reached out and grabbed attention with an unbreakable hold, demanding to be read, not letting go of any reader's eyes with its combination of energy, adventure and, at some points, tragedy as well, all rolled together into a combustible package. Julie read solidly, unable to even consider putting the tome down, from the first page to where the writing finished, for it was obvious the story hadn't yet ended, then, breaking contact with the parchment for the first time, she gave Shadow a single, concentrated glance before turning back and reading the whole thing through again, this time noticing that, rather than a single author, many different people had contributed to this work, including the Mobian sat across from her, though his input was, she realised with a sudden intake of breath, markedly different from each of the other scribes. Finally, when her eyeballs started to throb with the strain of reading so much, she lowered the pages and, carefully folding the book shut and marking the page as she'd found it, she stood and handed it reverently back to her ebon housemate. As she stood before him, the first of many questions came spilling out, relieving her burdened brain, still trapped in the maze of such thoughts and memories it had just been privileged with,

"Shadow, this book", he nodded, taking it from her hands as she tried to think of the appropriate words, settling eventually for, "what is it?"

"My past", he answered bluntly, sitting up a little as she stumbled backwards, collapsing into her seat as he continued, "as I hope you read, I lost my memories due to a fight I was involved in over two years ago; it took the combined memories of all my friends, Knuckles included, to write that account of my life up to that point, give me something to go off as I tried to remember who and what I was. Even when I read it, I didn't believe the half of it; I still don't in some cases, because I can't picture myself doing half of that stuff".

"You", a trembling hand indicated the small, leather bound book now resting in the hedgehog's lap, "you, can't remember, most of that?" He shook his head; _he can't be serious, to lose that kind of a life_; to distract herself from those thoughts, Julie scrabbled for passages from the text, "not the space colony, not, what's her name, Maria?"

"No", the name didn't conjure a spark of recognition in Shadow's damaged memory; suddenly, with a clap of his hands, he leant forwards, a darkening smile on his face as he turned the scenario round to face her, "but that's what a blank slate, a clean break is Julie – you really want one, that's the price you pay". Her face darkened as his had,

"I never said I wanted a clean break, I just said the past should remain private, and yes, there are parts of it I'd give my right arm to be rid of"; seeing her expression twist unpleasantly, Shadow's face softened and he leant forwards, nothing malicious in his manner now as he asked gently,

"Like what?"

That was the critical point and Julie knew it – either she walled herself up and stewed in her own juices again, or she opened up a little, bridged the gap between her and her flatmate a little more and, she realised privately, got a lot of grief off her chest at last. _Well, he knows about the Knuckles debacle_; that thought, and the fact he had given her the first glimpse into his past as it was, allowed her to, after a minute of composing herself, jettison some much reviled ballast,

"Like the day I lost my dad".

XXX

He'd been expecting something in a similar vein to this but that didn't mean he couldn't react to it; from his seat Shadow bowed his head, not interrupting, silently marvelling at how Julie was finding the strength to talk about this so rationally – at least in his case, he'd never had to say a word to show the black spots of his previous exploitations.

"Yeah, it wasn't until I started school that I saw most other kids had a mum and another echidna, a male, around as well; my friend Sady-Ha actually told me what a dad was. I went home that night and asked that fatal question; where's my dad?" A grim laugh escaped her and she broke off for a second, Shadow making no move to butt in, letting her tell her own story in her own time,

"She wouldn't say, even when I pressed her, she just became more standoffish, telling me I was a bad girl for bringing it up and she didn't want to talk about such a thing; it wasn't until I was older, just before it happened, that I realised why she didn't want to talk about him. It wasn't that she was ashamed I never had a father, it was that she was afraid".

"Of him?" The echidna shook her head, light catching on her robotic spine and sending flashes across the room, illuminating Shadow as a black patch in the sudden light,

"Even now I'm not sure; of him, that I'd find out about him, or he'd find out about me, something along those lines. But I let it be, never really bothered with it because it upset her, until", Shadow saw her quiver, swallowing a lump in her throat, the next words choked as she tried to hold in the emotion, "she left me, alone".

_Julie_; Shadow tried to convey his sympathy through his eyes; he didn't want to sound patronising, not now; _I am sorry_. Silence fell for a little while, Julie apparently with dust in her eyes and wiping it clear before restarting her story where she'd left off,

"She passed away, suddenly; blood clot in her heart travelled to her brain, killed her. I was alone at fourteen, I've never been so scared, but I couldn't let it stop me; Sady's family took me in, looked after me while I tried to track my dad down. She helped me a lot, she was better at computers than I was, but I never told her what the questions meant", a hint of wan pride infiltrated her tone and she looked up, rekindled fire in her eyes as she spoke again, reliving the long nights spent alone on her pet project, her one obsession of her teenage years, "I modified a programme, heavily, so it would screen out any DNA sample I put into it, match it with my own. I had a sample of my mothers, a couple of her hairs, so I used them to screen my own DNA, getting rid of any DNA that came from her; the DNA that matched what I had left would have to come from my father".

"That's impressive", Shadow didn't just say that to add something to the story from the view of an outsider; he genuinely meant it as well; as far as he was concerned that was as good if not better than anything Tails had yet to come up with, "but how did you get the, ah, the paternity samples?" Her first response was a high, dry laugh,

"With a lot of effort; I volunteered to do cleaning duties, washing up, anything where I could get hold of DNA and remember who it came from. I scanned most of Necronopolis, the vast majority of the Dark Legion, before I found him, and it was a ninety-nine percent match, no way it could have been wrong. So I had a family, or at least a father that I'd always wanted; it was only then that something else smacked me in the face".

"Oh no", Shadow breathed, squeezing his eyes shut as his mouth set in a grimace, "he was…gone too? After all that, he was…"

"Dead? No, he wasn't dead, he was very much alive", her response was in an odd voice, relief mixed violently with vehemence, Julie's face snarling as the next words sizzled from her lips, "he was alive, and he had a wife and two kids to prove it".

The pieces slipped from his grasp, he couldn't comprehend what she was saying; try as he might, all Shadow could do was grope for something resembling an answer. His misunderstanding must have shown on his face however, as Julie spoke again, her next words colourless, all emotion drained out of them by years of remembering and wondering, what could have been,

"He played away from home; my mum was his bit on the side, but he wasn't careful enough – I was born the same year as his two, just a few months between us. I was his illegitimate child, and when I saw him, when I presented him with this knowledge in private, he made that very clear indeed". A smile so cold and pain-filled it made Shadow wince knifed her expression, her eyes misty as she spoke again, reliving the moment her first dream had been broken by her own damn father,

"He said he had a happy marriage, he loved his children like nothing else on Angel Island and nothing needed to rock that boat. He told me that if I breathed a word, or the hint of a word, to anyone in the Legion he would destroy, that was the exact word he used, destroy any chance I had of making anything of myself. So what was I supposed to do; I spent years tracking him down, now this – I believed him; Sady found me that night on my bed, I'd been crying the whole day and most of the night, couldn't stop myself, but even that wasn't enough", though a few drops shimmered in her eyes, Julie managed a bitter snort of tainted mirth, "they just had to kick me when I was down; I could have had it all, because of who my dad actually was. His name was Luger, the grandchild of the grandmaster Dimitri, heir to the Legion. So that was it; just because he thought I wasn't worth rocking his precious boat over I lost my father and my birth-right; I should be in line for the leadership of the Dark Legion, but because, because he never accepted me as his child, I never had a chance".

Even as he watched Julie strive to hold her toughened outer shell together, something seized Shadow unexpected, a distant name echoed down to him and he drew the lines of relationships between the echidna in front of him and another, infamous character,

"Kragok"; _the guy with the claw, he's one of the top commanders_; "because of your…that makes…"

"Half-siblings", Julie answered with a crooked grimace, wiping a few reluctant tear tracks from her cheek fur, "he's my half-brother, though I doubt he knows it, and Lien-Da, Kommissar officially, was my half-sister before she went missing. But that was that", she sat up straight, suddenly business-like and brisk as she clapped her hands, reasserting her grip on herself as she spoke, "I sobbed for a day and a night, felt like hell for a week or two than realised I had to just get on with it; life doesn't stop just because you're in the doldrums. So I tried something else and guess what, that didn't work either", she shook her head, grim, defiant humour in her tone as she sighed, "story of my life that one". She looked across, trying to gauge Shadow's reaction, only to see him looking at her once more, intently, almost as if trying to see through her outer layers right into the core of herself. Even as she wrong-footed by this direct approach, he spoke carefully,

"Not three months ago, I said very similar words to those to my friends; I stayed with Sonic and the others, hoping my memory would return due to exposure, but when the progress dried up, I stopped having so many memory flashes breaking through my amnesia, I realised the same thing you did", it was his turn to give a grim laugh, "life really is a bitch; it doesn't care what's happening to you, it just carries right on walking and you either swim to keep up or sink. That's why I came here, got to make something of myself, with or without the memory with more holes in it than a Swiss cheese".

"Never heard of a Swiss cheese, but I can guess what you mean", Julie sat back in the chair, slightly more relaxed at the finding of the common ground, where she and Shadow apparently had similar experiences and keen to expand it, "so, what do you remember; reading's not the same as getting it right from the horses' mouth".

"True, but the last breakthrough I had was…"

Slowly, but surely, as time drifted on, even after the discussion that lasted until very late on in the following morning, one of the many wonderful and varied results of this time surge began, gradually, to take effect. Slowly, Julie's interest in finding a new place to live waned, Shadow's eye on the budget relaxed as the trivial details they shared broke down the barriers, inexorably crossed the bridges between them. In the wake of unheeding time, eddying but still waxing the whole time, came familiarity.

A/N: Whew, huge chapter this one, but I think it sets the scene – next chapter (sometime in the New Year – Christmas not a good time for busy writers to try and sneak a few pages in!) will bring some more good news for most concerned.


	7. Chapter 7 In Love Then War

Chapter 7 – In Love, Then War.

A/N: Luckily I managed to get some time off to do a bit of writing; hope I'm still up to scratch enough for you:

HHH – Which one's Sonic Advance? I can never remember; my collection stops at Sonic 2, oh the humanity. So many great titles and I can't play them, sob sob!

V – Excellent of you to read the whole series – let me know where you're up to, and what you think so far.

DH – Yay, you got there at last. Told you that hook was very subtle :-).

The other thing different about Julie's official back story is that she's actually a legitimate child – I think her father remarries when Kragok and Lien's mother dies, so she is born in wedlock, though the twins still hate her for some reason. But anyway, this story's a little bit sadder from her point of view, though as for the mention of Enerjak, hmm, never even crossed my mind… One last thing; in the review you mentioned Knucks/Julie, did you mean Shadow? (I hope you meant Shadow!) Anyway, here from you hopefully soon, and hope you had a good Christmas/New Year.

Julie sank to her knees in the lounge, breath hot and stale in her throat as her heart hammered fit to burst, the elation she was feeling drowned out, for the moment, by the fatigue burning into every single inch of her. _The first time's always the hardest_; holding in a groan, she stood upright slowly, holding a stitch that seared into her chest like a white-hot wire, causing her to grit her teeth against the pain, trying to take in long, slow breaths, get oxygen to her stressed muscles even as a single shaking finger switched off the end credits; _and thank the lord for that_. But still, she'd done it; no matter that she'd half-killed herself with her insane determination to succeed, she had finally lasted the whole hour of gruelling cardiovascular and aerobic workout. Even as her body screamed for rest, for an end to the torment, she beat down the protests and forced her fatigued limbs to react, stretching out slowly to make sure she'd not feel similar cramps in the morning. _And after that little lot_; the echidna's eyes sparkled deep green as she remembered that today was Thursday, which meant tomorrow was the big treat day, all those delicious calories hers as a reward for sticking to a diet and work out plan for a week. A large yawn dragged in enough air to satisfy her needs for the moment and she realised she really was going to sleep well tonight; _just as well it's my week in the bed this time_; when a sudden knock at the door broke her concentration. Towelling most of the surface sweat from her face and arms, Julie headed to the front door, wondering who would be calling at this time; Shadow had his own key and no-one else should really be calling this time of day. More curious than anything else, the former Dark Legionnaire unbolted the front door and opened it a crack; there was a flash of orange in her vision,

"Tails?"

It was, indeed, none other than the twin-tailed fox himself, but what was he doing here now? _Did Shadow leave a message or something?_; she racked her brains to try and recall anything that might have given advance warning about this sudden drop in, but nothing came to mind. Having settled that lack of options was forcing her hand, she resorted to asking her unplanned guest,

"What are you doing here?" He looked up, smiling as he normally did as he replied easily,

"I needed some stuff from the C.A. and I was in town; because I don't live here I need to go in and actually pick it up, can't have it dropped off at my door like you lot", his infectious easy-going nature began to take hold; even Julie, who'd been exposed to this shrewd but nevertheless effervescent Mobian was unable to mount enough resistance to deny a returned smile, "so I rolled in and Shadow saw me; he was working so it wasn't a long chat, but apparently there's a bit of a backlog, something about on of the departments having a fire alarm go off because of a shredder overheating and everything's a bit delayed. So he said I should come here, said you'd be in; I tried to phone ahead but you never picked up", he informed her, no hint of reproach in his voice as she digested the information, speaking after a second of thinking,

"Yeah, I wouldn't have heard anything over the music"; that was certainly true – Julie's superstition that the volume helped drown out the pain was well-known, and equally well mocked, by her housemate. She thought back a little, trying to recall if there had been a possibility of the brisk, shrill rings of the house phone going off in the middle of her workout routine, only to be disturbed by a hesitant cough. Reality slapped her in the face and she hastily stood aside, ashamed that it had taken her this long for manners to reassert themselves,

"Sorry Tails, come in", he quickly darted in through the opened door, the russet of his coat clashing against her own fur for a second before he was past and she shut the door behind them, "zoned out for a minute; anyway, you'll have to excuse me", she pointed at her sweat-soaked clothing and generally damp demeanour with a rueful smile, "you've not caught me at the best of times, so I'm not at my most presentable".

"Not at all", he held up a hand, forestalling further explanations before pointing down the hall, "you better get a shower before you get too cold; I'll wait in the kitchen".

"Thanks", she had been feeling a nip in the air, so was grateful for the offer; pausing long enough to make sure the younger Mobian was comfortable, she disappeared into the bedroom, grabbing her normal clothes from off the end of the bed and then vanishing back into the bathroom.

XXX

The shiver than ran through her as the first droplets of the power shower slammed through the cold sweat of her skin was sheer bliss; for a few seconds, she lost herself in the foggy mist that sprang seemingly out of nowhere, obscuring all outlines in a sea of ghostly and warm whiteness. _Ah, Heaven_; she stood for a second, the water running down her in rivulets that reenergised every overworked muscle and cramped inch of skin, before finally shaking her head, lashing the shower curtain with her wet hair and reaching for the bottle of shower gel that rested nearby. As she worked up a decent lather, a reminder twigged in her mind and she called out over the drumming of the water in the bottom of the bath,

"Hey, Tails?" After a second, the answer came,

"Yeah"; the voice was faint and muffled by the important thing was that she could hear it,

"You sorted out what you said were up to last time?" She flicked a half-annoyed, half-reluctant look towards the mechanical part of her arms, irritated that they were now a burden on someone else as well as just her; so focussed was she on this unfairness that she nearly missed Tails' reply entirely,

"Nearly got it; just ordered a touch more multi-grade and I'll have it mixed up fine; should work a treat on your augmentations, just keep your fingers crossed". The former Legionnaire laughed,

"You bet; I need that mix of yours to make sure I don't seize up – I hate to think what Shadow would do to me if I couldn't defend myself".

"Hey", there was a note of reproval in the fox's voice, though he couldn't help but join in the joke a little way as a suppressed chuckle was also present, "Shads ain't that type of character".

"Are you sure we're talking about the same guy", Julie realised with a thrill of excitement that Shadow hadn't let that story circulate too far; _now I can put a bit of a spin on it_; thinking along these lines, she continued, "the first thing he did when he met me was rip my clothes off". There was a muffled explosion from the kitchen and the echidna smiled as she heard frantic laughter over the sound of the shower; quickly finishing off and drying herself, she threw open the door and went back into her apartment's kitchen.

XXX

_It can't be true_; Tails was almost certain she was, if not making that up exactly, at least taking it completely out of context; _but that doesn't stop it being funny_. He was still spluttering with laughter, imagination running rampant with visions of Shadow as a dastardly villain in some dramatic play, taking advantage of a helpless maiden, when Julie stepped back into the kitchen; her knowing smile set him off again, even if he knew for a fact there was no way anyone with an ounce of sense could call Julie-Su a helpless maiden. The first time he'd met her, following Shadow's briefing as to what had happened up to this point previously, how he wasn't to mention Rouge for fear of not so much a security breach but upsetting Julie, and how likewise the Brotherhood and Haven were forbidden topics of conversation, he'd actually been pleasantly surprised.

Far from the half-robotic, monotonal answering machine he'd been expecting, she'd actually been fairly up front and honest; when he'd inquired politely about what her augmentations could do, Julie had let him know and see the inner workings of the robotic limbs, though as he'd finished his inspection she had accused him of being more nosey than the EST. However, as Shadow had genteelly mentioned Tail's expertise with most things mechanical, she'd become more animated and, following a few ideas and promises from all concerned, he'd found himself with another errand for a friend to fill out his new business. He'd spent some time in his workshop with the notes he'd made on the echidna's arms and dreadlock and several different brands of lubricating oil, trying to come up with a concoction that would suit her needs. He was pretty confident he'd succeeded and, barring a major disruption of the local hardware store, he'd be able to mix up the first batch and have it up here next time he was in the neighbourhood. Julie had assured him the need wasn't great yet, but he liked to get things done as soon as was possible; though it hadn't happened yet, chances were the first time he forgot something, it would be something important like that.

"Tails", her voice broke into his laughter and he finally convinced his eyes to blink back tears of hysteria and focus on the pinky-purple Mobian across from him, "I said did you remember the expresso stuff Shadow was on about?"

"Oh, that, yeah", he reached into his knapsack, smiling as he saw the embroidered name on the front flap, remembering how he'd felt unwrapping the present and watching it fall at his feet, the culmination of Cream's home economics project finally bearing fruit and, as he'd slipped it over his shoulder for the first time, feeling the strength in the straps and short, tidy stitching, being put to good use. Even now, he couldn't help but see his nickname stitched onto the front in a shiny gold thread, the S at the end having a pair of tails to give that personal touch, without smiling, trying to picture how hard the rabbit must have worked to deliver the knapsack in time for his birthday. _She better have got an A for it_; he shook himself as he remembered where he was and, more importantly, who he was talking to and how Shadow had often mentioned her cutting tongue – to disguise the pause, he quickly slipped his hand into the main space and, after fumbling around for a few minutes, withdrew holding a pot of specialised coffee. Julie squinted as he put it on the table and drew back, a little confused,

"Strawberry coffee?" Tails started,

"Oh, wrong one", he delved back into his goodie bag and this time checked he had the right one, placing it on the table with the explanation, "this is expresso, the other one's a present for Shads; he likes strawberry coffee". She grimaced,

"Sounds delightful".

"Tastes better than it sounds" he riposted before there was a sudden slam; Shadow appeared in the door before either fox or echidna could look up,

"Tails; there's a slight hiccup", the fox looked up in alarm before the hedgehog finished, "you need to sign for the stuff at the C.A, they won't let me take it in your name; if we run we might get there before the place shuts". The fox shot to his feet,

"Right, let's get a move on; see you around Julie".

"Bye"; the echidna nodded deferentially as the younger Mobian vaulted into Shadow's arms and in the blink of an eye both were gone. _How does he do that?_; in an idle moment, as she thought about something to eat, she wondered how Tails felt so at ease running with the hedgehog at that sort of speed; _guess it just takes practise_.

XXX

The pen scribbled across the paper at record speed; Shadow, hanging back from the desk as Tails frantically signed for his documents, had to hold down a smirk as he caught Snappy's expression out the corner of his eye; the stern-faced echidna looked like she was biting on a lemon, almost as if disappointed he'd managed to get the fox here on time.

"And done"; Tails stepped back triumphantly, taking the documents the echidna thrust at him with exceeding ill-grace,

"Your papers, good day".

"Very good I assure you", Shadow smiled at his immediate superior, "see you in tomorrow boss". He and Tails quickly left before her expression could sour any further; due to the speed they'd arrived, it was on the way out that someone who'd been waiting to catch them on the off chance following a tip-off finally got the chance to pass on the good news they'd been hanging on to far too long.

"Did you see her face?" Tails shook his head, grin stretching further as Shadow rolled his eyes, "looked like she sucks sour sweets for a living".

"She does something similar believe me", Shadow chuckled before setting his sights on the main exit for the second time that day, "she makes Knuckles, you know, the old Knuckles?" Tails nodded, remembering how cold the previous version of the original echidna could be with, if anything, better clarity than Shadow could, "well she makes him look like Father Christmas on Prozac".

"Oh dear I pity her"; a deeper voice broke in chuckling; Shadow and Tails both froze before looking around, seeing, as they knew they would, the guardian rising from his seat in the reception area, his crest disguised by the jacket her seemed to wear out of habit now.

"Knucks", Tails recovered slightly the faster, holding out a hand to shake a couple of the echidna's proffered fingers, "what are you doing in this neck of the woods, not that it's not good to see you", he tacked on hastily, making it clear that the surprise was pleasant rather than unexpected; seeing his companion caught in a bit of a dither, Shadow finished off for him,

"Just caught us off-guard you'd be around"; _what's up with him?_; even as he talked, he could see something was bubbling away merrily just under the surface of the normally stoic guardian – it was taking a real effort of will for him not to break down and spill his concealed secret.

"Well, I was hoping to catch you Shadow", out the corner of his eye the hedgehog saw Tails catch on as well, the undercurrent in Knuckles' voice even more noticeable than the gleam in his eye as his face turned towards the fox and he continued, "you here as well's just a bit of a bonus".

"A bonus", Tails repeated, cautious but optimistic that whatever the guardian was holding back was positive, "what for, exactly?" Almost unconsciously, Knuckles had fallen into step with them and they were now outside, the whispers of their conversation lost in the general hubbub as workers of all varieties were leaving the C.A after a hard day's work. There were a few seconds of expectant silence before, like a dam bursting, the earth-breaking news Knuckles had carried inside for so long smashed out of him, hitting both his friends like a tsunami of liquid lead,

"Pretty soon", his face lit up, eyes softening as though looking towards a blissful, brighter future, "there's going to be a new member of the family; I'm going to get a baby…"

Shadow felt his mouth move as though someone else had hold of his jaw; his brain had been completely blanked by this and he heard a voice that he only later recognised as his own demand in a hoarse whisper,

"Where's is she? Where's Rouge?" Seemingly annoyed at the question but caught up in his explanation, Knuckles answered almost without realising he'd done so,

"She's at the shrine, with…"; Tails turned and jumped in the same motion, blazing purpose the same as Shadow's, the black hedgehog catching him in mid-air and taking off, the pavement feeling like liquid silk beneath his feet as twin tongues of flame ignited around his jet skates, powering him forwards towards the other side of town, their quickest way there. Echidnas scattered left right and centre to make way for their crazy course, the duo rocketing along the side streets as Knuckles, rather left behind by the suddenness of their departure, quickly shook himself and, slapping his own forehead as he realised the discrepancy between what he'd said and what he'd actually meant, set off in pursuit, silently cursing the black hedgehog's speed under his breath as he just _knew_ what the result of this was going to be.

XXX

Vector leapt a clear foot out of his armchair, heart hammering even over the beat of Iron Maiden in his eardrums as the cataclysmic crash from the front door boomed through the house again, the suddenness of it sending adrenaline powering through him as shock took over. He took a few deep breaths before his startled brain suggested something to make the frantic knocking cease,

"All right, coming"; _who the hey'd be hammering like that – the guardians just use Sojourner, 'less it's Knucks_; the thoughts didn't detract from his haste as he reached the front door, nodding as Espio descended the stairs to let the chameleon know that the situation was in hand before pulling the door open and looking out,

"Yeah?" There was a streak of obsidian in his vision and a cold wind around his middle as answer; he looked around down the hallway to see, with a pulse of panic, something golden orange disappear down the stairs towards the basement, where no-one save the Chaotix were supposed to go. Shaking off the next wave of shock that someone had literally breezed through his defences, the crocodile lumbered after the trespassers, hearing with dread the sudden rumbling which meant the hidden door to the really secret room held in his house was being revealed. Skidding around the top of the descending stairs, Vector bellowed the first words that popped into his head,

"Hey, you can't…" _Wait, what are they doing here?_; his panicked eyes picked out first that the two figures down there, one with his hand twisting the defunct light switch back into place, hiding the button that let the wall at the bottom of the basement slid up and reveal the transporter Locke had installed to get the assistant guardians to the shrine pronto, were friends and already knew about the secret and that was a good thing. However, the reasons behind why Tails and Shadow were here, and what they were doing gate crashing like this, opened another myriad universe of questions but before he could even begin to articulate even the first of them, Shadow had answered,

"We can", Tails sprang forwards into the light beam, vanishing into a purple haze as the hedgehog finished, "and we are". With that, the former ultimate life-form made his own leap of faith and was lost to sight.

XXX

He threw himself backwards, half an inch as good as a mile as the boot that would have flattened his nose into his chin snapped down, the axe kick thumping into the ground heavily; _overbalance, go!_ Reflexes honed over months of practise like this motivated him; Charmy sprang forwards, one arm in front guarding, the other cocked and abdomen already curving forwards, trying to bring his paralysing sting to bear on the exposed leg. He landed, but even as he did something crunched into his side, upsetting the landing, knocking him around; though his punch sailed home, the upwards jab of his sting sliced naught but thin air. He saw the leg that had previously dropped the axe kick flicker forwards; to his credit he got both arms in the way to bear the brunt of Rouge's kick, but at that range, with all her weight and muscles behind the strike, the lightweight bee didn't really have a prayer. Lifted clean off his feet, Charmy was propelled backwards as though shot out of a catapult; knowing by painful experience that he didn't have time to try and fly out of this, he braced for impact instead, the landing jarring the air from his lungs but not doing anything like serious damage. His head swam and he lay where he'd been thrown, closing his eyes until he could get some focus back; both he and his opponent knew the bout was as good as ended the second her kick landed.

"You've not tagged me like that for a while Charm", blinking his eyes open and grateful that the ceiling was now firmly fixed in one place, the bee hefted himself up onto his elbows, then back to his feet as Rouge tapped a spot just under her ribs, where the sequins of her heart-shaped jumpsuit melted into the blackness of the surrounding material, "nice shot". The bee shook his head,

"Nah, I was going for the sting; there was nothing behind it"; whatever else could be said about him, the bee was honest to a fault, something Rouge was keen to pick up on. Walking over to where he stood checking himself out, the bat offered some constructive criticism,

"You've been sparring with Knuckles too much", he looked over as she strode over, twisting her head to loosen her neck off a little, "you can't hold your guard too high against me; if your hand had been low when you'd jumped you'd have taken the knee strike better; even I can't get my knee high enough to tag your temple. You were quick though; you were onto that slip like lightning".

"You making a mistake's about the only chance I've got; if I don't take my chances I've had it" the bee added genteelly, poking a little fun at himself even if Rouge wasn't sure if that was actually true; though not quite in the same league as her and her husband, the youngest member of the Chaotix had a few neat tricks and, though basic, his rough technique could easily be improved with a little more training. _I guess that tangle with Thunderhawk set something off_; the guardian held back a smile, about to add another comment about his agility in the air when she saw his eyes widen, fixing on a point behind her as he shouted a hasty warning,

"Rouge, look out!"

She was half-turned, guard high and that was her undoing; someone shorter than she was steamed in under her arms with all the subtlety of a steam train. Off balance, the bat was fighting a losing battle for her balance, arms wind-milling and wings outstretched to their fullest extent, Rouge teetered on the brink of collapse, barely daring to roll her eyes down to see who'd smashed into her like this. Suddenly the crisis was over; a pair of hands pressed into her back and helped steady her; she rolled forwards, still with the warm, clinging weight on her front, looking over her shoulder to see Charmy step back, tipping her a swift wink as she rocked back to a firm base. _Now what…?;_ it was at that point that she looked forwards and something black and huge reinforced the previous assault – Charmy had no other option save to leap aside as this time the bat didn't have a chance and, with a cacophony of screams and mingled yells of what he assumed was delight, the threesome fell to the floor with a crash.

XXX

There were people hugging her, at least two of them; she couldn't tell for sure because of at least three factors – for a start the close range shrieks of delirious joy were playing merry hell with her sensitive eardrums, for a second all she could see when she rolled her eyes down was a confused ball of black, red and orange, and for a third the combined weight on top of her had her pinned to the floor. It was as this realisation sank in that Rouge fired back into action; as kicking and trying to fight her way free in such close quarters was virtually impossible, she resorted to option number two,

"Get offa me!" The crushing mass on her chest suddenly lifted and she drew in an explosive gasp of air, thanking her stars that had worked even as she tried to squint upwards to see who was blocking out the light. Even as she tried though, something seized one of her hands and yanked up, pulling her dazedly to her feet and seeming to brush her down with almost indecent enthusiasm,

"Sorry, I'm so sorry", she managed to slap away the hands and jump back, only to stumble to a halt again as she finally took in her assailants,

"Shadow?" The hedgehog nodded, some kind of rabid fire in his eyes as he looked her up and down in apparent concern, much like, "Tails?" appeared to be as well. Even as she tried to make sense of this, both other Mobians approached again, paying about as much attention to Charmy as they would have to the average garden gnome.

"Sorry", they both repeated in unison before Tails took it upon himself to add something else, "we should have, oh how could we have…we might…"

"Might what?" The bat demanded, more than a little concerned with what to her seemed like a scenario gone mad, "what are you two lunatics raving about, and while we're on the subject, why are you here in the first place?"

"We just saw Knuckles", Shadow began, before he finally seemed to notice the bee stood on the sidelines and his eyes suddenly glowed once more, voice fierce as he demanded, "wait, have you been fighting?"

"Yeah, just some light sparring"; she never got any further than that as the black hedgehog exploded – it wasn't so much the volume that caught her out, it was the vast amounts of concern in his voice that managed that,

"How could you be so stupid?" He demanded, pointing at her with the finger of doom, "you could do all sorts of damage, fighting in your condition; you need to put your feet up and calm down before you hurt either yourself or the baby".

"Baby?" She repeated blankly, until all three heads turned at the sound of a sudden laugh; Charmy fell to his knees, slapping the floor as he realised, or at least thought he realised, what was going on,

"Baby", he chocked off until he could rein in his laughter somewhat, "you just met Knucks didn't yohohou – oh that echidna's useless". _Oh no, he didn't_; Rouge brought her hand to her forehead, suddenly seeing the same thing as Charmy and similarly falling apart in response as both Tails and Shadow paused, not quite seeing what they were doing wrong yet. In an attempt to find out, Tails asked the query,

"What's going on? Yeah we met Knucks, and he said pretty soon there was going to be another member of the family".

"And there is", the bat shook her head, chortling at her husband's catastrophic cock-up and secretly wondering how she could use it later to needle him, "but, oh did you get the wrong end of the stick".

"How though", Shadow was getting desperate by now and as such resorted to pleading, "Knuckles said he'd be getting a baby soon".

"Yeah but not from mehehehe", Rouge had to sit down as the hysteria deepened, giggling up at them the bat finally set them on the right track, "I'm not pregnant you prats, Lara-Le is".

For a second, there was silence, punctuated only by the chortles of the bat and bee and a soft,

"Oh", of mingled shock and understanding from Tails; almost as soon as this was gone from his lips, however, something else caught his attention like a vice. Looking down, Shadow could virtually see the excitement pouring back into the fox, energising him to the point where he was barely able to stand still, his muscles nearly humming with pent up energy, lips peeled back into a silent, mammoth grin,

"Lara", contrary to everything else about him, his voice was calm and level, "she's, and Wyn's going to be a father?"

"Well we hope so, although", Rouge's aqua eyes narrowed a little as a tiny smirk played over her lips, "when we found out, yesterday night, we did a little mental maths; unless we've gone horribly wrong the baby's due next spring; there's been something prenuptial between those two, and it wasn't written on any paper either".

"Nothing wrong with that", Charmy was quick to point out, though he couldn't wipe the grin off his face and shake his head at how the other two Mobians had got the story so catastrophically mixed up, "but yeah, they've got a bun…"

"No", Rouge cut the bee off, suddenly stern and seeming to fight off bad memories, "had enough of those from Vector; I swear, when the inevitable happens between me and Knucks, if he says I'm sprog-farming or in the pudding club even once I'm going to kick his tail so hard it'll scramble his grandchildren's eggs, and you're hopeless".

The last couple of words were a shout, directed at the short tunnel that had been excavated to accommodate the Chaotix's teleporting pad; a couple of seconds later, everyone else saw who they'd been directed at. With a gasp of air, Knuckles fell to his knees just inside the shrine of the Master Emerald and looked up, breath coming in laboured fits and starts as he tried to speak,

"If you'd have, let me finish", the guardian began, eyes settling on Shadow and the still virtually trembling Tails, "I was going to say I'm, going to get a baby brother, but", with a sigh of heavy fatalism, the echidna picked himself up and strode forwards towards where his wife stood smirking, "doubtless you now already know that". Shadow smiled back,

"Well yeah, we have been pointed in the right direction, but I have to ask", the black hedgehog stood tall, watching intently as the pair of guardians stood together and timing his question to perfection, "why hasn't the inevitable happened yet?"

"Hey", Rouge's warning was only half-hearted; linked her arm through her husband, she answered sweetly while Knuckles looked away slightly, still not completely confident talking like this, "we're trying".

"I'll vouch for that", all four Mobians span around at Charmy's outrageous declaration, "they're both very trying". Knuckles put his hands on his hips,

"Oh very funny buzz-boy; how long did your going out with Teri's friend last again?" Fortunately, the bee was spared having to answer by Tails; having held it in for as long as was Mobianly possible, the fox slowly began to pace away, back towards the teleporter, answering the unasked questions with the merest ghost of a whispered voice,

"I'm going to see them", he spoke without turning around, "I'm going to give my congratulations".

"I'll be right along Tails", Shadow called after him, the fox not even slowing down to show he'd heard as the black hedgehog saw an opportunity thrown in his path; if he could mould it right, he could pluck an aggravating thorn out of his side right now. Sliding closer, using the fact everyone was watching Tails' jerky movements as cover, Shadow whispered a terse instruction so quietly only one other Mobian could hear it; not sure quite what he was after and curious to know more, Rouge acted on it,

"Charmy", the bee looked around as the bat pointed to the tunnel Tails had disappeared down, "go after him, make sure he gets there quick; I'll cover the rest of this".

"You sure?"

"Yeah, now quick before he gets away"; relieved to be off work early, Charmy flew off down the passageway on his new mission, leaving Shadow with a clear field to ease his troubled mind.

XXX

As she heard the distinctive fizzing noise of the transporter discharging, Rouge turned for her explanation, trying to calculate why Shadow needed privacy with her and her husband; nothing she could think of was making much sense, so she looked forwards to hearing this with reasonable trepidation,

"All right, what's with the need to get the buzz-boy out the picture?" Knuckles looked around at her before realising what she meant; as his lilac eyes fixed onto Shadow as well, the hedgehog began,

"Well, er, I got something I think you should hear, but, um, it'd only really make sense to you; could be embarrassing".

"Is this blackmail?"

"No, no", Shadow raised his hands; even if said in jest, he had to make both guardians see this was a serious matter, "it's something to do with, well, it's complicated".

"Obviously", Knuckles interjected, already trying to come up with some explanation to Shadow's sudden outbreak of verbal jitters, "just, chill out and take your time".

"Oh great, it must be serious", Shadow managed to conjure up a smile, "Mr Military telling me to chill out – no, I mean it, right, er, what does the name Julie-Su mean to you?" For a second he thought he'd got away with it, but then Knuckles' exploded forwards, eyes hard as he finally put actions to the name,

"Her? The Dark Legionnaire, the one who…" he cast a shifty look back to Rouge, who was merely nodding as his reminder sorted out her own ideas, "…well, yes we know her name, but nothing else. What about it, and how do you know her?"

"Because she's living with me now".

XXX

The solemn silence that appeared to have descended was suddenly shattered forever as Knuckles convulsed, clapping a hand over his mouth as he sought to stop bursting out laughing,

"You?" The guardian pointed at the black hedgehog before shaking his head, "oh Shads man, you can't half pick them".

"No, and I mean this", the seriousness in Shadow's voice managed to cut off Knuckles mirth; the echidna sobered up and paid close attention as he carried on, "she's trying to get on now; she's out the Legion, in Echidnopolis and working for the EST".

"How…?" He raised his hand to Rouge's question,

"Not now, tell you later; all you need to know is that she knows you", he pointed at Knuckles, "are married, you showed her your wedding ring right?"

"Yeah, that's right".

"Fine, no problem there, but she also knows that I know you and you", he put heavy emphasis on the last two words, his finger roving to Rouge, resting right between her eyes like a gun barrel as he finally outlined the problem, "I haven't said who your wife is Knucks, but I can't keep it a secret forever – she's not dumb, she'll find out eventually. What should I do; should I let her know now or, I don't know".

The last words released Shadow's frustration – he'd gotten used to being sure in his own mind what he wanted to do, but now with this that trend had been well and truly bucked. He had to know what the guardians wanted him to do, otherwise he could, in the worst possible scenario, be putting their lives at risk. So he merely stood there, waiting for guidance, watching as Rouge conferred almost silently with Knuckles, the whispered words working to try and solve his problem for him and he was left in limbo. Eventually, the two heads broke apart and Rouge, easily the better diplomat of the two, stepped forwards a little, looking into Shadow's face as she spoke,

"Shads, listen up; this Julie-Su, you're sure she's left the Legion?"

"As sure as I can be", he said evasively even as he knew he couldn't answer that question with a hundred percent certainty despite Julie's good behaviour so far, "I know she's got, bad memories there, but she did say she knew Knuckles wouldn't be tempted to stray".

"Too right", bat and echidna spoke together, causing Shadow to laugh,

"Got him under your thumb Rouge?"

"My thumb now", she turned and looked up at her husband without fear, prodding him lightly in the chest as he gave Shadow a hang-dog look, "if I even suspect it'll be under the floorboards". Knuckles sniggered slightly as Shadow recomposed himself enough to carry on,

"Well yeah, but anyway, what do you think, or what do you want me to say?"

There were a few minutes silence, each Mobian reflecting ideas off the other two; more to break the silence than anything, Rouge sighed heavily and gave Shadow the nod,

"Boy Shads, you really got a tough one this time; we gotta be sure she's safe, but at the same time it's not fair on her to keep a secret like this – not fair on you either for that matter, having to pick and choose when you see us".

"Tell me about it; that's why I've not been around as much as I'd have liked to be", the black hedgehog held up his hands, "had to check she was all right; her job's keeping her occupied and, well, she seems to be getting on a lot better, but she's still getting it, you know, the odd looks, nasty whispers, that sort of thing". Rouge nodded in commiseration,

"Been there, done that, just like you have, but it's got to be worse for her; to most of Echidnopolis she's one of the enemy, we just look weird".

"Some weirder than others" Knuckles chipped in, eliciting a scowl from his wife before he finally offered a suggestion, "but I think I've got an idea; listen Shads", before either of them could ask, he'd carried on, "if I've got this right you'll get a call later, from Amy, ah no, no go – Ames doesn't need that right now". Shadow quickly stepped in before the echidna scrapped the idea, the best and, more to the point, the only one so far,

"Wait, she knows about Amy, and the Bloodstone; I set the story straight with her. Amy knows I told her as well, but they've not actually met properly yet".

"Right", Shadow virtually saw Knuckles absorb that information and it cheered him immensely as he finished, "so in that case, if it goes right, you'll get a call from her later; just leave it to me".

"Leave what to you?" Rouge tried to look her husband square in the eye but he twisted his head away, deaf to her demands to know more, saying only,

"Believe me, I can handle it", to all criticism, even when Shadow asked for an idea of what he had up his sleeve. Realising this was Knuckles being stubborn and that he didn't have a chance of getting through to him now, the black hedgehog changed tack slightly,

"Why the secrecy?" The echidna grinned as he pointed at Rouge,

"Because trying to figure it out's going to drive her mad"; the bat's jaw dropped a split-second before her stance changed and she threatened,

"Tell me or I'll beat it out of your miserable hide".

"Sorry Rouge, sweet talk won't help you here". She raised a single finger, circling with the echidna; Shadow caught a glimpse of her face and chortled at the ambivalent look of annoyance and long-suffering humour there as she made her next challenge,

"I'll use it; the GPP".

"You do and I'll make you scream when I get hold of your ears, or your feet"; remembering what had transpired last time that had happened, Shadow wasn't surprised to see Rouge stamp her feet and shudder even as she continued to stalk the guardian.

"I'll leave you to tip; call tonight right, any time when?" Knuckles turned to answer and Rouge pounced, shouting as her hands flew to her husband's neck,

"As soon as I let him go; tell me or elehhhey!" Knuckles span on the ground, flipping his wife down into a dirt struggle; Shadow took his cue to leave, pausing only to shout,

"Get a room", before leaping onto the teleporter, away from any potential verbal retaliation.

XXX

As the door opened, he could easily see the brown echidna on the other side knew why he was here; extending his hand, Shadow gripped Wyn's paw gently and spoke with sincerity,

"Congratulations Wynmacher"; as he couldn't think of anything else to say, the hedgehog said nothing more, merely beaming as the father to be stood aside, pointing down his hall towards a door on the right and saying quietly,

"Lara's down there, with Tails", his smile broadened as he spoke again, "somehow I knew he'd be the first here; he's done more for us than anyone".

"And believe me, he'd do it again", Shadow knew this for certain; his friend's reaction to the news of the pregnancy would have proved that to anyone, "he thinks the world of both of you".

"Likewise us for him, Lara especially", Wyn added as he closed the door behind the black hedgehog, "he brought her the news that Knuckles was getting married, that would've been enough, but then", the echidna broke off; in his eyes Shadow could see memories dancing like a lambent flame – in his heart and mind Wyn was once more lost, travelling in a world he had never thought he would see, the woman he loved by his side as he took the chance of a lifetime in both hands. Leaving him where he was for the moment, once more in his memories, Shadow slipped down the hallway, carefully, almost reverentially easing the door open, letting his suddenly moist eyes take in the scene before him.

Tails was sat in one of the seats, watching as he walked in, hand raised in greeting even if the fox already knew Shadow was looking past him, towards where Lara was sat calmly, looking up from her book as she realised someone had come in,

"Shadow?" His tongue was suddenly heavy; it was an effort to return the greeting,

"Lara", she stood to greet him and, like a nail to a magnet, he stepped forwards, gently taking her in his arms and holding softly , whispering the rest of his words into her ear, "Knuckles told me, I'm so happy for you, for both of you". She twitched to get away and he let her go, eyes falling to the midriff of her dress,

"Not yet", he looked up at her laughter, "got a few more months before I start looking like I've swallowed a beach ball". Shadow chuckled as Tails answered from his seat,

"I'm sure it won't be that bad".

"It was with Knuckles", Lara held her stomach as a grimace of remembered discomfort squirmed over her face, "he was like carrying a king sized bowling ball, and don't even get me started on the labour".

"No fear of that", Shadow assured her, really not wanting to hear about that and thankfully his bacon was saved as Wyn appeared in the doorway, striding over to his wife and planting a kiss on her lips. Shadow averted his eyes slightly, the couple needing privacy, before he glanced at his watch and realised he was already running late. Clearing his throat, he made ready to get underway,

"Okay, I'm afraid I've got to make a move; don't worry, I'll see myself out", he took the cue to head for the door, only to look over his shoulder at another shout he hadn't been expecting,

"Hey, wait up"; Tails hurried over himself, on the verge of asking something else before Wyn headed him off,

"Where are you off? I thought you were spending the night here".

"Well, I was", the fox answered uncertainly, looking from one prospective parent to the other, "but, well, after this, I thought…"

"You thought wrong Miles; there's no need for you to move out, not yet anyway". Lara had tracked the struggle in the fox's mind with relative ease – he had such an honest personality it was almost impossible not to read his thoughts from his face. Tails swallowed before, slowly, as though still unsure if he was doing the right thing, he turned back around, moving further into the living room, towards the two echidnas; Shadow realised what had been silently decided and gave a thumbs-up from behind his younger friends head before making his own noiseless path to the door. As he headed for his own home, he turned his mind to the conundrum Knuckles had left him in; _what's he thinking of this time, and what's Amy got to do with it?_

XXX

_Saved by the bell_; she was just about to really let rip and tell the hedgehog in no uncertain terms that, if he carried on acting so generally restless as he was now, she was going to make him sit still by any means necessary, up to and including breaking his kneecaps. However, as the crisp note of the phone sounded out over the silent living room, Julie was forced to wait a few more minutes until he'd finished conversing with Sonic; _still, what's a couple of seconds in the grand scheme of things?_ She glanced up as he transferred the call from audio to the screen that dominated one side of their relaxation area; it was as she did that she realised the call wasn't from Sonic, as she'd originally expected – instead, the face that beamed like a sunrise and greeted merrily belonged to Amy Rose.

"Hey Shads", the pink hedgehog's eyes rolled over to her and a large, virtual hand waved a short greeting, "hi Julie".

"All right", the echidna responded, a little more at ease around the supposed vanquisher of the Legion's original grandmaster following a couple of conversations with the hedgehog over the phone. Nodding again, Amy turned her attention back to Shadow,

"Right, I'll come straight to the point; in honour of my first couple of months of student life", her bubbly grin made Shadow's normally sterner face twitch into something resembling a smile, "Sonic and I have decided to stage a bit of a get together; interested?"

"So far", Shadow ran a finger across his lower lip before adding carefully, "keep talking".

"Glad to hear it", Amy rubbed her hands together in apparent glee, outlining her idea, "fortnight from now, long weekend down here, sorry but you might have to find your own lodgings, unless you fancy kipping in the Tornado again; I've still got my phone". Shadow shivered as she flourished said appliance before the screen, not aware of the sudden interest being shown behind him as he answered,

"Shouldn't be a problem, get Tails to scout out some digs; barring catastrophes, see you there. Oh, one last thing, not sure if you know, but Knuckles said…?"

"We know, and we've all said well done; speaking of the devil, he asked me to pass on the message", her brow furrowed for a minute, looking like she was trying to put two and two together and coming up with five, "well, it makes no sense to me, but he said 'think about the invites' – oh, you're welcome to come as well Julie, if you want to". Looking up at the mention of her name and realising she needed to make a snap decision, the former Dark Legionnaire postponed the decision for now,

"Err, leave it with me, I'll, have to check my calendar".

"No problem, listen, got to go before Sonic gets narky about the phone bill; bye Shadow, see you in a few weeks".

"I sure hope so Ames; see you". As the connection was cut, Shadow, having already decoded the apparently cryptic message Knuckles had passed onto him; _now all I have to do is figure out how to break it to Jules_.

XXX

_That was nice of her_; not being able to remember being invited to anything before in her recent past, Julie was very seriously tempted to take up the hedgehog's offer, but at the same time, would Amy feel comfortable with a Dark Legionnaire around? More to distract her thoughts from the decision she now had to make than anything, she turned to her housemate,

"Well, that's you out of my hair for a while in a few weeks"; Shadow's red eyes narrowed as he took up the gauntlet,

"Maybe, but I get the feeling you're going to be hanging on my coat tails the whole time, but seriously", he cut down any attempted comeback before it could spring up, "there's a bit more to this than you know Julie".

"Pray enlighten me".

"Well for a start, you'll be meeting Amy face to face".

"Funny that, it's her party after all". Shadow conceded the hit; he'd have to let her feel positive for a while as he tried to soften the next blow as much as possible,

"Quite, but Knuckles will be there as well", he saw her face darken at the guardian's name, still a sore point, but nothing compared to his next words, "and so will his wife".

There was a very long, very uncomfortable silence; Shadow had to grin and bear it as he knew he had to let Julie make the decision and figure out what she was going to do next. The echidna was silent for a few minutes before suddenly looking up, fixing his face with her strange, colour-changing eyes as she spoke softly, menacingly,

"You planned this didn't you?"

"Err"; _not quite, Knuckles did_; Shadow wasn't quite sure what to say to this, so resorted to a shake of the head at the untruth of the rumour. Julie chuckled,

"Don't deny it; if it wasn't you directly you had a hand in it".

"That's a bit closer the truth, but there it is", Shadow deftly flicked the ball back into her court, "take it or leave it. Take your time in deciding, but don't take too long", he broke off to scowl majestically as one of his pet hates resurfaced and his voice rose to an infuriated shout, "and put your hand over your mouth!" Recovering from her yawn, Julie smiled up at him challengingly,

"Ah, why bother? If you don't want to see, look away, not like you did last time". _All right Ms never-mention-how-we-met-again_; Shadow made up his mind as he stalked past, avoiding her smirking gaze as he schemed madly; _I'll fix you good and proper._

XXX

She was as predictable as clockwork and thus it took only a slight tweaking of his normal routine to spring the trap; he was ready and in position in no time, husbanding his carefully concealed surprise on the table in front of him. _The trap is set_; the black hedgehog fixed his eyes on the door leading into the hallway, standing slightly as sudden noises from the other side made his sensitive ears quiver with excitement; _and the game is afoot!_

Julie-Su was not and would in all probability never be a morning person; as she grudging conceded that getting something into her virtually empty stomach was a more pressing concern than resting for a little while longer. Muttering under her breath, the echidna eased herself out from under the covers, pulling on her clothes bad-temperedly and wiping her eyes clear – not really fussed about her appearance at this early stage in the morning, she pulled open her bedroom door, heading blearily for the kitchen, lungs dragging in more air to get her body in full working order. It was in this half-asleep state, completely off-guard as she pushed open the kitchen door, that it hit her square in the face. Literally.

A wave of numbing coldness slapped her right in her open, yawning mouth, drowned out a fraction of a second later by the explosion of shock from all over her system, traumatised lungs releasing all her remaining air in a gushing gasp as her eyes bulged at the sudden freezing, numbing water that was now tricking through her muzzle fur in freezing, Artic rivers. Through these wide-open eyes, she saw Shadow, whistling cheerfully, deposit the now-empty glass on the side, wave a hearty good morning and then move past her; she pivoted on the spot, watching him leave, unable to do anything as a frantic bout of internal politicking was taking place. Her brain was demanding oxygen as supplies, in the event of the recent calamity, were at a perilously low level, while the lungs, clearly remembering what had happened last time they'd exposed themselves to the harsh outdoors, resolutely refused to run that risk again; all they were doing now was puffing out the last few scraps of remaining atmosphere still inside them in short, uncontrolled bursts. Eventually, however, as her head began to lighten, they had to cave in and she heaved in the life-giving air, gasping it down and running her hands through her face at the same time, rubbing the last of the icy water away before it could get her top any wetter than it already was. _Right, well, I'm not as wet as I was, I think I can breath again now…_; with her body finally back under control, Julie remembered with a sudden growl that there was someone around who was, she could hear, far too cheerful for this time in the morning; _…SHADOW!_

XXX

He heard the footsteps coming and was prepared for them; as the door to the living room exploded open, he calmly turned his head as Julie exposed her teeth in a bare-fanged snarl,

"You've got to the count of three…"

"There are a lot of things I like to see in the morning Jules"; _that got her_; he knew he had an advantage now, the confusion in her eyes proved she hadn't been expecting that and he pressed it for all it was worth, "I like to see a nice sunrise, a mugful of hot, steaming coffee", he looked at her now, tone hardening as his expression became more sardonic, "your tonsils do not fall into that category".

"You're telling me", Julie growled after a second of thinking about his words, "that you half-drowned me with a cup of water…"

"Because I'm sick of telling you to cover your mouth when you yawn, it's disgusting".

"I see", her voice had fallen to a deadly whisper; without another word, she turned and marched out, leaving Shadow a little perplexed as to what she meant by that; not really wanting to leave for work on bad terms with his flat mate, the black hedgehog headed for the door and called around it,

"Jules, I'm sorry". The echidna stopped and span at him

"Oh no you're not, not yet anyway", she pointed at him and declared in a tone dripping with venom, "Shadow, this is war". _War, what are you on about?_; before he could ask, however, Julie had vanished into the bedroom.

It was only half an hour later, as Shadow pulled his foot out of his shoe and watched with horrified fascination the cold custard dripping from the end of his sock, that he finally realised what kind of conflict he was now engaged in. And, as he wiped his clothing clean in the bathroom, it was one he silently swore he was not going to back down from, and one he was going to win.

A/N: Woohoo, prank warfare! The possibilities are endless…


	8. Chapter 8 Take No Prisoners!

Chapter 8 – Take No Prisoners!

A/N: Large chapter, but I think it's worth the wait; this is where the rating really kicks in kiddies, so be warned:

HHH – Ah, we have a slight problem; the fic you sent is a Works document and I don't have Works, so I can't open it. Could you save it as a different kind of file (Doc would be ideal – I use Word), and send it to me? I really wanna read it now!

Texas Girl (TG from now on) – Well then, a new recruit; you liked ABR you tell me, well I'm glad, that's one of my fave fics so far, though it gets pipped at the post by Psyche Out (just because I love the song lyrics). Well, stick around and let me know when you start writing yourself and get your account; until then, look forwards to hearing from you again.

DH – Commencing bombardment, shoot to thrill!

She was waiting for him when he returned from work; the meal was eaten in silence, each glaring at the other from behind the condiments of salt and sauce as the tension in the air thickened like a rank mist. Eventually, as time dragged on, Shadow stood up and leant forwards, his ominous silhouette looming over the table and engulfing the still seated echidna as his malice-edged voice knifed towards her,

"So, you think you can mix it up with me. Me, who has survived for over a year and a half with Sonic?"

"Listen up Blackie, and listen good; I've lived in the Legion, and some of the bunkroom games they play in there will make the worst you can throw at me look like a scout's camp", only now did she stand also, reflecting his pitiless gaze back to him and smiling, somehow managing to smile right in the teeth of it, "when I'm through with you, you will be on your hands and knees begging for Sonic to take you back".

"I'd better start raiding the spare cupboard at work", he waited for her confusion to just show on her face before landing his hit, "I'll be sending you back to the legion in a box; what label you want – spare parts or paint before assembly?"

"One of us is going to be in a box before the end of this, but anyway; rules of conflict"; Shadow snorted,

"What, there are rules in war now?"

"Oh yes", her eyes flashed in the light, making him fall back half a pace as she grated the next words, "and the first one, is no nudity". _Sounds fair enough, but, now hang on a second_; Shadow was all set to nod before realising something,

"Just a second, that affects me how exactly?"

"Not too much, but that's the point; you've seen me undressed once before, never again", Shadow growled low in his throat at the reminder again before she offered something of a compromise, "as for me, I can't shave your fur, fair enough?"

"I'll take that"; the mental image of him walking to work with a bald strip shaved down his front was enough to make the black hedgehog sign up to that clause; _but, let's make this really interesting_…

"Second rule", Julie looked up, not expecting to have any terms and contracts dictated to her in this and as such, caught cold by his words, "no cheap laughs". _What?_

"And that means", she rolled her hand forwards in mid-air, face a picture of perplexity, "what precisely?" Shadow chuckled darkly,

"No repeats; if I pull a trick on you, neither of us can repeat it again – each trick's a one-shot".

"Now that's a challenge"; _that actually is good – he must know something about what he's doing_; Julie consciously raised her respect for this opponent a little before looking at him directly again, "and the loser is the one who attempts to kill the other one first; if you can get me so annoyed I actually try and murder you, you win. Deal?"

"Jules you're making this too easy"; Shadow chuckled as he made to shake the pro-offered paw – a split-second later he snatched his hand back, feeling it throb at the same time as logically cycle through what must have happened. The echidna's mocking giggle got his inner demon growling but he forced it down; he couldn't let her wind him up this early,

"A joy buzzer?" Julie smirked, raising her hand to reveal the attached device,

"Brought it on the way home; the old ones are the best". Shadow disappeared into the hallway, muttering that he needed to get ready for his class as Julie scored the first, minor victory in the campaign.

XXX

Wars rarely start quickly; they're usually a gradual procession – a small border skirmish sucks in more adjacent forces, then politics get involved and make the war official, both of those involved call on their natural allies and friends and it all kicks off from there. This was no exception as both duellists circled, their first attacks little more than long ranged probes to find weakness, isolate potential strong points and take scrutiny away from their own vulnerable points. Julie's lightning fast strike had gained her a split-second advantage but, with the war barely a night old and no supplies laid, she couldn't hope to take advantage; both combatants had a final night of peace before Shadow shattered the ceasefire with a relic of his Station Square days, an air-horn. An air-horn held about a foot away from Julie's left ear.

Even someone as deep-sleeping as she was couldn't deny that sort of a racket; like a blanket-smothered explosion, the echidna rocketed upwards, groggily flailing in every direction save the right one as her panicked mind sought only to stop whatever was causing that ungodly row. Shadow snickered as he jumped back out of range, turning away as Julie thrashed around, now more focussed as her consciousness returned, filtering back into her dormant body after a night's rest. Using his ears, Shadow waited until the frantic ruffling of covers had ceased before greeting,

"Morning sleepy-head". _Shadow_; her first response was to pull the blanket up higher – in the gloom her eyes had failed to see his midnight fur; _he was here who knows long, and what the…oh that is just so cheap!_ The black hedgehog bit down on an unsporting snigger as he heard the sudden ire in his now awake flat-mate's voice,

"And how long have you been stood there you…"

"Just long enough to get the job done", he quickly replied, silencing all comebacks with a second quick burst of his air-horn, "score one to me, but seriously", he span slowly on the spot, Julie glaring toxically up at him from the bed covers, the fire in her eyes inflamed further still by the hedgehog's next words, "it'll be nice to have some company for breakfast". Temper fraying because of the early start, her answer was short and to the point,

"I'll be having something for breakfast if you're not out of here in the next two seconds"; he merely grinned,

"Ah, sweet victory so soon; told you you'd never hack it with me".

"Shadow"; _okay_; the pure, undiluted menace in her voice was impressive enough for even him – realising he'd crossed that invisible line between prank and embarrassment, Shadow backed away; _retreat with pride and life intact_. Without another word, Shadow exited the bedroom; when he was in the kitchen, safely away with two shut doors between them, he silently leapt up and punched the air in celebration; _first blood to me – I give her a week tops!_

_That was good_; even as she stumbled around trying to make sense of things at this unholy hour, she couldn't help but give, in between the muttered curses and threats on his life, Shadow the credit he deserved; _so now I can't wake him up early – never mind_; as she reached for her shorts and threw her head back to allow a huge, uncovered yawn to drain half the room of oxygen, Julie smiled; _I've got other tricks up my sleeve Shads – you got in the first hit, but you'll never come out tops in a slug-fest!_

XXX

She waited all day for her shot, and when it arose, she didn't hesitate; the second she heard the power shower go off, Shadow making himself ready before he had to nip off to his pet massage class, she raced into the kitchen and, remembering the very basics of plumbing, she gave one particular lever a hard yank upwards. _I know there'll be a few seconds before this kicks in_; the echidna sat down on a chair, grinning evilly as she ticked them off on her fingers, counting down in her head, the wait just prolonging her inevitable triumph; _three, two, one, no, alright then, three…_; a sudden scream of shock echoed throughout the apartment, disrupting the tranquil calm – Julie fell about laughing as a remarkably high-pitched voice bellowed from the bathroom,

"Julie, turn the hot water back on!" Reining in her chortles, she slammed the lever under the sink back down to full depression and shouted back,

"Right you are"; a second cry of pain sounded out a few seconds later,

"Too hot! Too hot!" _I could play him like a xylophone_; tempting as it was, Julie was disciplined enough to know where to draw the line. Well, more or less,

"Some people are never satisfied"; with that, she pulled the lever back up to its original position of roughly half elevated, saving the helpless hedgehog from scalding injuries at the same time as think about what she could get up to next and make herself a sweet victory brew. _That one-trick only was a good idea – means he can't get me the same way_; now she knew she was safe from both a rude awakening and a showery surprise, she had to be a bit more creative. She sipped her drink with a nonchalant air, listening keenly for the sound of the shower turning off and the bathroom door opening; she looked around to see Shadow hovering in the doorway like a malevolent creature of hell, red eyes virtually glowing as he was still dripping wet, his towel wrapped around his middle and a finger levelled at her,

"Tomorrow", he vowed solemnly, steam all but smoking from his flared nostrils, "you suffer". Julie raised her cup to him; it took a skill not granted to everyone to make that gesture one of mockery rather than appreciation,

"You go dry off, then learn how to massage properly; I'm getting impatient and, well, Sonic is but a phone call away". Unable to speak to that threat, Shadow growled, about faced and stalked off, grinding his teeth and mollified only by the knowledge that his back-up plan was already in place; _you're not the only one who can set traps in the shower Julie-Su!_

XXX

She relived the look on his face over and over again; somehow it was funnier and sweeter every single time. Even as she did though, Julie had to commend her rival's iron grip on his emotions; she'd harangued him until he'd gratefully left for the shelter of his massage class, but aside from the odd lethal look and clenched fist, he'd taken it in his stride, not letting it really get to him. _I'm going to have to break out the heavy artillery to get to him_; she smiled as she slipped into the shower that had so recently been an implement of torture for the black hedgehog; _oh well, that just makes it that much more fun_. She laughed, exultant in her victory as she reached for her body shampoo, squirting a generous measure into her now soaked fur and rubbing vigorously, working up a lather to cleanse the day's grime and…; _wait a second_. Distracted as she had been by her mental images of potential plots to break Shadow's resolve, she hadn't been able to see to see or notice that the shampoo was failing to work up a lather. In fact, it was doing no such thing, merely sticking to her fur in large globules; _oh no, no, no, not even the Legion, not very often_; she thought she knew but she refused to believe. With revulsion and praying she was wrong, Julie touched one of these almost see-through globes, watching in revulsion as the mess oozed upwards, a stray strand glued to her finger – it was only when she touched this strand to her lips that she finally realised and accepted it was,

"SYRUP! Shadow", the echidna swore to no-one in particular as she tried to even consider how long it was going to take to scrub herself clean of this mess, "you die!"

_Forty minutes_; she had counted every single one of them, each one an exercise of how to rub yourself raw; _forty forsaken minutes_. She growled, pacing up and down, wafting air into her stomach to try and disperse the residual aches that still tingled her nerves even now, plotting a way to get even. She was unable to move; so far he was two-one up, she had to get the score even before the night ended, but how? All he'd do when he got in was get a drink, brush his teeth, splash a little water on his face and then, then he'd just go to…

It hit her solid there and then, her eyes flew to the clock; if she was lucky she had fifteen minutes and, galvanised by the suddenness of her epiphany, that was more than ample time. With a flourish, she was away to begin her dastardly deeds, rushing to and from the lounge to the bedroom, each time burdened with something until, mere moments later, her task was completed and Julie stood back, waiting only for the victim to come back and quite literally jump into the trap she'd laid out for him.

She was in bed when Shadow came in; she wanted to give him as little opportunity to read her as possible when he came in and, though being in bed this early may arouse suspicion, it was better than risking a complete breakdown in seriousness and giving the game away utterly. She waited anxiously, the breath catching in her throat as she heard the key turn in the lock and the front door swing open, then shut again; _he's in_; she burrowed deeper under the covers, grinning at her own daring – if this came off it would be honours even on the first day. She listened intently; hearing the hedgehog move about; there was a sudden stream of running water, the tap in the bathroom running, interspersed with very muffled, muted scrubbing noises as Shadow brushed his teeth, then movement again; _here we go, he never drinks before he goes to sleep_; Julie tensed, waiting for the sudden shout of panic as Shadow fell victim to her spur of the moment ploy. In all honesty the echidna wasn't really sure what his reaction would be; he might not say anything if he was as calm as she remembered, but then again it was late at night. What if he barged in, could she claim victory from that? What if…?

Her unresolved ideas and fears were cut short by Shadow's voice; the hedgehog fell right into a trap he'd never even considered. But what she heard, rather than a cause for celebration, made Julie sit up straight in her bed, a sudden cold sweat breaking out on her forehead – of all the reactions she'd expected and planned for, a sudden bellow of agony wasn't one of them.

XXX

His back was on fire, a weal of white-hot agony pulsed right in the small of his back, sending whips of blazing pain square into his mind in tune with the rhythm of his heartbeat. His back was arched almost into a bow, his hands grasping the pummelled flesh of his back as though they could physically squeeze the source of his pain and rip it clean from his body. With a second low moan, even this tiny movement sending spasms up and down the length of his spine, Shadow rolled to the side, flumping off the settee and landing ungraciously on his front, the air compressed from his chest with a low 'oof'. His back was still on fire, but at least it was now exposed to the air, where it could be cooled and,

"Light"; forewarned by the word, Shadow forced his eyes shut and opened them slowly, blinking rapidly as they adjusted to the lights in the lounge being switched on. He twisted to try and look over his shoulder, holding his breath against the aggravation this caused on his still bruised back, but this proved to be unnecessary; with a rapid tattoo of beating feet, Julie rushed over to his prone form and fell to her knees, words spilling from her lips as she tried to prise his hands away from his injured back, inspect the damage for herself and see how the trick had gone so disastrously wrong,

"Shadow, what did you do?"

"I just got in", his answer was thick with pain, drawn out as he had to concentrate on the words amid a haze of dully throbbing misery, "I was tired, so I went to jump into the bag, then I…" _Oh for the love of…_

"You jumped?" Julie slapped a hand to her forehead both in frustration that he'd been so stupid as to do that and she'd been so forgetful as to discount that possibility, "you moron, there's no cushions on that sofa". She reached over and pulled the sleeping bag away, revealing the bare springs beneath as well as, she noticed with a shake of her head, the quarter inch wooden bar that was in the exact centre of the settee, where the cushion would have been supported; in her mind's eye she followed Shadow's flight path, how he must have landed stretched full out and this bar had smashed into the very small of his back, resulting in the half-paralysed hedgehog now before her. A hedgehog who only now was making sense of what she was telling him,

"Wait"; _no cushions – there were when I left_; "what do you mean no cushions?"

"I took them off", she had to come clean, settling back on her knees again so he could lance up and see her, "it was meant to be a joke; you'd sit down and fall through, this was not meant to happen".

"No, I guess not", his response was marinaded in sarcasm, "if it weren't for the fact I've broken my back, I'd be splitting my sides with laughter". Julie made to stand up, thinking of a way to rectify this situation and, she admitted privately, hope to get back into Shadow's good books again,

"I've got something that might help with that; stay there"; Shadow gave a disbelieving laugh,

"Nah, I think I'll just go run a marathon; newsflash, I can't move because you crippled me". She pretended not to hear him, running back to the dressing table she currently occupied and rifling through the top draw, finding what she needed and returning quickly.

"Right, this aught to do the trick; don't wriggle"; Shadow caught a glimpse of movement from the corner of his eye and, seeing the clear cream squirting from the tube Julie was holding, queried reasonably,

"What is that stuff?"

"I use it after I've been training, works wonders on stressed muscles. Now", she looked down at the injury again, the salve on her hand sent forwards as her fingers carefully navigated through the jet quills, "let me know if I'm in the right place".

Shadow had braced for the second explosion of pain, caused by the echidna's fingers compressing the already bruised tissue; he hissed as this sensation burned into his flesh again, but it was less than he'd expected and, at the same time, the pain brought something else along for the ride. A searing coolness, all the more noticeable because of the agony he'd recently become inured to, spread over the injury, massaged outwards, enfolding and starting to drive back the tide of soreness. The ebon hedgehog, tired as he was, slowly began to relax, resistance lessening as Julie's hand slowly allowed the cream to penetrate and soothe the recently injured muscle.

"Wait a second", her voice dragged him back to the present; Shadow tuned in as Julie chuckled slightly, "isn't it supposed to be you massaging me? Something got a bit crossed over somewhere along the line".

"Yeah, it's called penitence; you nearly paralyse your flatmate, it's your duty to help patch him up again". Julie chortled again, the realisation Shadow wasn't mad at her helping to calm the panic she'd felt when she'd first heard his cry in the dark.

"Well look on this as a lesson", Shadow glowered up at her sudden smile; she leant down to whisper into his ear, "always look before you leap". Before he could come back with a come back, his flatmate had straightened back up, regarding her work with a critical eye before remarking,

"Right, that should about do it; no, don't move", she saw Shadow place his hands as if about to heave himself back up to his knees and squelched the idea at once, "stay there, if you make a sudden move you might throw something out of sync and that really means trouble. Hang on". With that, she headed towards the bedroom again; Shadow was left alone for a minute to consider what she was up to this time; when she reappeared, however, he had no choice but to laugh a little,

"I wondered where those went"; Julie whistled innocently as she hastily stuffed the cushions back on the sofa where they belonged before placing the sleeping bag back where it had been originally. Shadow heard her unzip the bag and a few doubts resurfaced in his mind as she knelt beside him again,

"Hey, what are you…?" He felt a couple of arms slide under him and Julie's voice in his ear again,

"Don't get any ideas"; with that, the echidna stood up, Shadow supported on his front by her cybernetically strengthened arms; she stepped forwards a touch before depositing him back down on the settee, throwing the top half of the bag over the hedgehog with a wry chuckle,

"I draw the line at tucking you in". Shadow didn't reply as he quickly zipped the bag around him before twisting his head to see the echidna again; Julie saw the stern look on his face and crossed her fingers behind her back,

"You know what this means Julie", she shook her head nervously; Shadow's eyes narrowed, "the fact that because of your failed trick I'm now in quite serious pain and may not be able to move tomorrow? You know what that means? Do you?"

"Err…"; she had a pretty shrewd idea but, before she could voice it, her words were stolen from her as Shadow smiled, the danger in his eyes replaced by a rekindled mischief,

"It means I'm going to get you so badly tomorrow you'll still be blushing this time next week". _Oh, and you think that'll work on me do you?_; Julie leant down,

"In your dreams Shadow; you'll be a raving psychopath by the time I'm done with you".

"You already are a raving psychopath".

"And proud of it; now get some sleep and if you can't walk tomorrow", she paused at the doorway, "crawl". Julie sprinted back to her own bed without giving Shadow a chance to talk back, chuckling as she felt the thrill of getting the last word in.

XXX

_What is it about today?_; she'd been making progress in getting about Echidnopolis, the nasty looks that used to be commonplace were now getting rarer and rarer, but there was something about today that just got her back up. Julie was certain she was being watched, that many eyes were following her progress to work a lot more closely than she would have liked. Well, there was nothing for it but to push on; the former Dark Legionnaire put her trust in guts and gristle, holding her head up high and marching onwards; if their lives were so empty they had to gawp at her than that was their loss. _But_; her stride faltered a little as the subconscious troubles resurfaced and attempted to drag her down; _it's not been this bad for a while? Why's everyone staring no-oww!_ All those thoughts were blown out of her mind and she jumped a vertical foot in the air as someone from the crowd took it upon themselves to seize hold of her right buttock and give a very firm squeeze.

Julie span even before she hit the ground, blood rising in her face and flooding to her muscles as her well-honed instincts, dormant since her leaving the Dark Legion but never extinct, reacted to the unsuspected attack. Her guard flew up even as her eyes caught a glimpse of her erstwhile enemy; a younger echidna was scooting into the crowd, shouting back to her over his shoulder,

"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist"; _flattery will get you nowhere_; she made to pursue but, as the general press milled around, obscuring her view, her spirited charge faltered and she reluctantly let him go, snorting contemptuously and tugging the bottom of her trouser seat back into place; _what's the point? Probably some punk out for bragging rights – thought he'd try it on with a Dark Legionnaire, stupid kid_. Shaking her head at the youth of today, Julie span back the way she needed to go and pulled her coat tighter around her shoulders, silencing the eyes of anyone around her with a flaying glace and heading for work once more, resolutely ignoring the silent, gloating eyes following her.

She stalked past the front desk of the EST HQ, holding up her hand as she realised the desk sergeant was about to say something and really not in the mood for any sort of civilised conversation,

"Can it Yesa", she didn't even slow down at his gesticulation, "it can wait; I'm not having a good day".

"But…" The rest of his words were mercifully lost as she pushed open the door towards the typing pool, cutting him off in mid-sentence. _That was a touch rude_; even if nothing showed on her face, she knew that had been uncouth in the extreme and she owed Yesa an apology when she'd cooled off; _but for now_; she looked forwards with a smile, looking forwards to sitting down t her desk in a relatively stable office, where everyone knew her name and she could forget the unusually hard journey here. Holding in a sigh of relief, she let herself into the typing pool and, out of instinct, raised a hand in greeting to the echidna to her immediate left,

"Hey Jules", the slightly smaller echidna greeted, a seemingly permanent grin on her handsomely cheeky face as she seemed to be lit by an inner glow, "not long now".

"Nah, what is it – three days, two", the former Dark Legionnaire smiled; though she'd been a mere two days late to get an invite, the whole typing pool had been looking forwards to Nesi's hen night ever since her now-fiancé had popped the question, and now finally it was a mere two nights away on Friday, "enjoy it; it's your last chance at freedom, grab it with both hands".

"Right little ray of sunshine you are", the other typist joked back before settling back, a little star-struck, "I'm going to have the best time of my life as a married woman; this is just, er, a bit of a blow-out before that".

"One last night of depravity hey"; Julie nodded as one of the other typists, Kadu, joined the debate, not even looking at his keyboard as he carried on typing, "if you need someone to make sure all you lovely ladies go home satisfied, you know all you gotta do is give me a…"

"…Miss" someone finished for him; Julie sniggered as the brash young echidna was once more put in his place by one of the elder typist girls and moved towards her seat; at the sound of a repressed giggle, however, her temper, already much reduced by the palaver of getting here, broke a little – like a snake, she rounded on Huka, the bookish, nervous-looking echidna who sat at the front of the room next to Nesi and growled,

"Something funny; please", she spread her arms wide, not really listening to what was now going on behind her, "share it with us all".

"No need", Kadu called back, Julie looked over her shoulder to see him pointing at her, on the verge of breaking down into laughter as, she noticed with some concern and a creeping feeling at the base of her spine, were most of the other typists, "you're making a pretty big fashion statement all on your own".

_Fashion statement?_; Julie whipped a hand down to the back of her coat, suddenly seized by the irrational fear that she'd somehow forgotten to put any trousers on in the morning; _that would certainly account for the weird looks but_; something crinkled under her touch and her spine promptly froze, eyes falling shut in embarrassment; _oh no, you swine_. With a jerk, she pulled the paper that had been stuck, she noticed, to her coat by a single strand of sticky tape, hanging to it swayed just above the area it was designated for – steeling herself, she forced her eyes to drag themselves down a few centimetres and read the few words, written in large text, that had been the reason she'd drawn so much attention to herself over the journey here:

_Double Wide Load._

_Proceed with Caution if Reversing._

XXX

You could have heard a pin drop in the typist bay as Julie lowered the paper, face now well and truly on fire as she thought back to when the hedgehog must have pinned that one on her. It was on her coat and hung down, it would have taken a second's effort on his part and a second's lapse of concentration on hers to get to where she was now. Without another word, Julie finally managed to regain contact with her legs, striding towards her desk with single-minded determination, flopping into her seat and hitting the on switch of her computer with unwarranted venom as she could just picture Shadow virtually laughing at her, the grin on his smug little face as he stuck the note to her coat, imagining the reaction it would get. _I am going to kill him_; she scrunched up the paper into a ball, imagining it was Shadow's skull being crushed like a grape before checking herself; _no, I'm not, I can't let him win, not after this – I just need a way to strike back, that's all Tonight's all sorted, that's out the way, but after this_; she shook her head even as the computer helpfully regulated the paperwork she needed to file and fill out today; _this needs something special_. She racked her brains, thinking about what she could do to get even with her housemate after this little prank – it was at that second her eyes fell on the back of Nesi's dreadlocks and a sudden idea germinated in her head; it would take a lot of pruning but, just this once, Julie felt that Kadu had said something right.

The second the time for the first break came around, Julie was first out her seat; having taken a lot of time to refine and reconcile her idea, she now had to simply get some compliance.

"Hey Nesi, you too Kadu", the other echidnas turned around at the shout, "got a sec?"

"Sure". _Well that's half the battle_; Julie felt her hope rise a touch as both her co-workers headed her way, Kadu taking the lead slightly,

"What's up Jules, apart from your temper of course". The former Legionnaire shot him a sickly sweet smile before pointing at him,

"Right, Kadu, you live in my apartment block, right?"

"Yeah, about three floors up from you; listen you want a ride into work all you gotta do is ask".

"I know and I'm grateful but I prefer to walk and don't like hover-machines, but anyway, listen up both of you", she took a second to get her thoughts in order before diving in headlong, "I'm in a bit of a situation; the guy I live with, my housemate", she made that point very clear before Kadu got any ideas, "well he's the one who put that sticker on my back – we're in the middle of a prank war, and I need to get even. So, here's the idea", she beckoned them in closer and whispered solidly for a minute; by the end of it, Nesi was wide-eyed at the audacity of the scheme and Kadu was virtually falling apart at the seams with laughter.

"You, you got it Jules", he wiped his streaming eyes as he saw it so gloriously in his mind, "oh that is just so twisted – sure thing, I'll hand you my key if you drop in Friday Nesi, you got that day off haven't you?"

"Yeah, most of us have, we organised it with Remington, but Jules", the younger Mobian shook her head, not believing she was actually being asked to take part in something so diabolical, "that's, that's just", she caught Julie's wink and, seduced by the dark side, had no choice but to grin wickedly, "just so going to happen. Is he cute?"

Later that evening, when Shadow came in to see Julie smiling at him and calmly letting him know that yes, his trick had worked a treat and the whole typing pool had got a good giggle out of it, the black hedgehog couldn't help but wonder why she had taken it so well – she had to have something big planned, but if she did he couldn't see what. _Well, that didn't work_; Shadow thought to himself as he prepared his meal before shrugging; _but tomorrow is another day and, of course_; his grin spread a touch as he remembered the next shot he had lined up at his nemesis in this prank war; _Julie doesn't know that I know about tomorrow's little deadline_. So Shadow ladled his meal into a bowl and proceeded to wolf it down, getting ready for a quiet night in.

XXX

Well, the quiet night lasted almost until he went to bed.

From her room, Julie grinned as she heard a strangled sound like someone letting a large balloon free underwater, followed by yelping yells from the bathroom and grinned to herself; _ah Shadow, you replace the shampoo with syrup, I replace the mouthwash with that Tabasco sauce Tails was good enough to bring me_. Julie actually liked the hot sauce as it spiced up a lot of a salad dishes she ate but, judging from the way Shadow was currently rolling in the hallway trying desperately to quench the burning sensation in his throat, the black hedgehog didn't have her refined tastes. She shook with silent laughter at the sight visible through a crack in the bedroom door; Shadow, having discovered that water was no use at putting out the inferno, was now running around, mouth wide open; she saw this and seized the chance,

"Put your hand over your mouth – it's disgusting having to see your tonsils"; _sweet, sweet revenge_; the echidna gloried in the triumph as she caught Shadow out with his own declaration of war. However, in doing so, she also broadcasted her position to the black hedgehog; in a trice he was in front of her, trying to speak without closing his mouth as he search desperately for a cure,

"Ake it hop, it urngs, it urngs". Julie let her jaw fall open to mimic his own speech pattern,

"Et Ik-Kim".

"Haw?"

"Et Ik-Kim, cal Ik-Kim". Shadow was sucking in breaths as fast as was possible to try and dispel the illusion there was a bushfire raging in oral cavity and, now he knew Julie had a cure, he was desperate to get hold of it,

"Ik-Kim?" He thought hard, well, as hard as was possible when a thermal lance was trying to melt its way into your mind; he inserted the syllables together, trying to make sense of them before it came to him, "ah, Ik-Kim, gug". He ran full pelt into the kitchen, leaving Julie slumped against the doorframe of the bedroom, laughing herself weak as she heard the thump of the freezer compartment of the fridge being shut and a lid being popped open.

It was all she could do to drag herself onto the bed, laughing as she ticked another success off in her mental log book; Shadow hadn't even suspected that one coming. She shivered on the bed in fits of laughter until, with a resounding crash, the door was thrown open and Shadow stood framed in the doorway, looking furious. _This is it, in with a shout_; Julie knew he was wound up now, she had a chance to get him to snap if she moved quick,

"You owe me five crests now Shads". He leant forwards, not believing a word she said,

"Excuse me?"

"For the Ik-Kim", she filled him in, watching the veins in his temples throb even under his dark fur, "that was mine and I doubt there's so much as a smidgen left after you've been at it". He took a menacing step forwards, the another, arms outstretched; Julie merely grinned and lifted up her chin, goading him into the attack but, at the very last second, he perceived his folly and snatched his hands away,

"No, I refuse to be beaten Julie", he looked her dead in the eye, chilling her slightly with the malevolence in his face, "this isn't over yet and after all", he turned to leave, his last words a whisper over his shoulder, "tomorrow is another day".

The statement was true but, as Shadow hastily stifled his recently changed alarm and rose in virtual silence, he allowed himself a slight smile as he realised that, if he did the work tonight, he could reap the benefits tomorrow.

XXX

_Strange_; though she stifled a yawn, Julie didn't really register being that tired as one of her hands cut off the alarm; _thought I'd be worse off than this_. Thought ninety-nine times out of a hundred she'd never let anything as crude as an alarm dictate what time she rose in the morning, this was the one in a hundred exception. The studio had only one vacancy for the next fortnight and it was right at opening time; much as she loathed the early hours, she had no choice but to accept as her hair, though it looked alright now, really wouldn't last another two weeks without a general tidy up. So she'd noted down the time and date and now had to move out to make sure she'd get there on the dot; the hair stylists in Echidnopolis were notorious for cancelling unless you got there bang on time. She slipped her clothes on and reached for her watch; it was only then that, rather than hitting it to silence the alarm, she looked at the time the clock was displaying; for a horrifying second, Julie refused to believe that, according to her timepiece, she had only fifteen minutes to get to the other side of town. Dread washing out of every pore, she licked her dry lips and, leaning on the bed, touched one of the buttons atop the clock; when the alarm time flashed into view, the redness of the LED display suddenly matched the mood of the echidna,

"SHADOW!"

_I'm guessing that's not a happy_…; there was an almighty crash as Julie suddenly appeared in the lounge door, glaring at her housemate as he lay in his sleeping bag. Her face was white with delayed shock and rage, her voice no more than a strangled, hoarse whisper,

"You, do you know what you've done".

"Oh yes", his tone was politely conversational, even pleasant, "I woke up very early, crept into the bedroom and changed the alarm time on your clock, thus making sure you'd miss the appointment I know you have set for", his eyes flicked to the clock, "twelve minutes from now. I overheard your call", Shadow cut off her next question, "so I knew you needed an early start today and, well, I made sure you never got it".

"And", she flexed her fists, lips barely moving as she stalked forwards, "you think that's funny?"

"Oh no, but what is funny is when you figure out that, just because _you_ can't make it doesn't mean, ah, there we go; oh for a camera"; Shadow chuckled evilly as Julie finally saw the real meaning behind the hedgehog's seemingly spiteful actions. She was completely at his mercy now; he could demand virtually anything because there was no way she could get to the studio on time; he was the only one who could make that happen. Stopping dead, Julie had to quickly reconsider her options,

"But, okay", she forced herself to calm down; losing her rag at the negotiating table would be a very bad thing indeed, "right, I need you to get me there, what do you want for doing it?" To her consternation and surprise, Shadow looked faintly disproving at her words,

"Julie I'm shocked; I don't want anything from you, I'll do it for free", he let her just start to breathe a sigh of relief before letting his twisted smile roam free on his lips, "as long as you ask me properly".

_Right, here we go then_; the former Dark Legionnaire folded her arms and trying really hard to sound polite at the same time as convey a very real tang of displeasure into her tone, she spoke through gritted teeth,

"Shadow, run me to the studio, please", when he was silent, she softened her tone a little further, "come on, I really need this". When he laughed, she knew she was really in trouble this time,

"Jules, that's not even close", the hedgehog rolled over, beckoning her to come closer, "for a start, get over here". With a muffled curse, the echidna complied, standing in front of the prone hedgehog, feeling understandably nervous even as she tried to not let it show,

"Right, here I am, anything else…no way, not in this lifetime, forget it"; she left Shadow in no doubt as to where the line was as he pointed a finger suggestively at the floor – Julie folded her arms and shook her head, saying the first excuse that came into her head, "the floor's filthy". Shadow raised an indignant eyebrow,

"I cleaned it specially last night I'll have you know, but, your funeral, or at least your fashion senses'", he raised his watch to his eye level, counting down slowly, "nine minutes and counting; eight fifty-five, eight fifty, eight forty-five, eight forty", there was a thump to the side on him and he turned to see, with a great deal of concealed amusement, Julie at eye level with him on her knees, the skin under her fur a brilliant magenta colour, "ah good, knew you'd see it my way eventually". _You can laugh Shadow_; Julie forced herself to think of happy things as the black hedgehog's mirth was a whip of acid to her ego; _but we'll see who's laughing at the end of this_.

_All right, now the fun really starts_; Shadow had no intentions of really pressing his point, but Julie didn't know that and, well, what she knew wouldn't hurt her – it was now a case of what she'd let him get away with; _not that it isn't funny finding out_;

"Right, hands together", there were a few grumbles at this demand but, with exceeding ill-grace, she eventually complied, "and repeat after me; Shadow the Hedgehog…"

"Shadow the Hedgehog…"

"…I beseech and implore thee…"

"…I despise and abhor thee…"; _hang on a sec_; her words were barely distinguishable as a low, monotone growl, but he was almost certain she'd fudged that one a bit; his eyebrows drew together and he sighed,

"Very well, we'll start again…"

"No, no", with one eye on the clock, every second was starting to look precious to Julie, "Shadow the Hedgehog, I beseech and implore thee…"

"…In all thy glory, splendour and magnanimity…"

"…In all thy glory, splendour and magnanimity…"

"…to aid me in this, my hour of need, even if such aid is undeserved…"

"Not a chance spine-ball", Julie threw herself to her feet, pointing at him with a stabbing finger, "it's your fault I'm in this mess, you better get up and get me out of it or so help me I'll pluck out every single one of your quills and ram them right…" Shadow cut her off with a raised hand and voice,

"Right, right, point made", with a carefree laugh, he threw back the blanket covers, revealing himself to be ready to go, "let's go; we've got seven minutes, that's enough to make the trip twice; I ran it last night" he said reassuringly. To his shock, however, she dashed off, calling over her shoulder,

"Two minutes, need to get ready".

"Be quick"; exactly one and a half minutes later, the echidna returned, having run a brush through her dreadlocks and looking marginally more presentable as she grabbed his hand,

"Right, let's go; get me there on time and…" Shadow stopped for a second, looking at her as she cursed, her mouth had run away with her but she couldn't take what she'd said,

"And…"

"And there'll be no pranks tonight", she looked at him square, serious now, all jokes aside, "that's how important this is Shadow; I've been waiting for weeks".

"Right, let's move"; the second their front door had been locked, Shadow took off, flames spurting out from the soles of his jet skates as he made all haste to the studio where Julie was booked in, grinding down the rails of the apartment block to conserve seconds as he pushed himself to the limit to get there before time. _And_; Shadow flicked a glance down, seeing how Julie was now tightly coiled into his chest, eyes shut tight as she was relatively new to this type of travel; _that means no trick tonight – she's being cool enough to let me off the hook, only right I do the same. Besides_; the hedgehog smiled wickedly as he swerved a hard right; _not like I can't remind her of the 'glory, splendour and magnanimity' of her flatmate!_

Two hours later, as she sat down again at her desk and gratefully replied that yes, her hair had been recently and immaculately touched up, Julie smiled and reminded herself that, whatever happened tonight, whatever horrors Shadow could cook up for her, tomorrow night, as Nesi passed her a sly wink and Kadu a thumbs-up, he was going to well and truly get what was coming to him.

XXX

To her ineffable amazement, the night passed without incident; Shadow jetted off to his massage class with a quick farewell and, though she was careful to double-check everything she was about to use and inspected every possible detail with a fine tooth-comb, he'd left no evil surprises in store for her. Having assured herself of this, she found herself strangely disappointed; despite herself, the contest she was engaging in was actually quite fun, despite the mortifying and occasionally painful situations it generated, and a large part of that was due to Shadow himself. Julie chuckled as she cycled through the traps he'd set so far and all of them were up to a high standard of trickery; even with her normally sharp sense of danger, she was having to keep pace with the black hedgehog more than she'd bargained for – the mere fact that the contest was over half a week old and he still hadn't given up was proof enough of that. _It'll be a shame to see it end_; the thought caught her a little cold, but in the end, she shrugged at the truth – this had been the most fun she'd had since quitting the Legion; in fact, when she was scrapping with Shadow like this, her time there seemed more, distant, kind of like a half-recalled nightmare. _Still, all good things must come to an end_; as she heard Shadow come in and hastily extinguished the light in her room, making him think she'd already turned in; _and unless I'm much mistaken, that end will come tomorrow night!_

XXX

"You're looking more cheerful today"; Julie chuckled at Yesa's comment, the former Legionnaire taking time out to lean on the desk and laugh a little,

"Believe me, I couldn't be happier; it's Nesi's hen night tonight isn't it?" Yesa's beetle black eyebrows came together as he tried to reconcile this statement with previous information,

"Hang on, I thought you weren't going". Julie didn't answer, merely tapping the side of her nose and smirking before heading for the typing pool; as she'd expected it was a lot more deserted than normal; most of the ladies had booked a day's leave in advance to get ready for the big bash tonight. Before she headed for her desk, Julie took a detour to tap Kadu on the shoulder; as he looked around, she spoke,

"Has she got it?" When he didn't answer immediately, she pressed further, "did she come in for it?"

"Yeah, I handed it over; they know what's going on and…" Julie's hiss of triumph shut off the other echidna's explanations; all that mattered was that her plan was coming neatly to fruition; it wasn't until he knocked on one of the metallic regions of her forearms that she looked down again,

"What?" Kadu looked up with a doleful smile,

"Got some bad news", Julie raised her eyebrows; she doubted any news could be bad after this, "most of the girls are off, so we're having to do their share of the work as well".

"Yeah, I know; we're working overtime, time and a half pay; we all knew that", Julie tried to see the problem Kadu was on about but failed, giving up with a shrug, "what's new?" He stood and beckoned, she leant forwards, letting him whisper into her ear; when he'd finished, she stumbled back, horrified,

"You have got to be kidding; very funny Kadu, but come on, joke's over", he shook his head but she resolutely carried on, "okay, that's far enough, this isn't really going on, I know it's not, I mean come on, we can't, I mean they can't expect…"

"They can", Huka said as he stood up, bundles of papers in his arms and tottering towards the stairwell, "and they are; all we can do is pray it's a temporary glitch but, going on my luck, I wouldn't put money on it". Julie staggered away, slumping into her chair and looking at her computer as it powered up; when the task list was presented, she quickly worked out how many trips that was and, having a figure, closed her eyes; _no need for a work out tonight girl_.

XXX

Shadow rubbed his hands together eagerly; everything was ready now, all that was missing from the equation was Julie-Su, and that was only because she was working late this evening. He had eaten quickly and was ready to just watch and video the programme that had interested them both, something about indigenous peoples of the world below, one of the first echidnean documentaries to be filmed on outside Angel Island, a completely new experience in Echidnopolis history. _But before that, I get to have a bit of fun_; it was a simple trick, but then again the simpler the better; it meant less of a chance of something going horribly wrong. His ears pricked up when he heard it; the front door clicked and was slowly pushed open; acting like he was fetching a coffee refill, the ebon hedgehog headed for the kitchen, flicking a mere glance towards the front door. The glance alone was enough to make him pause, then spin to make sure he wasn't seeing things – the second look blew all thoughts of fun and games right out of his head. _What happened to her?_

Julie stood swaying on the doorstep; originally he thought it was some kind of a trick, but the sight of her face, the listlessness in the tired eyes was enough to quash that suggestion. Everything else forgotten, Shadow quickly moved forwards, speaking as he came,

"What happened to you Jules?"

"Oh", her eyes lifted, the lids seemingly battling to stay open as she cracked an exhausted smile, "I'm okay, you should see the other guy".

"I'd rather not", Shadow gave a wry smile as he eased one of her arms over his own shoulder, taking small steps with the main aim of reaching the lounge, "come on; sit down before you fall down".

"Sounds like a good idea"; the exhausted echidna allowed herself to be led into the main room of the apartment, upon which she collapsed into the settee with a grateful moan, stretching out her abused legs as much as she was able to; _good job lads, you got me home in one piece, now you can just shut down and die_. Shadow had vanished but, then again, there wasn't really much she needed right now besides a long, long period of relaxation and…

"Coffee"; a mug of hot black liquid appeared under her nose as if by magic; the hot, sultry steam spiralling lazily upwards alerted her nostrils, perking her up a touch, letting her arms gather enough energy to take the cup from the offering hedgehog, "made it strong, you look like you need it". Letting the cup float down gently in her hands, eventually reaching her lap, the hedgehog's flatmate sank back, sprawling out into the thick, encompassing material as if it could somehow leech the exhaustion from her weary bones,

"You don't know how right you are; of all the days for half the office to have a day's leave". Shadow sat down in the other chair and made himself comfortable, steepling his fingers beneath his chin and asking,

"What happened – you said you'd be late but", he indicated her generally knackered posture with a hand and a small smile, "I wasn't quite expecting this".

"Nor was I", she didn't even open her eyes as she spoke, merely letting herself drift in the illusion that she was completely at rest as her lips were the only non-essential part of her moving, "I was expecting to get a bit more work but two things went wrong; first off it was a busy day anyway, then second of all", Shadow was relieved to see a smile, ironic maybe but a smile nevertheless, creep across her face, "the elevator decided it was going to throw an absolute wobbly; they still hadn't fixed the damn thing when I left, so we were all delivering the papers we printed on foot". Shadow winced,

"Been using the stairs a lot then"; _sarcasm drive, engaged_; Julie let her eyes peek open a crack and turned her head so she could just see the hedgehog in the very corner of her eye,

"No I went shinning up the drain pipe; of course I used the bloody stairs; I used the damned things so much I was doing knee lifts the whole way home; did the video tape my programme?"

"Yeah, I think so; feeling up to a work out?"; Julie managed to raise her fingers in the sign of the cross,

"Get thou behind me Satan, at least for tonight; the rate I'm going getting to bed would be an achievement – I'll do it tomorrow depending on how I'm feeling".

"Good idea; tell you what", she regarded him once more as he clapped his hands once, "just because you're virtually incapable of doing anything right now, I'll sort out the meal and clearing up tonight, and you've got a promise that I won't mess with anything". Julie chuckled as she raised her cup in a toast, the liquid within mimicking the trembling motion of her fingers as she proclaimed,

"My hero", and took a sip; Shadow, having turned away as the mug was raised in his honour, span back as the echidna gagged, wiped her lips on the sleeve of her glove and then looked up to ask,

"Wait, what is this?"

"Coffee"; Shadow was certain of that; he definitely remembered Julie liked her drinks hot, strong and without milk; what was different? The echidna regarded the opaque liquid within her cup suspiciously,

"Tastes sort of sweet; did you add sugar by mistake?"

"No", Shadow's tone of resigned failure made her look up as he seemed to slump stood up, "I added the wrong type of coffee; that's strawberry coffee, the kind I like. Sorry about that – I can get you another cup?"

"Forget it", the echidna took a second swig, the taste not so unexpected this time around as she swallowed, "it's not too bad, prefer regular though".

"Ah well, trial and error and all that", convinced it was nothing serious, Shadow asked over his shoulder as he left for the kitchen, "what you want to eat?"

"I'll take a soup of some kind, something I don't have to chew; hold it", she made to get up and follow the hedgehog into the kitchen, "wait right there, you always over-dice the vegahhhhaha!"

What felt like a small nuclear bomb detonated in her lower left calf, the fallout of cramp spearing a hundred different places in her muscles as her sudden movement had been too much for the stressed tissue to take. Julie fell to the floor and rolled onto her back, clutching, just as Shadow had, the source of pain, rocking slightly on the floor and swearing profusely under her breath as the pain came in fits and starts,

"Ahahaoowww, bugger, bugger, ow, ow, cramp, bloody cramp; oh, jeez that hurts!" There was a thump to the side and slightly behind of her; she felt something large land and then, for some reason, Shadow's voice,

"Julie, listen, relax"; _it's okay, you've done this a hundred times – just pretend she's Andy and it'll be fine_; knowing what he had to do, Shadow quickly and skilfully moved the echidna's agonised limb into the right position, resting it gently on his nearest shoulder at the same time as offer assurance, "listen, relax and push".

"Push?", she would have laughed if it didn't hurt so much, "I've got cramp, not labour pains".

"No", Shadow wrestled down the laughter than quip evoked and tried to speak slowly and clearly to her, "push your leg against my shoulder, gently", he added at the last minute, "I don't want to have to replaster the far wall just because you're a bit cranky and push too hard. Now, just relax and let me handle this". With that, feeling the pressure mount up but stable due to his stance, the ebon hedgehog pressed his hands into a triangle shape at the echidna's ankle, the thumbs underneath, pressing up into the calf muscle. Slowly, making sure he was permitting the right amount of pressure to transmit through his thumb tips, Shadow let his hand slide downwards.

Julie felt the hedgehog's hands move, but distantly, abstractly, as though the haze of cramp-induced pain was blocking out all other feeling.

"Jules, feel my hands; think about them, feel what I'm doing – forget everything else, just the hands". With that instruction she forced herself to concentrate, focus on the twin grooves of pressure being furrowed into her calf and, her leg jerked as something else spiked into her brain and she gabbled quickly,

"Don't touch the knees; I'm ticklish"; _oops_; that had been a slip of the tongue – the last thing she needed was to give Shadow any ammo, but rather than mercilessly press his advantage as she'd been afraid he would, the pressure fell away, remounting only at the top of her thigh, missing the vulnerable joint completely. The track continued until mid-way down her thigh, then it disappeared completely; left without anything to occupy her mind, the cramp threatened to resurface and she steeled herself for it, but no, there it was again, at the bottom of her calf near her foot, sliding down, banishing the pain as it went. She let out a soft sigh as, gradually, she was able to distance herself from the pain, lulled away by the hedgehog's hands and what they were doing to strike back at her soreness. _Wait a minute – do I really want him touching me like this?_; some prudish part of her personality tried to speak into the blissful quiet and she paid it some heed until another pass of the massage answered the question; _absolutely yes_.

"And, you were saying", she spoke as she lay flat on her back, watching the ceiling above her head but feeling only the coolness now percolating through her leg like rain through parched desert, "you weren't very good at this?"

"Well, practise makes perfect"; she chuckled at the answer, looking up to see the hedgehog at work; it was only then she realised something amiss,

"Hey, that leg's fine, it was the other one that was cramping".

"Preventive maintenance", the hedgehog replied smoothly, adding after a couple of seconds, "something they should have been using on that lift by the looks of things".

"Tell me about it; if they haven't got it fixed by next week I quit". Shadow sniggered at the mock threat, continuing his work as he felt the worn muscles gradually easing out, the tension draining away as his carefully applied pressure helped them relax.

"Honey keeps saying that about her printer; three paper feed jams she had today, and that was before lunch; heck, even Snappy got a look in, said she'd think about ordering a new one. Flip". Without consciously realising she was obeying, Julie rolled onto her front, answering even as she shivered in pleasure, feeling the hedgehog move up and the heels of his palms press into her back,

"If her department's anything like mine, she might get it sometime next year; ah, little lower", Shadow complied, pressing down gently on the muscles either side of the echidna's spine; _she's been hunched over a desk a lot, poor posture's done this_. Filing that titbit away, Shadow concentrated on the task of undoing the damage that poor posture might have caused. It was slightly more difficult than the leg as there were the important nerves of the spine to consider as part of the technique; when there was a soft pop under the heel of his hand and the echidna groaned, Shadow's heart nearly stopped beating,

"Jules I'm sorry, I didn't…"

"Believe me you didn't", she went out into a full stretch; even through the back of her shirt Shadow saw the musculature rippling as she did so, then relaxed, "been needing that all day; throw me a cushion, I'm going to sleep here for a bit".

"You sure you can't hobble to the bedroom?"

"Positive", her muffled reply came as she spoke through her arms, a contented sigh interspersing the next words, "I have never felt this relaxed; the next step of relaxation from this is either a coma or death". As he stooped to stuff a pillow under her chin, Shadow gently pulled her dreadlocks back, metallic one as well, so they lay over her back like a loose blanket with the explanation of,

"Stop them getting covered in loose fluff; you just had them done remember?" He received the response of a low, muffled grunt that could have meant anything; he doubted she was awake when he left the lounge for something to eat.

It was dark, naturally dark, when she awoke from her massage-induced slumber; yawning, she checked her watch and realised with a thrill of excitement that it was pretty much go time; _right, let's get the troops mobilised_. She stood up and, suddenly heeding the sound of snoring coming from somewhere in the darkness behind her, tip-toed out of the lounge, heading for the bedroom – she had to get dressed to look the part. It was only when he got there that she realised something strange; after a second of glorifying in this restored mobility, she smiled; _hey, guess that massage stuff really does work_; with a dastardly flourish, she threw open the bedroom door and quickly disappeared inside; _but he still deserves this!_

XXX

Something slapped the side of his face, muggily dragging him back to the land of the conscious; it landed again, he barely felt it due to his groggy state, but he wished it would stop all the same,

"Shadow", a third tap on his cheek, helping his bleary eyes focus, on the strange silhouette that was whispering at him urgently, "Shadow, wake up now!"

"Huh, whas'up? Julie?"

"Who else", she leant closer as he rubbed his eyes; he made to reach for his watch only to find his hand slapped, "no time for that; listen, I swear I just heard the front door slam".

"Wha? That's not right…"

"Of course not; Shadow I think we've been burgled".

The panic in Julie's voice mobilised him more than anything else; with a lurch and a struggle, Shadow pulled himself out of the sleeping bag and onto his feet, yawning but ready as Julie continued,

"It wasn't long ago, come on, you might be able to catch them"; a vague notion of that being the right thing to do tugged Shadow's conscience and he headed for the door, sticking close to the wall, Julie just behind him as he whispered back,

"I can't hear anything".

"Me neither; look, here's the key"; she passed something cold and light into Shadow's ungloved paw; without further ado he slipped it into the font door and opened it, ducking his head out and then quickly back again,

"I can't see anything"; unseen in the darkness, Julie crossed her fingers,

"Check outside, maybe he dropped something".

"What if he's out there, with a gun?"

"Run away; you're faster than him remember?"

"Good point, stay here"; _like I'd be anywhere else?_; Julie fingered her phone button, waiting for the perfect moment as the black hedgehog tottered outside, taking a look around, scrutinising the floor before straightening up,

"I can't see anything; we better check what's…" The rest of Shadow's sentence was lost in a dull slam; as she locked him out, Julie simultaneously did two other things; she let out a wild, victorious laugh and hit the send button on her phone. The message was short, sweet and to the point; _he's all yours_.

And three floors up, a rowdy party-goer received that message and, after laughing about it for a few seconds, set about rounding up a posse to collect the evening's entertainment.

XXX

"Julie!" Shadow hissed through the door, not wanting to knock too loud at this time of night; the key wasn't entering the lock so she must have put her own front door key in to stop him getting back in, "it's bloody freezing out here; the joke's over, let me in!" He hugged his arms across his chest, still cold as he rubbed his own fur to generate some extra heat, his temper growing shorter by the second as he realised how underhanded the echidna had been to get this shot in; _she wants to play dirty then_; the black hedgehog swore silently under his breath; _I'll show her what dirty means when I get…who's that?_ Shadow turned to see where the sudden noise was coming from; maybe these people could get him back somewhere warm, at least for the evening. He made to approach as his ears picked out the approximate direction, then he swiftly averted his eyes as he realised who was making the racket.

A gaggle of female echidnas, all in various states of insobriety, were rolling, tumbling and stumbling his way; some were wearing little angel wings on their backs, with little halos and wands to round off the picture, some were clad with devil horns and tridents and some were clad in very little at all. He melted into the background, hoping this party would pass him by; he could smell the alcohol coming off them and it brought back bad, embarrassing memories. He kept his eyes down as they began to draw level,

"Dereeis!" There was a noise like a sudden stampede and, almost before he could look up, Shadow found himself the centre of attention; the echidnas clustered around him, the fumes alone nearly making him light-headed as he tried to look somewhere that might be considered modest in the sea of semi-naked fur and flesh all around him.

"Er, excuse me", he said politely into the crowd, "I'm just locked out and…"

"Hey", one of the girls stepped forwards a little, swaying as she tried to look Shadow in the eye, "you live wif Juli-Zu, right?"

"Yeah, she's…"; the leader pointed at him with an exultant yell,

"Dasdavun girls, gerrim!" Shadow didn't even have time to struggle before he was pinned in by the weight of numbers, forced along by the pack of inebriated females all around him; struggle as he might, the moving cage half-hustled, half-dragged him along,

"Wait", panic began to set in; frantically he span the lead girl around and asked desperately, "what's going on; where are you taking me, and how do you know Julie-Su?"

"Julie", she seemed to considered for a minute before the proverbial light-bulb pinged on overhead, "oh yeah, she couldncum, so she senda entertaineamnet, entertainament, thascha goodun!" She dissolved into giggles, leaving Shadow even more confused and, if anything, even more nervous as he demanded,

"She couldn't come to what; entertainment for…?"

"Forme hen", she abruptly shut off her laughter, glassy eyes reflecting his look of shock back to himself, "dis is da big'un, my lasch, great fling; you'sh gotta help it go wifabig, bigbang"; _oh my god, what are they doing to me?_; "well, lesh go, we'sch late; common ladiesch, and enntertannant; she wasch right, you'sch toocoot". She pinched his cheek and then broke off into giggles again as Shadow tried to break free, only to be stopped by several strong, alcohol fuel hands barring his path to freedom, dragging him upstairs to whatever awaited him and he guessed, as he saw a door flung open and was propelled into a room containing more girls like his escort, it was going to be unpleasant.

XXX

Once or twice, she considered heading up to the party and rescuing Shadow from whatever her workmates were doing to him, but those moments quickly passed; for the most part, Julie sniggered at the kitchen table, not really worried about the late hour as she was planning a lie in for Saturday anyway. _Well_; she thought as she made a light snack, suddenly hungry as she realised she hadn't eaten any dinner, grinning wickedly as she wielded the knife with great dexterity; _it's either going to be the best night of his life or an absolute purgatory – either'll do for me_. She waited still, reading, eating or simply sitting as the fancy took her, but it was rather early in the morning when she heard a key click into the lock and slowly, shakily turn. Eager to see what had become of her flatmate, she poked her head around the kitchen door and took a good, long look; it took the willpower of a saint not to break down into laughter.

Shadow was stood there, rigid as a waxwork, his normally well-sheened quills ruffled beyond all hope of redemption and his fur tousled and tangled, some patches of it, she noticed with a snigger, more than others. The hedgehog stank of drink and spirits but she was relatively sure he hadn't been the one doing the drinking; from the looks of things, and the undergarment that was somehow wrapped tight in his clenched left fist, he'd had other things on his mind, his mind at the least. She shook her head, slapping herself on the back for such a diabolical plan of genius, drinking it all in for future posterity; she saw every lipstick kiss mark on his body, every patch of damp fur and, when she looked into his face, she saw the ultimate picture of utter, uncomprehending terror and shock. She leant against the door frame, shaking with hysteria as her flatmate took one long, laboured stride into the hall; the giggles battered at her renewed as she saw he was trying to move without chafing his legs together; obviously something uncomfortable had happened down there in the night. It was only when he drew level with her, staring ahead and unseeing, that she made her presence known,

"So", he began to turn his head, seemingly without realising he was doing it as she continued, "have a good night out with the girls?" For a second she feared she'd get no response but then, with monumental slowness and precision, he raised the hand closest to her, the thong still wrapped tightly around it, with one finger extended, and spoke in a ghostly, haunted whisper,

"Wrong", he took another pace forwards, trying to navigate the turn into the lounge, "so, so wrong". Julie somehow clamped it down; she waited until the hedgehog's black hide was lost from sight, then she pelted down the hall, slammed the bedroom door, pounced onto the bed, stuffed a pillow over her head and howled aloud with laughter.

XXX

"You're no fun when you've got a snot on"; aside from a slight rustle of the paper he was reading that obscured his face from vision, Shadow gave no sign he was listening to her as she finished her warm down and headed for the kitchen, wiping her face with the bottom of her top as she made to get a drink and, more importantly, the treat as well. Julie gave a last, lingering look to the chair where Shadow was sat before giving up with a shrug of her shoulders.

Since he'd stepped out the shower first thing in the morning, after he woke up, he'd been like this all day; he'd gone out to buy a paper and he'd not said a word all day, obviously a little more cheesed off by her most outrageous plot yet than she'd anticipated he'd be. _Oh well, forget him_; she knew that, like most men, give him a day or two and he'd come round – by the end of the day she'd bet he was bragging about his 'multiple conquests' that night to Sonic and his other buddies; _this is all about me…_; she paused for a second, savouring the moment, before pulling open the fridge door and letting her eyes feast on the morsel before them; _…and you_.

The treat she had managed to snag for herself, a reward for sticking to her plan of exercise all week, was sat on a shelf all on its own, dominating every other dreary little item in the fridge by its sheer extravagance; she could virtually see the calories oozing out of the almost molten custard filling, held immobile in the crusted icing on top, just waiting to be freed by her hungry teeth. Unable to stand the wait any longer, she quickly scooped the goliath of the cake world out onto the plate she had ready for it, the fork she held in her hand seemingly a useless weapon against the sheer girth of this behemoth. _And now_; she smelt that sweet, sweet odour of mouth-watering perfection rise up to greet her; _we dine_. Without another word or thought, she headed back to the front room, even Shadow's gloomy presence there, billowing in his corner like a storm cloud on the horizon, wasn't enough to get her down now, not when the treat beckoned her like this.

She held the plate low as she walked, looking up as she entered the room, her eyes drawn towards the documentary that had been taped after her exercise programme. She was so interested in this, however, the she failed to realise that one of her feet had been left behind until it was far, far too late; with a delayed scream of shock, Julie executed a perfect belly-flop. As she landed there was an ominous squelching noise and she felt her cheeks burn; _what a time to let one of them…oh wait, oh please no..._; the coldness now on her naked belly made her think again and in that second she wished she had embarrassed herself. Rising up on her elbows, she looked down the length of her body, to see a sight to make any woman sob.

Her treat, the beautiful beast of the cake world, was squashed beyond redemption.

_She_ was squashed beyond redemption.

Julie collapsed again, not caring that she was crushing the gelatinous mass further into the carpet; it didn't matter now, nothing did for the minute. _All that work_; she buried her head into her arms, the sense of loss almost too great for her to bear as desolating loss swept over her; _all those burnt calories, wasted_. She heard the paper rustle and looked dejectedly to the side, hoping to see a sign of joint commiseration, a symbol of solidarity against the cruel, unfair world that had robbed her of a priceless treasure. What she actually saw, however, was none of these; she saw a wire, descending from the chair to across the entrance to the lounge and, more importantly, she saw the hand that was holding that wire.

_YOU…!_

XXX

By some miracle, she didn't kill him; instead, with both hands planted on an armrest each and at a range of less than five feet, Julie let rip with both barrels and no holds barred. She screamed, threatened, called down dire threats on his children and their children, cursed his ancestors, his birth and his bodily hygiene. She even made up a few swearwords of her own in that mad spell of verbal apocalypse; the back page of his paper, his only shield against this barrage, was spattered repeatedly with bullets of spittle until in the end, when every last shred of rage seemed to be exercised, she slammed down a hand, ripping the publication clean in half as she demanded,

"Well, what have you got to say, what can you possibly say", she took a breath, her first for five or so minutes, before carrying on, "to this; come on, I'm dying to hear it?" She remained motionless as Shadow looked up at her, almost calmly, then looked past her; she threw a glance over her shoulder before turning her virtually vermillion face back to him, seeing him hold up one hand and say, with a solemn expression fighting desperately to suppress a grin,

"How?"

Obviously, not all her rage had been exercised; with a scream like a chorus of banshees, Julie-Su dropped down, shot both hands under the chair and reared up, sending it, hedgehog and all, into a crazy back-flip before storming away, sending death glares to perfectly innocent pieces of furniture, crockery and especially the remain of what had once been a wonderful creation of a master baker. As he picked himself up and righted the chair, Shadow couldn't help but grin as he heard a door slam loud enough to shake dust from the ceiling; _well, that went as well as could be expected_.

XXX

_Okay, so maybe I woke him up in the dead of night, sent him out on a wild goose chase and fed him alive to the drunk, man-hungry echidna girls_; she sat up straight, the pillow she'd been pounding pretending it was her house mate fell to the bed in a broken lump as she cursed him once more; _but that's no reason to crush my treat like that_. She needed to get even; her brain thrummed with the need, her soul screamed for it, every fibre of her being called for her to get even with Shadow, avenge her lost body-weight. She couldn't think how though, not yet, her mind was too clouded with red fury but it would come, oh she knew it would come; it would only take the merest, tiniest detail, but in her almost crazed state, she'd be onto it like a limpet and never let go.

"Oh, hi guys", her ears pricked, head snapping up as she heard the muffled voice of the reviled one, the cake breaker, "yeah, everything's going fine, I…" but she listened no more, she didn't need to. Rage transformed into something else, something possibly even more destructive as she obeyed her first instinct, called on all of her acting talent to let this go so well. _And if it does, oh if it does_; she smiled nastily as she threw on the first shirt she could find and unbuttoned it to complete the illusion; _he's never going to live this down._

He had a split-second to wonder why Sonic and Amy tailed off together in mid-sentence but before he could ask, a low, sing-song, seductive voice floated through the air towards him,

"Shaaaaadooooooww"; _oh dear_; he knew, even without looking, what she was doing this time – now all he had to do was stop her before she could spread her lies too far.

"Guys, listen, it's not what it looks like"; she cut him off,

"What do you mean Shads?" The voice was soft, so unlike Julie's voice that he had to look around; he promptly went red and was enraptured, if only for a second, but it was a second for which she punished him mercilessly, "this is exactly what it looks like".

Julie was walking softly towards both Shadow and the vid-screen, and from her dress, or lack thereof, consisting as it did of a pair of briefs and a shirt unbuttoned to the solar plexus, it appeared to be fairly obvious where she wanted to go, and as she put a loving arm around Shadow's shoulders, it appeared to be obvious who she wanted to go there with. Shadow finally managed to look back at the screen, give it his best shot to curb the damage even as Sonic was looking away and Amy had a very strained, polite smile on her face,

"Listen, we're in the middle of a prank war…"

"Oh Shadow", Julie leant in and pecked him on the cheek softly; the black hedgehog cursed as he realised she really was putting her heart and soul into this performance, a fact cemented when he felt a tender hand teasing the tip of his tail, "I stopped playing ages ago; this game is for keeps now". He tried to block it out, press on, but that hand was alluring, and, even though he was loathe to admit it, having Julie this close was, well, certainly different,

"…and the first one to try and kill the other one wins; hard rules, but", he shivered as her spare hand suddenly ran up and down his spine, sending electric tingles all across his back, "but good ones; this is just a plot, she wants to embarrass me enough to…"

He never got any further than that; seeing the flicker of believing that appeared on Amy's face, Julie realised this was it, crunch time; something powerful and erotic reared up inside her, harnessing her rage at Shadow for his despoiling her reward for the week, and without thinking she acted upon it. Her hand around his shoulder span him suddenly and before he could react, she fell to her knees, hugging his legs tightly; in the next second, one set of fingers was lightly stroking and teasing the back of his calves and thigh, the other was harshly tugging out the hairs that grew there. As she expected and hoped, looking up with a wicked smile, caught between the ambivalent sensations of pain and pleasure, Shadow couldn't control his voice and actions.

"Julie, what ahahare you do-ooohhhh-ing?" The black hedgehog was at a loss to explain her completely irrational behaviour; it was only at the strangled gargle to his left, when he twisted his head to see Sonic with his back completely to the camera, shoulders heaving and Amy with her eyes virtually popping out of her head, when he put himself in their shoes, that he finally realised exactly what Julie was doing. Or, to be more accurate, what it looked like she was doing; he went scarlet and, silently incanting every plague known to man and Mobian on the echidna at his feet, he tried to make a bad situation the tiniest bit better,

"She's j,just tryiiihhhiiiiing to embahhaahhharrass mehe!"

"She's succeeding", Amy managed to stutter, Sonic leaning on the nearest wall by this stage, sniggers clearly audible before the pink hedgehog carried on, "she's, ah, still coming down here?" Unknown to Shadow, who couldn't answer as Julie had found a really sensitive spot just above his left calf and was teasing it mercilessly, Amy received her answer as a hand rose up from behind the black hedgehog, giving a thumbs up, "right, well then, we'll just, ummm, just, let you get on. Bye". The vid-screen went black at the same time Julie finally let her victim go and fell onto her rump, laughing like a dervish as Shadow tried to disbelieve the last few seconds had ever happened.

"I can't", his voice started out faint, but rapidly grew in pitch and volume, "you just, in front of", he gesticulated wildly as his rage choked off his supply of words and anyway, they'd be lost on the giggling echidna before him; furiously gesticulating towards the now dead screen he made his demand, "_Why!"_

"Your, face", Julie collapsed backwards, hugging herself as she virtually screamed with hysteria, "your fahahahahahace. Hahaha, ahhahaheeeuuuuugghgghhhh!" Shadow stepped forwards, taking care to put his full bodyweight on her nude stomach; somehow, he declined to trigger his jet skates as he stalked, slowly and ominously, out of the front room, leaving the victorious and hysterical Julie-Su to her own nefarious devices.

XXX

He sat down in the bathroom, seized hold of a handful of his head quills and gave a damn hard pull; tears glistened in the corner of his eyes but he didn't let up – he needed something drown out the almost insatiable demand to go back into the lounge and throttle his housemate. It was a tempting thought, but no, he couldn't, he would not let her win, not after that underhandedness. Shadow's breath came quick and fast, the pain finally making headway, giving him back his rational mind and letting him think again. _No Jules_; she must have thought she'd won with that, but Shadow shook his head;_ not this time, the show ain't over 'til…_

Due to her still-unresolved mirth, Julie never heard the laughter, dark and dangerous, that rumbled out of the bathroom; had she doe so, she may well have broken out in a cold sweat and not let her guard down as she did the next day.

A/N: If you didn't get that last trick Julie played, you're too young to be reading a T fic!


	9. Chapter 9 The Final Offensive

Chapter 9 – The Final Offensive.

A/N: This is it, the prank war finale, but who will win? Well for a start, the reviewers will:

HHH – I know it was a cheap shot by Jules, but hey, why not? And yeah, there are a lot of KnuxRouge fics aimed at older audiences, so how were you reading them:-)

DH – Lost innocence, a common side effect of university. Still, if you've got that TailsCream fic handy, I'd love to have quick read of it – mail it to me if you get a spare minute and you don't mind.

TG – Yeah, they do get on each other's nerves; then again, don't all housemates. BTW, good luck with your first fic – I'll give it a read the second I get a spare second.

VH – Glad you're still liking it; just hope to hear from you again soon.

_It is far too early to get up on a Sunday_; Vector heard the delectable sound of someone hammering on the front door of the Chaotix's home and his eyes instinctively flicked to the old-fashioned alarm clock at the side of his bed. Realising it was far too early to even consider rising, he slumped back down into the covers and closed his eyes again; someone else could deal with the early bird caller – he needed his lie-in. _Come on then – back to Lala land_; the crocodile's breathing had just begun to mellow out, eyes drifting shut, when there was a second explosion, this one much closer and more immediate – desire for rest overridden by survival instinct, Vector sat straight up, staring forwards, trying to make out a picture of who'd broken into his room, silently swearing that if this was one of Charmy's pranks he'd personally tie the little buzzer's antennae in a knot. However, it wasn't Charmy; with a groan, Vector fell back, letting his head slam into the soft pillow as a single hand slapped down gently, covering his eyes and beginning to massage with an air of long-suffering,

"Shadow", the crocodile spoke mournfully, despairing the loss of his traditional lazy morning, "what're you doing here?"

"I call last night; I said I'd be round in the morning".

"I assumed you meant a reasonable hour o' the morning – it ain't even ten yet"; Shadow threw a look at the clock and registered the numbers, but it was a look and no more – as far as he was concerned Vector had the info he needed and the sooner he had it, the sooner and more likely his plan was to succeed. Going along these lines with a one-track mind, the hedgehog seized and shook the end of the bed hard, the vibration sending Vector's teeth rattling as he demanded,

"It's half nine and that's way too late to be in bed on a beautiful day; move it or do I need to break out the cold water?"

Vector suddenly reared right up, going from horizontal to ninety degrees in a split-second, the training Knuckles had drilled into both him and the other three Chaotix allowing his newly functioning muscles to perform a feat that would have been impossible merely a year ago. Had his target been anyone else, they would have been seized and held immobile by the scaly arm that rocketed forwards; Shadow, however, was able to dodge nimbly to the side, much to the reptile's annoyance. Grudgingly reclining back to his elbows, Vector sought to reach a compromise,

"All right, all right, I'm awake".

"Good", the hedgehog turned to leave, "let's get moving".

"Hold it", Vector's voice stopped him before he got to the door; he turned back around as he saw the unofficial leader of the Chaotix recline back again, "I said awake, not up; shove the curtains open on yer way out, then gimme half an hour – I need to catch some rays". Remembering the basics of reptile physiology at the last possible second, Shadow nodded and assured himself it was futile to rush this stage of the proceedings – Vector sluggish and not able to think properly due to a slow metabolism could be disastrous. Silently and swiftly pulling the curtains open, letting the bright, glorious sunlight stream into the room and illuminate the crocodile on his bed like a legendary warrior laid to rest on his marble tomb, Shadow quickly left the scene, thinking of way to run down the clock while his future instructor soaked up the sun necessary for him to operate properly.

XXX

There was a slight pressure on his neck as he walked forwards, as though he'd been snared by a very thick strand of spider web. Pausing in his stride, Shadow's hands flew up, grabbing the annoying sensation before a voice from nowhere assured him it was unnecessary,

"And you walked right into the garrotte"; rolling his eyes up and just about picking out where the chameleon was, the slight distortion in the way the wallpaper on the ceiling ran giving him away, Shadow yanked the piece of string away and sighed snappily,

"Espio, there's no need to try and kill me; you know I'm a friend". As he reappeared, the chameleon chuckled; with a deft twist and a slight thumping noise, he dropped from the ceiling to land at the black hedgehog's feet.

"Treat your friends like your enemies and your enemies like your friends"; he looked back the way Shadow had come as the former ultimate life-form shook his head, still not understanding Espio's fascination with the art of what was essentially stealthy murder, "you were lucky you know". _Huh?_

"In, er", Shadow tried to think what he meant, "in what way?"

"Well if Charmy had tried to pull a stunt like that… put it like this; ever cooked blue-bottles by candle light? Vector tends to be a bit grouchy in the morning, as do I, it's a reptile thing".

"So I guessed, well", Shadow shook himself and suddenly squared his shoulders, looking back the way he'd originally set out, "if I'm sufficiently dead enough for you, can I carry on?"

"Sure, one last thing though", Shadow looked down as Espio reached for his hand, grabbing the strand of string the ninja had used to snare the hedgehog, "the ninja always retrieves his tools". It was only when Espio began biting one end of it that Shadow realised it was, in fact, a liquorice string that had been used to try and remove his head from his shoulders; _great, there's a new one on the EST coroner's list – death by confectionary_. Holding in a sudden smile, Shadow waved at the chameleon's disappearing back and resumed his journey to the shared living room of the assistant guardians.

XXX

"So", Shadow looked up at the new voice, watching as Mighty appeared from the kitchen, holding a pair of trays; as she passed one of these trays down to the prostate Charmy, the bee smiling and laying his breakfast over the comic he'd been reading, she finished, "what's this we've been hearing about the new lady in your life?"

"What?" Shadow looked up shocked, breaking away from his delightful illusions of revenge; before he could even begin to muster an argument, however, Charmy reinforced his comrade's assault,

"Yeah, and don't try to weasel out of it – Knucks told us you've got someone and he's as straight as an arrow about these sorts of things. Well?" the bee pressed after a second of Shadow sitting there still, apparently tongue-tied, "give us all the goss – what's she like?" It was that comment that let Shadow do what he'd been aching to do since last night; though he knew the bee deserved it in no way, shape or form and he'd have to apologise later, the former ultimate life-form vented some much-needed spleen,

"Right, you want the word on my supposed 'new flame'", he made the irritating, 'inverted commas' gesture as he spoke the last two words, before his face blackened completely and he half-spat, "try this on for size; she's an ex-Dark Legionnaire about as strong as three of me who tried to sweet-talk Knuckles before she realised he was married. He had to turn her down and break her heart, so she wandered around in a daze until I almost literally bumped into her on my way home one night; since then she's house-shared with me. During this time I've been battered, beaten, had acid poured down my neck and been thrown to a pack of hormonal typists out on a hen night, all in the name of some prank war we started for I-don't-know-what reason. And last night, only last night the final indignity", he took his first breath for what seemed like hours but before either of the enthralled listeners could even consider getting a word in edgeways he'd carried on, "I'm on the phone to the guys back in Station Square, the vid-phone just to make it even better, when she walks in wearing next to nothing, drops down out of sight next to me and starts acting like…"

He finally ran out of air at that point, finishing the sentence with his hands alone, looking up to see Mighty regarding him with her mouth hanging slack and Charmy sniggering into his cornflakes. After a few stunned seconds, the insect recovered first,

"So, so she won then; the war I mean", he hastily corrected himself as Shadow's eyes, now resembling small supernovas than anything else, locked right onto him as he growled and grated his answer,

"No, she hasn't". Mighty shook her head, asking the obvious question,

"How in the heck not – that's one of the lowest, sneakiest tricks I've ever heard of; I'd never have the bottle to even try it, I'd be too embarrassed".

"I don't think she even feels embarrassment; the metal in her head's starting to corrode her mind; don't worry", a tinge of weariness flavoured his tone as he caught the apprehensive looks, "Knuckles knows about her, we've got it covered. I doubt she even knows the Chaotix exists at all".

"Sounds good to us", Charm agreed, explaining as both older Mobians looked over to him, "less people who know, even by accident, less chance there is of anyone, especially the Legion, or Eggman, prison or none, catching wind of it. But enough of that", a sneaky smile tip-toed cautiously over his face, as though his lips were both aware and afraid of Shadow's continued scrutiny, "she set you up a good one with that, how come she never won the war?"

"I was too embarrassed to try and kill her"; Mighty's eyes widened alarmingly,

"That's a bit strong isn't it?"

"No, no", Shadow saw how his words had been taken out of context and quickly rectified the situation, "laws of combat; the first one to attempt to kill the other loses the war – we've both been trying to wind each other up so much we'd snap like elastic. So she's got the upper hand – I'm lying low today, trying to cool off, but soon", his eyes condensed into rubies, twinkling in the morning light as he spoke the next words with a passion neither Charmy or Mighty had heard often before from the ebon hedgehog, "I will set that right".

There were a few moment's silence, the malignance in those caustic words seeming to chase away the desire to speak, exuding dominance over the verbal field until, after self-consciously clearing her throat, Mighty made the first move forwards,

"So", she winced as her speech shattered the uneasy silence, but luckily her natural tenacity, in manner as well as in nature, pushed her onward, "what's on the cards?"

"Oh, no", Shadow sat forwards, wringing his hands softly in his lap, half talking to himself as he droned on, "can't say, can't let her hear about it – if she knew, she'd, she'd stop me; no, can't run the risk. It'll work though, and she'll wish she'd never even started this war in the first place; she thinks waist level's low, this'll be able to slide under a snake's belly. Ah, there you are", with the speed of a flickering black flame, Shadow stood and span, Vector, who'd just entered the Chaotix's main living room, pinned by his gaze as he fixed him in place with a finger, "right, we've got work to do, you and I, and I haven't the time to lose, so let's get cracking". Seeing him about to argue and having a couple of potentially not unfounded doubts about Shadow's sanity, Mighty beat the croc to the punch, calling out,

"Go Vec, I'll make sure you've got a full fry up when you're done"; being pushed out of the room by Shadow, the Chaotix leader just managed to reply with a startled,

"'Kay!" before the door slammed shut, obscuring the last vestiges of the crocodile's lips from the view of both his concerned team mates.

About half an hour later, having been assured by an increasingly desperate Vector that yes, it was perfectly fine if he borrowed it for a little while, Shadow left the Chaotix, eyes fixed on the tool he'd use to ensure Julie met her downfall, leaving behind at least three Mobians who's primary concern was that the black hedgehog's grip on reality was suddenly a little less than completely solid.

XXX

_I have the introduction_; Shadow hit the button that stopped the device recording; it was actually really easy to use when you got the hang of it; _and I now have the dynamite_. A devilish chuckle broke through his mental barriers, though he was sure it had been discreet and, as he checked all around the kitchen, looking for signs of unwarranted attention, he was fairly sure he'd got away with it; he couldn't afford to give Julie the merest hint, the barest sniff of what he was going to put her through. After that debacle, a scene that still made his back spikes click together as he relived it again, squirming at both the embarrassment at the moment itself, and the monumental ribbing Sonic must now have planned for him when he touched down in Station Square again, she deserved nothing less, and, as he clicked quickly stood, hearing the echidna's pre-occupation begin to wane, he knew he had to make this last bit of sleight of hand quick. Luckily, it went without a hitch and, as he stuffed the real piece Julie carried with her everywhere somewhere safe, he grinned to himself; _this time tomorrow Julie, you will be forced to acknowledge me as the prank king, no two ways about it! Just one last little job to do…_

XXX

He liked to come in early on a Monday for two reasons, the first being that any reports filed on a weekend, and there were always sure to be plenty, would inevitably be sat on his desk waiting for him, and second, well it just set a good public image; Remington, head of the EST, working all hours to safeguard the citizens of Echidnopolis. _Or at least_; the official head of the EST thought to himself as he went in through the side door of the main building, massaging his still tired eyes; _that's what I keep telling myself_; as he fought off a huge yawn, he again made his weekly mental note that he was never going to be a natural morning person. Luckily, there was no-one in the main corridors and for that he was grateful, definitely not up for a lengthy conversation at this time in the morning; it was with a lusty sigh of relief that he slipped into the safe, quiet confines of his offices, gently pulling the door to.

It was with a startled yelp and massive shot of adrenaline that really got rid of his morning fatigue that he span around, hands streaking for his gun belt, as a voice greeted,

"Ah, Remington, I need a favour".

After pulling in a few big lungfuls of air, the echidna managed to put a name to the voice and gasp back,

"Thanks for that Shadow", he risked a step forwards, for once unencumbered by the mask of professional coolness he often affected as this really was a private meeting and thus able to express his true feelings of surprise, "I might never have hiccups again". The hedgehog perched on the end of his desk chuckled, hopping off and advancing slowly; though he looked calm on the outside, Remington had the impression he was excited about something; _but what does he need me for?_

"Yeah, sorry; keep forgetting people can't see me in the dark, but anyway", he brought his hands together briskly, business-like as Remington still tried to see his reasons, "I need you to do something for me".

"Really?" The echidna put his hands on his hips, head slightly cocked to one side, "you emptied my adrenal gland just to say that?"

"Pretty much" Shadow agreed gregariously; it was at this point that Remington gave up on the sarcasm route and took a different tack,

"Right, what do you want? Is it to do with the Legionnaire?"

"Julie-Su – she's not a Legionnaire any more", there was a note of steel in Shadow's correction, causing the cogs in Remington's head to turn a little faster and make him suppress a smile; _looks like she found a friend_; "but yeah, it's to do with her".

"All right then, what do you want?" At this question, the grin he'd seen brewing in the hedgehog's face since the first second finally came to fruition; leaning forwards, Shadow whispered a few quiet words to the head of the EST.

_He wants…what? Why would that make any difference to anything?_; even he, a connoisseur of puzzles and mental trickery, was flummoxed by this baffling request. He was driven to silence by it and, as he was taking a time out to ponder it, Shadow pressed for a rushed answer,

"So what do you think? Can you do it?"

"Er", the hat brim lifted an inch to let Remington scratch the front of his forehead, tone still pre-occupied with the hedgehog's baffling plea, "possibly, but why?"

"Oh, I just think it'd be a bit of a confidence boost", very cannily, Shadow declined to mention who's confidence it'd be boosting; he was too busy locking his facial muscles in place to avoid giving the game away, focussing on getting what he needed with a moderate tone, "she's been a bit unlucky recently, down in the dumps sort of thing; something like this'd really perk her back up again. It's not going to hurt any one, so, what's the harm?" _Well_; reasoning it through, the echidna had to concede that there didn't appear to be any particular risks associated with granting the request, but still, it rankled with his sense of fair play,

"Hmm, it's not something I'd do lightly Shadow, regardless of circumstance…"

"How about", the hedgehog cut him off, reaching behind him onto Remington's desk, smile widening in a way that made the EST official feel he was about to be offered a concession on the deal, "if I threw this into the bargain?"

There was a long second of silence; Remington was transfixed by the book Shadow had appeared to magic out of thin air, drinking in the cover and wondering what could be hidden inside, what mysteries he could uncover when he had his hands on it. But even now, virtually salivating over the prize just out of his reach, he had his professionalism,

"Shadow, I could book you for attempting to bribe an EST employee".

"But you won't", the black hedgehog grinned like a gambler with an unbeatable hand and a spare ace up his sleeve, jerking the crossword compendium around in mid-air, thinly amused as Remington's eyes twitched to track its every move, "because it's not a bribe, it's just an agreement that's beneficial for everyone".

"Oh all right, I'll do it"; a combination of sense and want of mental succour forced the echidna's hand, "I'll make sure hers is picked – that enough for you?" Shadow nodded, glee evident in his entire body language, not only his expression as he flipped the book of puzzles towards Remington as he was heading for the door, still careful to choose his words well however,

"Perfectly", he was halfway out the door before he paused and looked over his shoulder, "oh, and let me know the reaction; believe me her face'll light up like a Christmas tree when she hears it – you've got my number?"

"Yes, I'll contact you afterwards", as he caught his new book, a sudden inspiration struck Remington and he asked mildly, "want me to let her know it was you?"

"Na", the disembodied voice floated down the hallway, Shadow already gone by now, "I'm sure she'll figure it out". Wondering quite what the black hedgehog had meant by that, Remington poked his head around the door to then mentally kick his tail; _that was a waste of time_; he belaboured his own forgetfulness as he surveyed a deserted corridor; _he'll be halfway to the C.A by now_.

XXX

"Hey Nesi", the named echidna looked up from hanging her coat on the back of her chair and then looked away again, suddenly shy as Julie dropped her entry into the basket at the front of the room, ready for the weekly draw, "have a good night?"

"Apparently – just wish I could remember more of it", the soon-to-be newlywed admitted shame-facedly, a few titters from the other typists telling her they were more than willing to fill in the blanks she left, "what about your friend; what state did this rabble leave him in?" Julie snorted with laughter, the memory of the half-petrified hedgehog clumping down the hallway towards her funny even now as she unclipped her bag and moved towards the slightly younger echidna,

"I think the phrase 'nervous wreck' was a bit of an understatement", her voice rose a little as she looked out over the rest of the typing pool, "good job everyone".

"Hey Jules, you win yet?"

"Na, but it can't be long now – he was in a mood most of the weekend; I give him until Wednesday latest", she answered Kadu's question before leaning forwards, opening her bag fully and gesturing Nesi to take a peek, "this yours by any chance?"

"Ah", Nesi jerked her head back, cheeks smouldering merrily under her maroon fur as she squeezed her eyes tightly shut in shame, "I wondered where that had gone".

"Around Shadow's left hand as an answer", Julie laughed as she hid the redundant garment from sight once more, "you wouldn't believe the struggle I had trying to get it off him; I thought I'd have to saw through his fingers at one stage".

"Don't – if Xodi hears about this I can be certain I'll never stop hearing about it" Nesi moaned as the former Dark Legionnaire moved away, sniggering, "his stag's not until next week".

"Oh well, just hire someone to follow him and his mates with a camera; all the bribery you'd ever need"; Julie took her seat and booted up her computer with a flourish as Nesi shook her head, trying to contain her giggles and focus on the multiple tasks at hand.

The morning passed without incident; it was exactly on the stroke of twelve when everything turned upside down.

XXX

The flow of adverts being broadcast from the external radio station and piped all over the EST HQ was suddenly cut short, everyone looking up expectantly as Remington's voice came through the speaker,

"Right, hi everyone, just got in all the baskets and picking someone out", everyone crossed fingers or stroked lucky talismans as the sound of heavy shuffling and soft thumps came through the speaker system; this weekly lottery was one of the things that made life in the EST just that little bit more enjoyable. On Monday it was the song title – everyone submitted a named disc containing the song they wanted playing, one was picked and everyone got to hear it and all entered tapes were returned to their owners by the end of the shift. Eventually; Remington always teased his audience a little with a few false starts, the chief's voice came through once more,

"Okay, we have a winner; Julie-Su, typing pool four"; it was only when she heard the sounds of clapping and a couple of wolf-whistles that Julie looked up, really daring to believe her name had been mentioned; _but I never win anything…wow, my lucky day!_

"Hey Jules", she looked over, beaming like a star as Kadu gave a thumbs-up from his desk, "hope you picked a good one for us".

"You bet I did"; Julie span back around, hearing the sound of a disc being inserted into the player, waiting for the first few lines of her chosen song to stream out and blanket the whole of her workplace; _and no matter what anyone says, it's got to be better than that classical stuff we had last we…WHAT!..._

"Hello everyone at the EST": _…Shadow?..._ "I know you're expecting a song, but to spice things up a bit Julie's decided on karaoke instead", her mouth fell open, face white as a sheet; _…what the hell have you done this time?_; "take it away maestro!"

At first she thought the steady, continual sound she heard coming from the speakers was just static; it was only when the first words, screeching, loud and horribly out of tune, followed it, that she finally realised what was being played. Julie let her head drop down onto her hands, burying herself completely, trying in vain to convince herself that the whole of the EST wasn't hearing her singing in the shower at the same time, knowing it couldn't be stopped once it had been started, as pray for the nightmare to end.

XXX

_Oh my God_; Remington fell back into his chair, covering his mouth with both hands as the warbling voice blasted out to his entire workforce; _what the hell have I done? How did I let him talk me into this?_ He would have given his right leg to be able to make the awful wailing stop, as much for the sake of his own eardrums as Julie's self-esteem, but there was nothing he could do – once the tape was playing, it wouldn't stop until the song was complete. There was only one thing to do and grudgingly, knowing and trying to accept that it would probably result in a quick trip to the general infirmary, he stood up to begin it – straightening his hat, the head of the EST quickly slipped out of his office, heading for typing pool four.

From his first glimpse, seeing all the typists in the bay trying very hard to look sympathetic at the same time as avoid each other's eyes, screwing up their faces as each new out of tune note echoed through the silent room. Luckily, however, as the ones at the front caught sight of him standing in the doorway, they immediately sobered up, looking back at their computer screen, not even glancing up as he moved forwards, searching for the station where the former Dark Legionnaire he had unwittingly dropped right in the thick of it worked. _Oh Julie_; Remington paused, heart wrenched cruelly by the sight before him, sighing as he beheld the other echidna slumped over the desk, head buried in her arms on the keyboard, the screen still flashing up nonsensical digit combinations under the pressure of her face and shoulders; _please forgive me_. It took a combination of iron resolve and years of training to keep looking neutral as he moved forwards, seeing her shoulders quiver as she writhed in her own personal hell of embarrassment, the flames stoked by the cacophony that no-one could stop playing out to the whole of the law enforcement sector of Echidnopolis. Remington came to a halt and slowly, gingerly, reached forwards, touching one of her upper arms, voice soft,

"Julie", she twitched but didn't seem to react; he cleared his throat to try again, "Julie-Su, I apologise for this, this action and you have my word…"

"Save it", the answer was muffled to everyone save Remington; he heard it as clearly as if it had been screamed down his ears. He could but watch as, like the mighty phoenix risen from the flames, Julie's head slowly rose off the keyboard, rising until she was looking up at him, the shudders he'd taken to be caused by tears instead proven to be caused by laughter as a strangely knowing smile crept onto her face as she continued, "it wasn't your fault you picked the wrong disk. There's only one Mobian to blame for this, and by tonight he's going to be dead". Backing off a pace, startled not by the rage or mortification her voice, but by the serene certainty with which she spoke, Remington made an effort to unburden his own guilty conscience,

"Is there anything we can…?"

"No, no there isn't; this is between myself and my soon-to-be ex-flatmate", with that same fixed smile and an air around her that crackled like the prelude to a monsoon, she turned in her seat to look back at her screen, highlighting and deleting vast areas of nonsense she'd accidentally typed following the first few moments of her sonic assault on the senses, "good afternoon Remington, unless there's anything else you need?"

"No, no, I'm, er"; _relieved_; "I'll see myself out; glad you're taking this so well, we need more like you on the front line Julie". Before he could dig his hole any deeper, the chief of the EST turned smartly and left, breathing a quiet sigh of relief that she'd absolved him of the blame he still felt; it was only when he was back in his office that he angrily pulled his personal phone out of his pocket and fulfilled his own promise to the mastermind behind this nefarious scheme.

XXX

He'd been a little distracted all day, hungry for the call he knew was on its way, but when it finally came through, he was still caught cold by the venom in the voice that spoke to him,

"That was uncalled for", shocked by the coldness, the ebon hedgehog was too tongue-tied to think about replying as Remington carried on, "I thought you had more, more decency than that Shadow; you've just humiliated her in front of all her work colleagues…"

"Just like she did in front of my friends", he managed to retort at last, the reference to embarrassment the catalyst to his next words, "listen, we've been trading shots all last week; you want to know why I did it just ask anyone in her typing pool what happened at Nesi's hen night, then say it was uncalled for. Anyway, I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think it'd die down over time; come on, everyone has their embarrassing moments, this'll just help her get some sympathy and/or recognition".

"Still", Remington answered after a few seconds, voice noticeably more like itself in the wake of Shadow's explanation, "that was a nasty trick to pull Shadow; she's only been out the Legion months, the last thing she needs is negative publicity".

"What, she can't sing to save her life?"

"No", his tone was more forceful now as he explained, "I mean the fact we'll probably be arresting her for homicide sometime in the very near future".

"What? Who did she kill?"

"Probably you".

The black hedgehog blinked for a few minutes, then his mind made sense of what he was being told; _right, she's in a bit of a mood, I can handle that_;

"Oh, I'm not her favourite person in the world right now huh?"

"No Shadow", the other voice, though noticeably lighter in tone by now, was still nowhere near joking territory as it filled him in, "you're not; in fact I would probably say you're on a par with Satan right about now". Ignorance of the truth being the bliss it was at the time, Shadow laughed and ran a pair of fingers along his chin,

"Well some say I have devilishly good looks, but anyway", he quickly cut across the echidna's outraged snort, "she's a mite angry with me".

"No, no, no, no; Shadow, there's 'a bit angry' and then there's 'I'm-going-to-murder-you-in-cold-blood-and-dance-around-on-your-grave-singing-Halleluhia' kind of angry, and in her eyes you left that sort of stage in the dust a long time ago. If I were you I'd invest in some heavy duty armour and remove all sharp objects in your house for at least the next decade or three". Shadow laughed again; _the way he's going on this must have worked a treat – I'll have the bragging rights all night tonight_;

"Trust me, I can handle whatever it is she dreams up – I will be fine".

"Okay", the other, older voice grudgingly conceded, though true to form Remington got the last shot in, "but if she breaks both your legs don't come running to me". Shadow waited until the head of the EST had signed off, then quickly excused himself for a bathroom break, locked himself into one of the cubicles and danced a quick, excited jig of victory, silently thinking of ways he could rub Julie's face in his triumph until the end of time.

At the end of his shift, he was the first one out the door; Julie was still working later than usual, so he had time to make this victory truly memorable if he got back fast enough. He raced into the nearest newsagents to grab a paper, then bolted for home, speeding through the front door and quickly setting the scene; five minutes later, he looked at the set-up and gave a self-satisfied nod; _right, coffee, paper, feet up on the table, perfect – all it needs is the quiet enquiry about how her day was and we're a shoe-in_. That decided, Shadow hopped into the armchair of his flat and snatched up his paper, not caring what he read as long as it was giving the right image. He squirmed silently on his seat as the minutes snailed by, barely able to contain and not even bothering to conceal his supreme delight at finally nailing Julie better than she ever had him; _I wonder if Tails felt like this at the reception? I'll have to ask him later_.

Six minutes and twenty-one and a half seconds later, Shadow ticking off each one individually, he heard the front door open slowly, then softly click back into place with a thrill of excitement; it was all he could do not to go bounding out and greet her, he had to let her come to him. He bit his lip, stifling his chuckles, the paper he was hidden behind rustling and giving away his location; hearing the footsteps clumping towards him and then, then they stopped; _she's right in front of me – come on now, keep it casual and go for the kill_. Taking an endless second to compose himself, the black hedgehog lowered his newspaper,

"So, how was your…?"

Maybe it was an exercise in karmic justice, or maybe he'd just misjudged how well his prank would go down, but Shadow was in no way prepared for what he saw when the protective shield of his paper was lowered. A laser beam Look blasted into him, the fatal beam draining away all his cocky self-assurance, his ideas for making the victory sweeter, even the very victory itself. As he beheld the monster he had created, with no Knuckles, Sonic or Thunderhawk to deflect the almighty rage, Shadow saw the most terrifying sight of his life, and all his body could think to do to prepare itself was gulp.

XXX

The five o'clock bell rang and, to the surprise of all, Julie rose from her desk and quietly, efficiently, packed her things away, slowly zipped up her bag and, after wishing everyone a quiet but solemn goodnight, she left the EST headquarters, passing a friendly smile to the desk sergeant, who managed to return the wave and wait until just after the door had swung shut behind her before diving down behind the front bench and bursting into a fit of sniggering, trying to pinch his lips shut in a effort to regain control, reminding himself of what he'd feel if it had been him.

The second the slightly cooler air touched her, Julie forgot everything save her only remaining goal; the complete and utter obliteration of Shadow the hedgehog – anger virtually steamed up around her, but unlike almost every other time she'd felt angry, this type of rage was different. If her normal pattern of fury was like a wave, a massive force that battered down all opposition but once the problem it was directed at vanished dissipated, this could almost be likened to a tide; every footfall on her journey home adding a dribble to her interior reservoir of rage, filling her up, storing that condensed, liquid anger until it was ready to be unleashed in a devastating explosion. The physical manifestations of this slow-burning taper increased along the journey; for a couple of blocks leading away from the EST HQ, Julie was smiling at passers-by, maybe even exchanging a few pleasantries with some of them that were so inclined to speak with an ex-Legionnaire. By the midway point, however, the smile had curdled into a bare-fanged snarl, and when she turned down onto the street where her shared apartment was located people were actively crossing the street to get out of her way, repulsed by the virtually tangible field of fury that thrummed from her body. The stairs of her apartment block shook with every footfall she took as though she was magnified in size, feeding on rage to swell up even stronger, more deadly, the red mist beginning to condense in front of her eyes as she remembered the humiliation she had been put through, and, her teeth ground together with a noise like sharpened nails down a black board, who had put her through it.

She opened the door quietly, animal cunning, about the only mental faculty left to her that wasn't screaming for hedgehog blood, telling her it was best not to startle the quarry and to seal off all escape routes. This completed, she stalked forwards, snapping her head around as she heard a sudden noise, pinpointing the location she needed to strike. Stepping forwards, Julie saw her prey, the beast within roared as his face began visible and the maddeningly alluring scent of fear suddenly blossomed on the tension laden air. The sight of his whitened face and suddenly trembling body made her snarl grind ever deeper, as she raised a single hand and pointed a trembling finger, prelude to the revenge he so richly deserved.

XXX

"You…"

"Ah, J,Jules…"

"…you…"; _oh God, I'm a dead Mobian_;

"…just, cool off a second…"

"…_YOU!_..." The pitch was so low Shadow felt it reverberate through the chair he sat on; trying to back further into the material and disappear, willing to do virtually anything to be anywhere in the world but in front of that flaying Look, Shadow tried one last plea,

"Don't do anything you might regret…" The mere thought that she'd regret this later was enough to break the dam; with an incoherent roar that echoed off the walls, magnified into a crescendo of glorious wrath, Julie suspended her rational mind and let her primal instincts take over.

The noise alone nearly made him faint, but as he saw her arm snap forwards, Shadow realised that if he anted to live much beyond the next five seconds he couldn't afford to take that luxury. Somehow he dived off the chair, hurdling one of the armrests from a sitting position, feeling the air rush over his back spikes as something heavy thudded into the exact spot where he'd been stood. Flashing the barest of glances towards what had happened, he felt fear tighten its grip on him even further as Julie's bag had embedded itself in the chair's rear cushion. _That could have been my face_; a scream and thunder of footsteps from just behind him snapped him back to reality, sending him diving behind the seat, out the range of the frenzied echidna's furious charge,

"Regret? I'm going to enjoy it, you deserve this, no-one in the EST would convict me!" Her speech was barely distinguishable amid the virtual frothing at the mouth, but Shadow was more concerned with his immediate survival than anything else; the small, smug part of his psyche that pointed out because Julie was trying to kill him he'd actually won the prank war was more than drowned out by the other ninety-nine percent screaming that the victory would be hollow indeed if Julie succeeded.

Suddenly his cover was quite literally blown away; with the help of both rage and robotically assisted strength the chair was thrown to the side like a leaf in a gale as Julie slammed forwards – only Shadow's lightning reflexes saved him from her next lunge with the loss of but a few spare quills. Adrenaline coursing through him and mind half-unhinged with terror, Shadow ran headlong for the hallway, just wanting to put some distance between himself and this madMobian his half-baked scheme had inadvertently created. Leaving Julie temporarily behind with his far superior speed, Shadow tore down the short stretch of hall; once outside he was as good as away; his hand shot down to throw open the front door and words couldn't describe the dread that froze the marrow in his bones when it refused to budge. He tried again, and then a third time with increasing desperation before his fright-crazed mind finally accepted what had happened.

He was locked in. Unable to escape.

As good as dead.

XXX

He span around, pressed flat against the immovable barrier to freedom, pupils dilating to maximum as they tried to drink in the full primal splendour of the sight before him. Realising as well as he did that her prey was cornered, Julie was advancing slowly, each step a master-class in psychological torment, down the hallway, eyes alone almost enough to pin Shadow in place as her fists clenched, ready to give the hedgehog the beating he deserved. He had to think clearly but he couldn't, mind increasingly blank as all he could see before him was this avatar of destruction, focussed single-mindedly on his lowly person; he had only one shot and, much as he hated taking it, he had to let her come closer for it to have a hope of succeeding. The hedgehog could virtually feel the radiated wrath emanating from the echidna in powerful, buffeting waves, each lashing at his self-control, shaking its ever more tenuous grip on his rational responses that represented his only chance for now. He saw it, and seized upon it without hesitation; Shadow dived forwards with a shout, hoping to put her off, rolling forwards under her upraised fist as she made to land the first sledgehammer blow. He span to his feet, the sanctuary of the bedroom beckoning and making to head for it, only to feel a sudden pain around his ankle, to look down and moan in horror as he beheld Julie snarling up at him, the echidna prone on the floor, his foot caught and held fast in her unshakable grip.

XXX

A war of attrition raged in that instant; a furious rage was pitted against a frantic panic and both were found, for the moment, equal and opposite. Shadow pulled forwards, dragging the heavy weight of the echidna behind him as Julie clung on like a limpet, unheeding of anything save the thrill of the capture and, following that, the slaughter. It was a finely poised struggle and a single factor would tip it; the factor that, in this case, was possessed by Julie-Su. As the struggling duo reached parallel with the entrance to the lounge, the echidna reared up and threw herself forwards, pulling back at the same time, demanding every ounce of power from her cybernetically enhanced arms and letting out an emphatically triumphant howl as the movement overbalanced the floundering hedgehog. Shadow tumbled, spinning as he fell, already feeling Julie pouncing up his body, pinning him down, rendering him unable to move, helpless before her might; he struggled and squirmed to be free, but it was a hopeless battle and soon her face loomed over his own, one fist raised while the other clamped around his throat, holding him down for the death blow. Revelling in her triumph and the strike about to be unleashed, Julie grinned and demanded,

"Prepare to die Blackie", he wriggled but her fist held him fast, "any last wor…"

XXX

She was cut off as Shadow made a final, desperate gamble, the last gamble his body could possibly think to make. His mind, having concluded what was about to happen was going to hurt and leaving it at that, went into an enforced hibernation, hoping there'd be enough left to dig itself out of when the echidna was done with him. Shadow's body, on the other hand, realising it was going to be the one actually doing the hurting, gave the matter far more consideration; at the speed of though it realised that the only chance it had of survival was shock factor. He had to do something so unexpected so far out the bathtub that she'd forget to be angry at him and, within seconds, his body had reacted, knocking her pinning hand away at the elbow and rearing upwards for the last try.

Overall, the gamble paid off dividends; in fact it rather worked better than he body had ever hoped it could. For what actually happened next shocked both of them.

XXX

Julie felt the impact buckle her elbow and she fell forwards, eyes wide but suddenly obscured by red and black as she suddenly found herself inches from Shadow's eyes, feeling a pressure on her lips and after a second, reacting to it in the only way her body would let her. Minds displaced by fury and fear, both Mobians were left with nothing less that instinct to direct them; the instinct that welled up within them was strong, overpowering, driving them both forwards, bodies entwining as the kiss deepened. Snarls and terror-filled shrieks were replaced by softer, gentler noises as their hands explored slowly, sensuously, finding anchor points and dragging themselves in closer to the partner they now had chosen. For an endless eternity, a time when time stood still for both of them, the two housemates new only fulfilment with each other.

It happened simultaneously to break the union apart; with anger and fear suddenly diverted to other, more positive emotions, both Mobians finally realised what they were doing and, perhaps more importantly, who they were doing it with.

Julie's eyes shot open and she threw herself backwards, feeling the wall behind her dig into her back as she ignored the pain from both her hand and the back of her head, where her palm had been dragged through Shadow's back quills and where his hand had been untimely ripped from where it had enmeshed itself in her dreadlocks. She stared across the short space ahead of her, even here, pressing into the wall behind her has much as she was able to, she could have been no more than two feet from the hedgehog opposite, who was staring back at her in the same manner, flush against the opposite wall, crimson eyes blank, almost unseeing as his slightly parted lips panted with the kiss of shock. She groped for words, for something to say but there was nothing, no inspiration would fall to her; the mind that had return was thrown up in the air by what it had returned to – it was a few seconds before it screamed its first command; _get out of here!_

With a whimpered cry, the echidna threw herself forwards, half-staggering, half-running towards the bedroom at the end of the hallway, hardly feeling as she cashed against the door, fumbling to let herself in, get some private breathing room, sort out her own head. Suddenly it gave and she collapsed over the threshold, the door banging shut of its own accord as she curled up just inside, shivering as she tried to think of something, anything, that could explain what had just happened.

XXX

_We_; Shadow watched the echidna run away, but he couldn't stop her, he was torn between conflicting desires; _we, we just kissed. We just bloody well kissed._ The door banging behind her was a reprieve, privacy for both of them; the black hedgehog heaved himself up into a sitting position, the wall bracing him suddenly as he found himself shaking from head to foot, unable to comprehend what had just happened; he had been in mortal fear of his life, Julie about to pummel him to jelly, then this had happened – the more he thought about it the less sense it made. But now, now he was so unsure; half of him wanted to go into the bathroom and brush his teeth until his tongue bled, the other half wanted to break down the bedroom door and carry on where they had left off, so, caught between the two, he stayed where he was, confused and not sure what to do next.

XXX

_He just took advantage, like everyone else_; even as she thought such a thing, the anger dissipated without trace – Julie shook in her foetal position on the bed, burying her head into the pillow as she tried to sort out her increasingly muddled mind; _but then, I wanted it, I was kissing him as well_. _Damn it Shadow, why'd you have to do that?_ She rolled over looking at the ceiling; two minutes ago she had been so sure of what she wanted but now, now everything in her previously ordered life was up in the air again. Did she want to curse the black hedgehog for daring to violate her in that way, make her feel like such a slave again, or thank him for doing it, proving that someone cared for her, or did he really care? The thoughts rolled over and over in her head like a Ferris wheel, one following the other in a crazy, never-ending chase with no clear cut answer, no matter how she tried to reason it.

That night, both Mobians thought, all other actions suspended, trying to reason out what had happened in that mad, almost forgotten spell when their minds had been in different places from their bodies. But no matter how many times they reasoned it through, whatever conclusions were drawn, a single thought ran through the pair of them:

_Where can we go from here?_

A/N: Where indeed. Well for a start, there's Station Square to look forwards to…unfortunately, the next chapter will be delayed due to a personal commitment.


	10. Chapter 10 The Other Girls in his Life

Chapter 10 – The Other Girls in his Life.

A/N: Now for the aftermath of the unexpected kiss and, of course, the meeting with both the guardians and the gang at Station Square. Will it all go smoothly – oh come on, this is Shadow we're taking about; when does anything go smoothly for him. Anyway, glad to see the prank war was a hit:

HHH – Good idea to never sing in the shower and not just because of the risk of being overheard. Anyway, enough of that; happy birthday!

TG – Oh yes, it was a harsh prank, but come on, after embarrassing him in front of his pals like that don't deny she didn't deserve it! As for the kiss, well, hopefully this chapter will shed a little light about what's happened because of it.

Shade2light3 (S2L3 from now on :-)) – Yep, a prank war; don't know if you read the last chapter but someone owes you a Chaos Emerald (and Shadow a couple of band aids!)

DH – The reactions, that's why their so confused about what to do next, but I think you made a slight mistake in one respect. Put yourself in his place; you've won the war but only just avoided having your head ripped off – would you start gloating or just keep very, very quiet?

V – Just for the record, I'd have slaughtered him as well – did you see that twist coming though?

The remainder of the week passed slowly in jerks and fits of icy calm and politeness; both Mobians kept each other at arms-length, each rising at the sight of the other, nodding with downcast eyes to acknowledge the presence of their housemate. Words were exchanged infrequently and in colourless tones, contributing to the icy atmosphere that coiled around the flat where they both dwelt; both Julie and Shadow felt this aura of coldness but were at a loss to try and deal with it. A hundred times, as the echidna nodded to him, looking slightly to a point behind his left ear and mumbling something that might have counted as a greeting, Shadow felt something inside him rile up; the words were just on the tip of his tongue, ready to shatter through the wall that seemed to have sprung up around them almost overnight, but always his courage deserted him. Similarly, no matter how many times she daydreamed the myriad scenarios that seemed to occupy most of her time both at work and play, the range fluctuating almost from day to day, Julie always seemed to lack the conviction at the crucial moment, the syllables that had already been set free disguised hastily behind a cough before the hedgehog could really take much notice of her outburst. In the vacuum of ambivalence that had sprung up in the wake of that made few seconds came something that was not expectation, and yet was still waiting for something to happen; as the time stretched onwards, the coldness between the two housemates deepened. It was only an act of necessity, brought about by Shadow's sense of decency more than anything else, that stopped the rot before it could be allowed to spread any further.

Taking down his album and flicking his eyes upwards as though assuring himself this was the right thing to do, the black hedgehog paused for a second and then eased the book free of its normal place, flicking through the pages until he came to the right one then, on a whim, just in case the circumstance allowed the opportunity, he checked his phone's picture gallery as well; _can't let her go without giving her at least a hint of what's she's likely to see down there_. Looking forwards towards the door of the bedroom he'd laid claim to for this week at least, Shadow took a last deep pull of air and, screwing up his courage, marched towards the kitchen, where he knew Julie would be at this time, relaxing after her latest trip with the fitness instructor, calling on all the available help of anyone upstairs who might be listening in on him, the ebon hedgehog pushed open the door and hustled down the corridor, hoping to arrive before his nerve broke and he lost this chance.

She heard the door behind her open and, even exhausted and dehydrated following her exercise session, Julie was alert to the stimulus and reacted accordingly, slipping out of her seat, spinning to face the door in a single fluid motion, head down as she realised who it was, mind still split over whether she adored the hedgehog who now stood before her because he'd been bold enough to break through and show her she was loved, or if she hated him for messing her feelings around like he had now. Mostly, however, it was a seething cauldron of confusion as the question that had dogged her for the past week still remained unanswered; _and Shadow hasn't helped matters by being just the same_. Thrusting the thoughts aside for the moment, she managed a greeting,

"Afternoon Shadow, how's it going?"

"Fine", he replied in the same, almost faked tone, walking over to near where she had sat and setting down the book he carried; for a second the echidna was gripped by hope; _is that his memory book? Did we…did it trigger something off?_ Then, as she saw the covering of this book was definitely not leather and, rather than matt black, a shiny deep purple, that hope faded; rather than his remembered memories, this book contained the photographs he liked to recount over some times in the night before he went to bed. Setting it down and pointing to the page he picked out with exquisite care, the hedgehog glanced up, meeting her eyes for the briefest second as he spoke quickly, almost as if ashamed,

"Come here a second Julie".

XXX

Again he was split right down the middle as he seethed at her tentative approach; he wanted to run far away and never return at the same time as wrap his arms right around her and tell her not to be so stupid as to be afraid, so he was still stuck in the dreary grey area between the two opposite ends of the spectrum. He remained that way, a silent total war of potential actions countered by equal and opposite reactions rendering him paralysed in his own mind, until she stopped moving, just slightly more than an arms-length away, out of reach by a fingertip that might as well have been an eternity as he was incapable of crossing the gulf, and answered him,

"What did you want?" Finally, the question giving him something he could bite at, Shadow cleared his throat and set about outlining the general, rough speech he'd knocked up a few mere hours before,

"Well, I was just thinking that, beings as it'll be tomorrow, I could give you a, sort of an early warning, as to who you'll be meeting tomorrow". A flicker of apprehension lit up in Julie's mind; _if he's trying to say what I think he's trying to say..._; she was all at once excited and not a little fearful of finally being able to set eyes on the one Mobian she'd been wondering about ever since that night…had it really been only a few months ago? The events of that at the time unforgettable nights were like an old nightmare now, half-remembered by the waking sleeper; the former Legionnaire shook herself, returning to the task at hand with a more critical eye, slicing through Shadow's remaining words,

"You said the guardian's wife would be present", she worked hard to disguise the undercurrents in her voice as she pointed to the cover of the hedgehog's book, "you're going to show her to me?" Deflated by her astute assumption, Shadow decided to go along with honesty as the best policy and nodded,

"Yeah, you've got a right to know", he flicked through the pages, looking for a real good shot of the pair of guardians; _there it is_; mindful of the echidna's presence, Julie moving in to get a better look over his shoulder, Shadow bit the bullet and let the page of his book flop open, revealing the secret that had been kept for his house mate for so long,

"This is her; this is the girl Knuckles will spend the rest of his life with".

_That's impossible_; her mind reeled, eyes dilating to their fullest extent to try and capture everything of what she was seeing and still unable to manage it; the guardian, he was there, but Shadow had to be mistaken. The other one present in the picture, the one Shadow had claimed to be the guardian's bride, she couldn't be, she…

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking", the former Legionnaire ripped her eyes from the picture and turned them on Shadow, trying to finish his embryonic sentence for him,

"She, er", she laid a trembling finger on where the photograph was protected, the light sheet of plastic stopping the tip of her glove from besmirching the figure of Rouge as Julie finished, "she's…"

"…not an echidna?" Shadow smiled sardonically, sighing wistfully as all Julie could manage in response to this was a startled nod, "I know; listen Julie, remember when I said about Echidnopolis reappearing not so long ago? Well, Knuckles and Rouge met before that, a long time before that; they've fought and risked their necks for each other; Rouge nearly killed herself defying Dimitri", the name sent a pulse through Julie's nerves, her eyes locking onto Shadow's face, scanning it intently for any sign of a deviation from the truth, "he was about to touch Knuckles, but she broke free, attacked him, stopped him; his powers suspended her by the neck, Knuckles was the only one who stopped her dying, shouted at Dimitri to let her go. He healed her with the Bloodstone, once he realised what he'd done, but…there it is", realising he was going off at a tangent, Shadow cut himself off short, letting Julie take in this mammoth impact in her own time, the fear of the unknown the only thing that stopped him reaching out and trying to touch her hand, offer a little reassurance, but no – he'd do that only if she started looking for his help, not before. Until such a time as that, he waited.

XXX

_I can see why he fell for you_; despite her repeated mantras, her most solemn promises that she wouldn't let her judgement be impaired by residual upset that this Mobian had led to her being snubbed by the guardian, Julie couldn't help but scowl at the picture in front of her, fight off the desire to stab the nearest sharp object right through the smiling Rouge's face. _Just because you're prettier than me, and because I was trapped somewhere else while you had all the time in the world to…_; slowly, aware that she wasn't really able to conceal the thoughts flashing across her face, the echidna grappled with her prejudice, forcing herself to listen to her common sense and what Shadow was telling her. This wasn't just some passing fancy; this Rouge, a bat if she remembered rightly, wasn't some gold-digger hoping to ensnare the guardian for her own ends; Julie berated herself mentally for even giving that theory credence – it was obvious from the photo alone that the pair of them were in this for the long haul.

Still, just because she realised this with her head didn't mean it didn't bruise her heart a little more; now more than ever it was finally, irrevocably true – Knuckles was now and forever out of her reach and that still hurt a little. It was a testament to her composure that all she gave of the new pain was little more than a regretful sigh, slumping down into a chair next to the hedgehog, not taking her eyes from the picture in front of her, Julie let her chin sink into one of her open hands and spoke again to the hedgehog,

"Right, so", she twisted her tongue, the unfamiliar name still coming to her with difficulty in pronunciation, "Rouge, she's Knuckles' wife; you pulled a fast one to keep the wool over my eyes for that long".

"Sorry, need for secrecy and all that; I talked with them about it and", the black hedgehog held back a slight chuckle, "she actually suggested this to Ames; this trip and everything, it was mostly Rouge's idea – she wanted to meet you as much as you do her". It wasn't strictly true, but then again Julie didn't need to know that really; the echidna was looking at him wide-eyed, not quite believing what he'd just said,

"So, this thing, it's all a set-up?"

"More or less, though Amy was keen to go along with it, she wants to meet you as well" Shadow agreed genially, watching with a quirky smile on his lips as Julie shook her head, apparently stunned by the amount of seamless duplicity that had made this all possible. It was only when she looked back up, a smile on her face to match her own, that he began to feel nervous again,

"Right, well you lot managed to hook me good and proper", she scowled for a second before settling back into her chair, gripping both hands around her knees to pull her foot slightly clear of the floor as she demanded, "so, tell me all about it?"

"Er", left mystified, Shadow had no choice but to ask, "about what?"

"Those two", she tapped the photo again, "how they got together; I'm assuming she didn't fall out the sky on top of him?" There was an explosive snort of laughter from across the table as Shadow suddenly convulsed, laughing at the unexpected comment, trying to answer the echidna's confusion with hastily chosen words,

"Now that you mention it", the hedgehog spoke as he tried to regain the composure that had been blown away by her sudden words, "that's almost exactly what happened. Guess I'd better start at the start, listen in Jules, some of this takes a bit of believing…"

XXX

Whatever else Julie might have been able to say about her housemate, and there were a fair few uncomplimentary remarks among them, she had to admit he was honest to a fault; not only did what he say take some believing, she still didn't believe most of it even after two or three repeats and several promises that he wasn't making this up. Eventually, however, his throat hoarse from all the talking, the black hedgehog was relieved to be able to take a slight break, his turn to listen as Julie said her first words in what felt like, and may well have been, hours,

"Well", her shoulders shook for a moment, thinking through the last stage of the story she'd heard so far, "that's one way to get a guy to admit he likes you", she squirmed a little, mind trying to picture what that scene must have looked like and making her shiver because of it, "torture it out of him".

"But that's the important thing Julie", she looked across as Shadow spoke again after remoistening his throat, "she was there, she broke his barriers down; Rouge made Knuckles see that he wasn't alone – think about it. Before you lot came back, he was up here on this whole island alone, virtually unable to communicate with anyone, just stuck up in the sky as the last of his kind, guarding a big rock. He existed, I'm not going to say he lived because he didn't have any kind of a life, until Sonic crashed into his world, and that shocked him; I doubt he'll ever admit it, but after Sonic helped him in his duties, Knuckles counted him, and Tails as well, as friends".

"Good for him; I would have as well; but I see where you're going", she was able to as well; something like a very rudimentary kinship with the guardian was present here as she too knew what it was like to be, or at least to feel, completely isolated, "when they left, he was stuck on his own again, wondering where they were, how they were doing, even if they were okay. Those kinds of questions would have driven him demented, especially because he couldn't exactly drop into a pay phone and dial them up". Shadow nodded in ascent; though it had taken some serious coaxing, the guardian, and to a lesser extent Rouge as well, had admitted to theories similar to this in the past.

"Yeah, it must have, and it only got worse when the rest of us showed up, and more threats to the Master became apparent; it was a no-win situation for him. If he kept in contact with them, he felt like he was failing the M.E, if he didn't he was continually worried about how his friends were; he was trapped in a kind of limbo, and Rouge broke him out of it, showed him that he could have both".

"But you were there as well?"

"We just helped mop up", Shadow refused to take anything like credit for this; the bat had done all the hard work, "Rouge did it all, told him she gave a damn, and it all just went from there. She moved in upstairs, before the city reappeared, and, well, after the, ah, altercation with Dimitri, they were married".

"How long have they been together now; not just married, as a couple" Julie asked next, now more idly curious that actually looking for specific information; Shadow held back a slight smile as he did some internal arithmetic,

"I'd say, give or take, about just under two years".

"How'd he pop the question?" _What's so funny about that?_; Julie raised an eyebrow as Shadow snorted with laughter, the mental memory of the entire central chamber of Haven hushed at the sight of the bat on one knee, Knuckles stood before her looking like she'd just dropped one of her axe-kicks right onto his skull,

"He didn't, she did"; _come again!_

"Wait, Ruge", Julie stopped in mid-sentence, making a mental effort to correct her mangling of the name, "Rouge, sorry, proposed to him?"

"Yeah, she's never been backwards in coming forwards; a bit forthright if you catch my drift", the ebon hedgehog tailed off a little at this point, eyes misting slightly as he travelled a little forwards into his recent memories, the more ancient ones lost seemingly forever behind an impenetrable fog bank in his mind, "then, just before the wedding, on the day, she let me, Rouge made me one of the proudest and most humble Mobians on the planet; she said we'd been through a lot together, and she had no family, so", Julie saw tears start to form in his scarlet eyes; the desire to reach over, touch his hand however fleetingly to show some support, was almost overwhelming but the fear of the unknown, reluctance to commit to this new and uncharted territory, held her back; paralysed by inaction, the echidna only listened more intently as he finished, his voice a hoarse whisper, "at the altar; she let me, give her away at the altar".

To her credit Julie never pressed him; though she ached to ask her next frantic volley of questions, she waited those necessary few seconds for Shadow to pull himself together before unloading,

"You were there?" She had to ask twice to make sure she got the point across, "you were at the guardian's wedding?"

"Yes", unseen by the echidna, Shadow fingered his pocket and hooked his phone free, "but I'm not the one to tell you about it; someone else did a better job of that than I ever could; here". With that, he offered his phone to the Mobian a little way across from him; Julie reached for it tentatively, turning it towards her even as her questioning glance scoured Shadow's inscrutable face for answers even if none were forthcoming. It was only then that she glanced down and Shadow smiled; even through such a crude intermediate as a mobile phone, The End of the Hunt could still weave its ensnaring spell.

XXX

"Shadow", she swallowed softly, drinking in the image, feeling it imprint onto her memories as it had onto so many others, "you, took this?"

"No", he'd never even think of trying to claim the credit for the masterpiece that Big had created; he occasionally felt twinges of guilt that he had this picture on his phone, as if the existence of such a crude replica sullied the beauty of the original, "it was painted by someone else, from memory"; _took me a while to believe it as well_; his weary smile matched her shocked, open jaw,

"From memory?" The former Legionnaire parroted, swiftly switching her gaze from picture to hedgehog and back again as though trying to convince herself she wasn't hearing things wrong.

"Yeah, hopefully you'll see him while we're down there as well; he named that picture The End of the Hunt, Knuckles and Rouge found what they'd been looking for all their lives that day…"

"And I tried to break it"; _wait_; Shadow blinked, the sudden revulsion in Julie's voice, the loathing she inflicted on her own metallic arms seething in his vision as her teeth were gritted, "I wanted to split them up, because I wanted Knuckles I'd have shattered this".

"You never knew about it"; Shadow shot to his feet, snatching back his phone at the same time as seize Julie roughly by her shoulder, spinning her to face him, feeling her squirm to break the sudden grip but not releasing, "don't be so stupid, blaming yourself; you realised Knuckles wasn't going to leave her, I've heard you say it before, several times, you didn't set out to break up anyone, you just picked the wrong guy".

"Story of my life", the echidna answered savagely, shrugging off the hedgehog's hand settling back down and staring downwards as though trying to peel the floor away with her eyes, "I was born to the wrong Mobian, my first boyfriend ditched me for Sady, then I made the same mistake my mother did; falling for a guy who's not only the guardian and our enemy, but just for good measure is already married; Julie-Su, unlucky in life, unlucky in love". She snorted again, shaking her head as Shadow, bereft of comforting words in the face of this onslaught and silently fuming that he'd inadvertently let this cat out the bag by showing her that picture, simply stood mute, again at a loss for anything to do or say.

It was only as they prepared for bed that night, just as Julie zipped the sleeping bag around herself, that Shadow tapped on the lounge door and, after waiting for the all clear, poked his head inside, face sombre as he spoke,

"Julie, listen", at her silence, he gave a little sigh and walked further into the room, sitting on one arm of the settee and trying to see into the darkness that concealed her face, "seriously, don't worry about tomorrow; no-one is going to hold anything against you – I've done, or at least been told I've done, some less than totally honest things in the past and, well, you saw what everyone did to me when I needed it. And I was deliberately doing the wrong thing, you made an honest mistake you had no idea you were making; just go, be yourself and smile about it". He waited for a few seconds, trying to hear a reply where none was forthcoming; with a resigned sigh, he placed his hands on his thighs to stand up before something brushed the side of his leg; looking down, he just caught a glimpse of the bottom of the sleeping bag being held upright as a soft whisper came to him from the concealment of the top end of the settee,

"Thanks Shadow"; _thank goodness_; with the blessing came the relief and the courage to do, almost unknowingly, what he'd consciously stopped himself doing virtually all week. Reaching down, the black hedgehog gripped a firmer shape within the soft sleeping bag and gave a squeeze, communicating by touch alone that, though they did have some pretty impressive differences, he wasn't letting her go through this on her own at the same time she wasn't going to back out now – she'd come too far to even consider stopping at this late stage. Without another word, the hedgehog stood and left the room, closing the door behind him noiselessly, almost feeling at least some of the tension evaporate around him as, for the first time in a long time, he was confident he'd done the right thing.

XXX

"That everything?" Julie sent a questioning glance towards the small rucksack Shadow was pulling up to his shoulder; seeing where she was looking, her housemate nodded,

"You bet, travelling light, at least once we get to the Tornado"; for the sake of speed Julie kept her scorn down to the level of a withering glare, sniffing haughtily as she made her own last minute checks to her gear; _toothbrush, wash-kit, some spare cash – cool, all present and correct_. Assuring herself, she quickly whipped around the flat, checking that all the windows were shut and curtains half-shut to prevent the central heating kicking in and losing them money they could do without losing. _Well then, this is it_; taking one last look in the mirror, Julie drew herself up tall and met her reflection's gaze head-on; _no backing out or breaking down now – just go out there and take them as they are_. With that thought and a last, defiant nod, the echidna snatched up her rucksack and headed for the front door, just taking the time to snag Shadow's toothbrush from his bag when the black hedgehog wasn't looking; _I will teach you joking about a woman's weight is bad for you Shadow_; she smirked as she tucked it away into one of her pockets; _even if it kills you_. That little piece of sleight of hand accomplished, she pulled everything she was taking close to her and followed the black hedgehog out the door, pausing only to lock it securely before turning back to her travelling companion,

"Ready to go?"

"Umm", he'd been wrestling with this quandary all night, but he couldn't afford to show doubt now, "yeah, sure". As he extended his arms and finally scooped Julie off the floor, Shadow decided, as he had done for most of the past week, on something of a compromise; holding the echidna halfway between arms-length and tight into his body, Shadow sped off, trying to keep the journey brief as much to stop the butterflies in his stomach as to make the necessary introductions more promptly.

XXX

Deprived as they were of the usual early warning system, the first warning the waiting pair had of the newcomers was when a flash of darkness obscured part of the tree line; realising he was being waved at, Knuckles shook himself enough to wave back, keeping his face carefully blank as he had been reminding himself to do all week. _She's just another girl – you see thousands of them every time you go into Echidnopolis. She's not even the first to offer to marry you – she might have been the first to actively come looking in the wilds, but she's not the only one_; keeping his head up, the guardian looked past where Shadow was striding towards the bat slightly behind him to the face, the actual face, of the Dark Legionnaire he had encountered a few mere months earlier.

_Oh he's looking right at me_; Julie's insides writhed as if they wanted to try and escape from her body and a good deal more than half of her was tempted to join the escape attempt; fortunately, the conspirators to evade the guardian still didn't include her legs, which felt like they'd been shackled to the floor, the strength drained from them. There was no denying that, even if she knew for a fact he was a married Mobian and that she had no chance with him, he was still an impressive sight; though he and Shadow stood roughly eye to eye, Knuckles probably outweighed the hedgehog by at least a third again and absolutely none of that was body fat. Realising what she was saying with her face, Julie averted her eyes, willing herself to look past the physical aspect and concentrate; _everything Shadow's shown me says he's committed – he said Knuckles rates Rouge as the most important thing in his life, even more than the Master Emerald. He guarded that alone for almost all his life – think what he'd do for her_.

As was the case most of the time with her phenomenal willpower, when she looked back enough the see Knuckles again, he was an echidna once more, just a bit bigger than the average; it was like seeing an ex-boyfriend, or was ex-crush a more accurate description, in the street again. That slight blip overcome, the former Dark Legionnaire followed Shadow's lead; he appeared to be talking to someone who just had to be Rouge, even if she couldn't see much of the bat through the hedgehog's opaque quills, so that left her with the guardian. Taking a last deep breath and reassuring herself she was among friends, Julie stepped forwards and smiled, offering her hand,

"Guardian, it's, umm, better to see you in the daylight?"

"Julie-Su", there was a slight chuckle as he returned her handshake; her eyes widened as she felt the residual strength in his hand, even if he was just giving a friendly squeeze, "only Joe Public calls me 'guardian'; everyone else calls me Knuckles, or Knucks".

"Just like they call me Julie, or Jules", she riposted with a hint of a flourish, scrutinising the other echidna's eyes carefully; _right, he seems genuine…_;

"I have to agree", Knuckles took a pace back and looked her up and down quickly, "it's good to actually see you face to face at last; Shadow's told us a few things, but…"

"Complimentary, I hope"; her voice rose a touch – Knuckles turned in time to see Shadow's ears depress a touch and, reacting to his friend's unspoken discomfort, stepped in to set the matter straight. Well, for the most part,

"Yeah, well, more or less"; Julie's eyebrows rose as Knuckles decided it was probably safer to leave it at that, "but anyway, enough about him, there's someone here you need to meet". Knowing what was about to happen, Julie felt electric shocks zip up and down her spine; _this is it, time to meet her at last – just act natural and remember the stories Shadow told you – she deserves Knuckles more than I ever will_. As the guardian led her forwards, she found herself barely listening, all her attention focussed on the Mobian Shadow was blocking from her view,

"Hey sick-note", Knuckles knew she'd get him for that later, but for now he could afford to take a few liberties, "try and stay awake long enough to say hi". Finally, the moment came; as Shadow stood to one side, Julie-Su had her first good look at Rouge.

XXX

As she looked into the slightly puffed up, watering eyes and heard the sniffles, Julie felt her preconceptions melt away; the taunting, voluptuous sex-goddess she'd been so jealous of was gone forever, as was the sneering, ice-cold high society socialite. As the bat was involuntarily bent double with a sudden coughing onslaught, Julie realised Rouge was just another Mobian, with the same strengths, the same failings and, she noticed with a touch of pity, susceptible to the same colds as everyone else. Shaking her head, she delved into one of her pockets for the small packet of tissues she carried with her and, having located it, offered one forwards.

"Here, looks like you need it more than me".

"Danks", looking up, Rouge managed a haggard smile, taking the pro-offered tissue and wiping her watering eyes before blowing her nose for what felt like the umpteenth time, complaining as she did so, "happens every year, regular as clockwork; I always det a cold in the summer. I'd shake your hanb", she added, noticing Julie making to offer her hand and hoping to warn off the chance of spreading her affliction about, "but bis is my first tissue in about dree hours".

"Been there, done that", Julie was able to sympathise with this, pointing to the damp tissue Rouge now held and fishing around in her pocket for the rest of the packet, "that's why I always carry these around now". With a groan, the bat looked sideways at her husband,

"Dow why didn't we dink of dat?" Knuckles held up a hand,

"Hey, your cold, your problem".

"You gabe it to be".

"I did not", the mock-outrage in his tone caused Julie to smile even if she knew this sort of banter with Knuckles would always be out of her grasp as far as she was concerned, "I, just, hung around a suffering Wyn too long; the bugs hitched a free ride on me; come on you hitchhikers", he pointed at Rouge's nose, shaking his free fist at the same time as holding out his other hand as if for payment, "cough up; urgh, not you". He wiped his glove on the grass, looking furious as Shadow had to turn his back, shaking shoulders the only visible sign of his mirth as Julie watched on in amazement, Rouge deflecting the echidna's indignant look with a sweet smile,

"Dorry, coulbn't hold it in".

"Really", he cracked his fingers, "let me fix that problem for you". Spreading her wings, Rouge swept back a little way, arms outstretched,

"Hey, you can't fibt me, I'm dot very well".

"And I'm sick", Knuckles countered, "sick and tired of you and your smart talk; Julie, this is Rouge, simultaneously the best thing that ever happened to me and the worst mistake of my life".

"If that's your biggest problem", seeing the pair of them act like this, more like a couple of teenagers than a strict married couple, somehow made her feel a little more comfortable; _I bet they were like this before they tied the knot_; storing that line of thought away to question Shadow with later, Julie finished with a smile, "you've lead a charmed life".

"At dast", the former Legionnaire scuttled backwards as Rouge swooped in next to her, the back of one hand pressed to her tilted back forehead in a dramatically reclined pose as she finished, "sub-one who appreciates me".

This time not even Julie could hold it in; sniggering slightly, she looked across to where Knuckles was shaking his head even if his lips were tinged with a smile; it was when her eyes fell on where Shadow had finally managed to get himself back under control and turn back around that her sense of mischief came back to the fore,

"I won't be appreciating you much longer if you give me that cold, umm, Rouge; yes, I pronounced it right", she added with glee as the bat nodded at her name; the former spy paid closer attention, however, as Julie winked before raising her voice, "Shadow I think you were very unfair"; _uh oh_; the black hedgehog had a fleeting suspicion that whatever was coming next was going to be less than complimentary and, as the echidna indicated the bat by her side, he wasn't disappointed, "face like a smacked crab my left foot". Julie saw the hedgehog cringe mightily out the corner of her eye and hissed in triumph as Knuckles doubled over and Rouge span to face the apparent insulter, face a picture of indignation, before turning to face her again,

"Dib he really say dat?" Julie fought to hold down a smile and rolled her eyes hard as though making her mind up about something,

"Well", she wheedled, gesticulating to indicate the thought she was putting into her words, "in a nice way"; Rouge sniffed derisively and looked at where Shadow was still stood with his back to both women, cringe still not worn off as Knuckles tried to talk with a straight face. The bat frowned and folded her arms,

"Hebehogs are all alike; no respect for anyone better looking dan dem"; she suddenly paused mid-sentence; Julie saw her large ears twitching and remembered something Shadow told her about bats having acute hearing before she finished, "saved by the endgine Shadow". Turning to follow her pointing finger, all other three Mobians saw an indistinct smudge on the horizon that, after shielding his eyes and taking a good look, Knuckles managed to identify,

"That's the Tornado; Tails must be early".

XXX

As the smudge slowly grew up out of the horizon, the outline becoming clearer as she watched on, Julie found herself escorted to the edge of the clearing she had greeted the guardians in; as she looked around and saw the plane's direction change subtly, she suddenly saw the purpose of the location, confirming it with a glance well-practised at picking out structures from seemingly obscured backgrounds,

"Wait, this place is a landing pad?"

"Yeah, it's a touch rough and ready but it's the best we can really do out here" Knuckles answered after a second, watching his friend come in to land as he had so many times before in the past, "don't worry though, Tails has been landing here for years, seen him come down on a sixpence in a thunderstorm before now, this'll be easy for him", he added quickly as he saw the other echidna's eye fix on the rather uneven terrain of the landing pad. Not entirely convinced but trusting both Knuckle's words and the slight nod Shadow reinforced them with, Julie lapsed into an uneasy silence as the Tornado began its final approach. The first wheel connected with the ground with a jolt even she could feel and she gave a slight wince, hoping that wasn't the prelude to a rather bigger bump, but then the rest of the plane's three wheels came down to earth, levelling off the landing trajectory and dissipating the speed of the taxiing plane. _Wow, guess that fox really is a natural_; though nothing like a pilot herself, the former Dark Legionnaire knew enough about aeronautics to realise that landing an aircraft like the Tornado wasn't the easiest thing in the world, especially on a rather uneven surface like this. Finally, with a last squeak of brakes, their transport came to a gentle halt; looking up, all four Mobians saw the top of the cockpit begin to open up, the pilot looking down at them and, after giving a quick head count, starting to wave,

"Hi everyone, sorry we're a bit late"; _hang on_; Julie fought to recall her facts straight; _I reckon that must be Cream, and Shadow said…yes, Tails must be teaching her how to fly_;

"Hey floppy", she looked over at where Knuckles was greeting the pilot, a sly smile on his face as he inquired, "good lesson?"

"Excellent"; a second, unseen but instantly recognised voice answered the guardian and a spilt-second later Tails materialised from behind the rabbit's head, the fox standing up in his seat to gain a clearer view, "she flies like that a few weeks from now and she's bound to land her licence".

"Don't say that", Cream rounded on her instructor, apparently not wanting to hear about some future deadline, "I've still got room for improvement; should have been here a few minutes ago, I was a touch heavy with the front wheel, but anyway", she shook herself and, throwing off her restraints and standing up also, "forget about that; the sooner we're back in the air the sooner the party starts". With that, both younger Mobians made what looked like a suicidal jump from the side of the plane.

Forewarned about their powers of flight and having already witnessed Tails in action, Julie scrutinised the other, new Mobian the fox had brought with him; she'd seen her before in photographs but, as with Rouge, the camera might not have lied but it occasionally delivered the wrong message. To her surprise, the airborne rabbit she assumed was Cream seemed to see her; a large smile blossomed on her face and she veered of, correcting her course to land almost at the echidna's feet,

"Hello, you must be Ms Julie-Su?"

"Yeah, but…" Cream smiled again, this time with a low chuckle,

"No Ms right?"

"Got it in one"; Julie shook the rabbit's pro-offered paw even before Shadow, having greeted the other pilot, hustled over to make the necessary introductions,

"Sorry, Tails held me up", the fox in question frowned but said nothing, "Cream, this is Julie-Su, Jules this", Shadow took his first close look at the rabbit he hadn't seen in nearly quarter of a year and his voice seemed to die; after a second of stupefied blinking, he seemed to recompose himself somewhat, "well, I was going to say this is Cream Rabbit but actually it's not; it's two of her stood on top of each other".

"Oh everyone's a comedian", the rabbit huffed as she folded her arms, though she took some secret pride in the fact that, where before she only stood about level with Shadow's solar plexus, she was now eye to eye with the top of the white mark on his chest; _a few more weeks like this and it's goodbye to all those short stuff remarks forever – I'll be taller than Tails_;

"I hab to agree", Cream backed up a little as Rouge tried to smile at her, "you're getting taller ebrey time we see you; what's Vanilla butting in your sandwiches?"

"Peanut butter and pickles mostly", the rabbit riposted with the first ghastly combination that popped into her head, taking great pleasure in watching Shadow grimace, "but she says she was just the same; shot up like a rocket just before she hit her teens".

"All legs and ears was she flop?" Cream mock-scowled as Knuckles clapped her gently on the shoulder, the echidna a little rougher now than he once had been, realising that it would be patronising to the growing rabbit if he continued to treat her like a kid,

"Yeah, more or less", the rabbit's smile flashed as she tipped a wink at Rouge, "you seem to have a thing for girls like that don't you Knuckles?"

The echidna flinched as though struck, Rouge drawing in a sharp breath through her mouth as Julie had to bite down on her chuckles; _are all his friends like this?_; she wondered silently as she stole a glance at where Shadow was shaking his head, quietly applauding the rabbit's wit; _boy I hope so_.

"Okay, okay", Knuckles hung his head abashed, dreadlocks swinging a little as he held up his hand, "you caught me a good one there Cream; I'm big enough to admit that, unlike yourself", he landed his own blow as the rabbit stuck her tongue out, "you're catching up, but you've still got a long way to go".

"Like you will have in a minute if you don't stop insulting my co-pilot"; Tails stepped into the contest, both to speed things up and, he admitted to himself, stop the echidna getting too big for his boots, "come on, they're waiting for us; we said half past. And I know there's something, I know there is, I do".

"Well hurry up and put us all out of our misery", Rouge demanded hotly, speech much improved after she'd blown her nose on another of Julie's tissues; seeing the mystified looks on a couple of faces, she quickly explained, "Tails has been on like this for ages now; he reckons Knuckles told him something he wanted to ask a question about built now he can't remember it, the question or the thing Knuckles told him. It's driving us all nuts". Seeing the fox regarding the guardian from the corner of his eye as he twisted his tails to take off, Shadow nodded in understanding,

"I'll bet, but come on, this is Tails; if thinks there's something you can bet your bottom crest there is". The bat sighed and, seeing the boarding ramp descending from the doorway of the Tornado, she offered the other two Mobians forwards,

"I don't doubt it, but I wish he'd hurry up, Knucks and I are going completely mad just waiting for this question; go on Jules, you first"; _she called me Jules_; the echidna stopped dead for a split-second before quickly carrying on, masking her shock at such easy familiarity from the bat and, perhaps even more unexpectedly, the way she was almost welcoming it so early. It was as she sat down, the former Dark Legionnaire let out breath she'd been holding for what felt like forever; as she watched the husband and wife sit down opposite but to the side of her, still apparently squabbling over some trivial matter or other, she realised that, so unlike her pessimistic predictions, she couldn't begrudge those two Mobians for having each other.

XXX

"So", it was as he laid out his socks that he crossed his fingers and hoped like hell, "what do you reckon to them all so far?" Not quite aware of the intensity of the eyes on her back, Julie straightened and, after clicking her tongue a few times, she tried to answer as best she could,

"Well, Tails I already knew was cool, if anything I should be grateful to him", before he could ask she held up the little canister the fox had slipped her just before she and Shadow had broken off for the main group to make sure the motel room they'd booked for the evening was still open for them, "this should last me at least until the winter he says; give them a quick spray when we get back up top".

"Good idea; don't want to risk having to pay repairs if you miss", he humoured for before moving back to his original topic, "but aside from the foxboy?"

"Well"; _gotta choose what I say carefully – they're his friends more than mine_; "I have to admit it; Cream's an absolute diamond; she's neat, proper, but the way she slapped down Knuckles, that was a peach".

"Aha, we have finally succeeded", Shadow tapped his fingers together with a dastardly cackle, "we have corrupted the perfectly mannered rabbit we once knew to unrecognisable levels of iniquity". Julie smirked a touch even as she continued unpacking,

"Well, much as I hate to say it, you actually did a good job on something for once; she's right on the button; think she's all pride and angel pie then bang, one comment right out the blue, priceless", with that, the former Legionnaire sighed and, after a second of recompose, stopped beating around the bush, "and as for Rouge…" She tailed off and Shadow cursed silently, thinking he was going to have to go digging for his own answer before her voice came again, "I can really see why Knuckles loves her, and she him for that matter; were they always like that?"

"Yeah"; _that's a relief_; and it was – now he could be reasonably confident Julie wasn't going to be at loggerheads with the guardian's wife all weekend, he could afford to be a little more open in his opinions, "if anything they've only got worse since they got it together; I can't believe Knuckles said that on the Tornado. Even I didn't think he'd stoop that low – she was asleep".

"Best time for it", Julie relived the scenario in her head, seeing Rouge's head resting on her husband's shoulder, the bat twitching in her cold-enforced slumber to bring her face to face with the guardian and then Knuckles turning to them all with his declaration, "'oh for a felt-tip'; I'll have to remember that one".

"Hey, our prank war's over", Shadow reminded her before asking would-be casually, "you wouldn't really, you know, would you?"

"Of course not"; _thank goodness for…_; "felt-tip wouldn't show up on your fur would it?" _…maybe not_.

XXX

It was a fairly pleasant day; despite his fairly long isolation from what he classed as his home city, Shadow quickly realised it all came back to him. He knew where he was, where to go and how to get there; his former home was fairly close to the motel where he was shacked up for the night and, to his great relief, Shadow realised the memorial park lay right between the two locations. Thus, having agreed it with her, Shadow walked along its peaceful paths once more, recalling where he had lingered in the past, trying to puzzle through the spurt of memories that had come back almost in a rush, putting them into place, or trying to, away from the hubbub of both the city and his shared accommodation. Lost for a moment gazing at the clear, crystal waters of the pond that winked and shone in the sunlight, the black hedgehog was jarred by a comment from his companion,

"I can see why you came here", there was a sudden splash and a series of ripples send the pond surface undulating in a rhythmic, steady pattern, "this really is a neat place to relax".

"Believe me, that'll go double when you find out who I was house sharing with", Shadow remarked back as he followed the echidna's lead, a second series of ripples spreading outwards as he sent his own stone disturbing the waters, "Sonic's one of those people you either love or hate so much you end up liking anyway; to preserve what was left of my mind I needed to get away sometimes". Julie gave a soft hum of assent to his reasoning, looking around, and, as she did so, realising what it was she found different about Station Square compared with Echidnopolis,

"You know, the looks are different here".

"Err", Shadow tried to get that one through the mental grinder, only for it to come up with a complete computing meltdown, "meaning?" Facing him, Julie smiled,

"I can sort of feel people looking at me, at these", like the water nearby, one of her arms seemed to glow in the sunlight as she raised it slightly, "but they don't dislike me; I bet most of them want to ask why I've got metal stuck all over me, but it's like they're too polite to dare".

"I'll bet they are; remember Jules, no-one down here knows about the Legion – that's to do with Angel Island and, as yet, there's not much contact between here and there. In fact, in a way", the hedgehog laughed slightly as Julie thought she saw what he was getting at, "you being here's a bit of a good thing".

"Giving everyone a good impression you mean", the echidna shook her head, "just as well they don't know me as well as you do".

"Tell me about it; they'd fling themselves into the Legion with open arms; kidding", the hedgehog added as he saw a momentary flicker of hurt in her chameleonic eyes; _damn_; he cursed himself for that slip of the tongue as he realised the damage was done; _now why did I say that?_

As there had been for most of the week, a very still, unsettling pause seemed to hover overhead, neither sure what to say as they cast their eyes away from each other, once more uncertain of what their next move should be. _That was a stupid thing to say_; Shadow scolded himself again; _all going swimmingly and then I just had to open my big mouth. Now we've gotta break the silence all over again._

"Ah, Shadow, er", turning around, grateful that Julie had been able to speck to him first, he turned around and, after taking in her apparently trembling body, followed her fingers with intently curious eyes. Eyes that suddenly widened in dread when they realised what she was pointing at; _that'll break the silence all right_; swiftly, Shadow moved into some sort of position to defend himself from the onslaught; _and knowing my luck, me as well_.

XXX

Julie watched on transfixed as quite literally the largest dog she'd ever seen came hurtling towards her pell-mell, the ground virtually shaking beneath its mammoth paws as ropes of saliva flicked upwards from its face, nothing seeming to deter its collision course. _That's going to go through me like a freight train_; even with her assisted arms, Julie wasn't confident that she could stop something that big moving that fast; the only chance she had was a sideway dive, out the way of those dangerous fangs. So, despite the panic welling up in her, she tensed, stalling for the right moment to make her do-or-die leap,

"Akki, no", despite the grim circumstances, she managed a smile in the realisation that at least she wasn't alone in this precarious situation, "bad dog, down, SIT!"

He knew it was probably a wasted effort and was as ready as possible for the impact, so Shadow was probably the most surprised Mobian of all when the charging Akita actually obeyed him. Slamming on the anchors, the dog that had once been the pup he had befriended started skidding to a halt, paws upwards as he tried to follow the hedgehog's instructions in the minimum amount of time possible. Julie felt the air skim past her, aware that this immense animal was going for Shadow rather than her, and turned around only to feel her ankles being buffeted by gargantuan sweeps of the mighty tail, the dog's face away from her and a single paw being waggled in the air as if trying to entice Shadow into giving him a stroke,

"Wow", after a second, the black hedgehog chuckled and walked forwards, trailing one hand down the side of the Akita's face as Julie moved to the side, only now realising that this monster must be another one of Shadow's seemingly numerous friends, "good boy Akki, those training classes really paid off then". As the dog seemed to groan in answer, leaning his head into the scratching digits, Julie lost a little of her inherent fear and tentatively placed one hand on the mighty animal's broad back, marvelling as her hand seemed to sink into the soft fur.

"Friend of yours Shadow?" She quipped lightly as, apparently realising the extra attention, a foam-coated muzzled swung ponderously around to regard her with a somewhat forlorn expression,

"You bet", Shadow answered, almost euphoric as he realised he wasn't going to be flattened and liberally painted with Akita saliva; after another brief glance upwards, the hedgehog pointed into the distance where their new friend had hailed from, "as is she; hey Cinnamon, don't worry, he's in good hands".

Realising he must have been speaking to the owner of this behemoth of the dog world, Julie looked over her shoulder duly expecting to see a giantess striding towards them, lead like an anchor chain held ready in one hand to apprehend her wayward pet. The sight of a cat girl that just about rivalled Cream in height and build came, therefore, as something of a nasty shock even if she responded to Shadow's call,

"Akki, Akki, come back here you nuisance", sprinting as quickly as was possible for her, the cat arrived level with them, panting for air even if she swiftly clipped the ridiculously slim lead she was carrying onto the dog's collar, "hi Shadow, Cream mentioned you might be popping down; how's life up there?"

"Pretty good, but there are some things about Station Square I miss"; the cat Julie reasoned must have been Cinnamon laughed, the action highlighting the small patch of brown fur that circled her left eye as she ran a hand down her dog's flank,

"Yeah, I know how that feels; Akki pined for a week when he realised you'd gone".

"Nice to know someone missed me; good boy", Shadow crooned as he resumed rubbing the Akita's ears, "anyway, Cinnamon, this is Julie-Su; she's a guest down here for a bit, just introducing her to Sonic – want to bet how long she'll last before he sends her absolutely round the twist".

"I'd hate to guess; sorry", she apologised unnecessarily to Julie, who was merely smiling and bearing witness to the scene in front of her, "I'm Cinnamon and this lump of fluff is Akki; he's an Akita dog and", she heaved on the lead, trying to drag Akki around to look at the echidna, "as you can see, he's a touch stubborn".

"Nothing wrong with that", Julie gave a whistle as she again moved to dodge the Akita's tail, "I've seen a couple of dogs in my time but this one takes the biscuit for size; how big is he?"

"Not sure nose to tail, but he weighs as much as two of me", Cinnamon told her before tugging the lead again, "and right now, we're late; come on slobber-chops, mum won't be happy if you're not there".

"What's going on Cin?" The cat girl laughed,

"Unveiling the new addition to the family, fingers crossed anyway", seeing the nonplussed looks, she explained, "we're off to the pound, seeing if we can get another pup, someone at dad's work says there's a little Akita bitch been brought in; if Akki takes to her, that'll be two". Julie's dumbstruck eyes travelled from the colossal dog in front of her to the seemingly insignificant cat, then back again, voice an awed whisper,

"What are you after, a chariot team or something?" Shadow laughed and added his two cents before the cat could reply,

"Ah, she's only kidding; good luck Cin, and come on", he pointed at where Akita was now sat down, scratching an ear with his hind leg, "he's the soppiest thing I know, could you see him not getting on with a puppy?" Cinnamon gave a wink before a jangle of the lead set Akki on his feet again,

"Hope not, anyway, see you around". Waving, the cat girl set off on her way, keeping pace with her lolloping pet and leaving the other two Mobians behind.

As the two silhouettes were fading from view, Julie shook her head,

"Now I've met some crazy cases in my time, but if that's not a cause to reach for the gag and straight-jacket I don't know what is".

"Ah", Shadow shook his head, "she's just training"; as he'd expected she rounded on him ferociously,

"Training", Julie repeated, spluttering as she thrust a finger towards where Akki had disappeared, "that's training. For what?"

"For when she grows up; she wants to be a lion-tamer". Julie thought about that scenario, gave a slight shudder, then whistled softly,

"Figures – now come on, we're going to be late at this rate".

"All right, hang on"; back to more agreeable terms now, Shadow had no inhibitions about hoisting the echidna off her feet and taking off for their final destination.

XXX

A little more prepared after her original meting with Rouge, Julie was ever so slightly more at ease as the front door of the modest apartment swung open and for the first time she came face to face with a Mobian she should by all rights have either run away screaming from or attacked in a blind frenzy. As it was, after a second of looking each other up and down, the echidna was able to give a genuine smile as Amy Rose stepped forwards and offered a hand,

"Julie-Su", the named echidna confirmed her suspicions with a nod; the pink hedgehog's smile spread even wider as she stepped back, ushering both her and Shadow inside, "so good to see you face to face at last".

"Likewise", Julie assured her host, looking around with faint surprise as she immediately drew lines between this place and her own domicile on Angel Island, "Shadow's told me a lot about everyone down here; it's great to actually see you all. Just one thing though", Amy raised an eyebrow as the other Mobian leant down to whisper, "is Sonic really as annoying as he lets on?"

"Jules"; _uh oh_; even before she heard Amy's slight snicker she knew what she must have done; just in case she was in any doubt, however, the voice now behind her continued, "you have no idea".

_No, I really didn't_; loathe as she was to admit it, the echidna had to admit that, just this once, Shadow had been a hundred percent correct about his former flat mate – he was one of those people you couldn't help but like. From the second she turned around to see Sonic grinning at her with his hands clasped behind his head, Julie just knew he was going to really get right on her nerves,

"So then Shads", Sonic flicked his head from the black hedgehog to Julie, though she was interested to see his eyes never deviated from their trained position on Shadow's face, "this is the one then huh?"

"Yeah, this is Julie-Su, unfortunately"; the echidna growled a little as Shadow walked past, though he gave no acknowledgement of the noise as he lashed out, gripping Sonic's forearm tightly; even if his back was to her, Julie could see how much the reunion meant to her flatmate. For a second all was still, as if no-one dared break the spell of solitude that had settled over the two, but eventually, one of them had to break the deadlock,

"Sonic"; _he's cut up, but he can still hide it_; despite herself the former Legionnaire had to respect that – even at a highly charged moment like this, Shadow was still keeping his voice relatively clear, "it's been, a long time".

"Too long man", his emerald eyes vindicated that truth; Sonic meant every word he said as he answered, "far too long, but", he seemed to shake himself and grin once more, "as you're here now, let's stop messing around and make the most of it". With that, the hold was broken; Shadow and Sonic were themselves again, light-hearted antagonists as the blue hedgehog turned to lead them towards the lounge, speaking as he walked,

"Yeah, the gang's all here now; what kept yo-yike"; Julie backed up rapidly, stopped only at a sudden gasp of pain and apologising to Amy under her breath from trampling over her feet at the same time as watch Sonic land after jumping backwards, apparently cowering from something,

"Nosferatu – back foul demon of the night".

"You crack be ub"; _what?_; as Rouge seemed to saunter away to a different room, sparing the theatrical hedgehog nothing more than a withering glance, Julie found herself at a loss; in despair she cast her eyes sideways and, to her great relief, Amy noticed. With a smile, the pink hedgehog whispered hurriedly,

"Don't worry; Rouge and Sonic are always like that, they just rub each other up the wrong way. Just watch, it's great fun to see".

"I'll take your word for it"; before she could say anything else, Julie found herself passing through a doorway and at the end of her journey; here and now, she was surrounded by her flat mate's friends.

A/N: Yippee another chapter done; sorry for the delay in posting but the personal commitment had to come first.


	11. Chapter 11 Lessons in LoveHate

Chapter 11 – Lessons in Love-Hate.

A/N: Long chapter, took a little while to write but I hope you'll agree it was worth it. Anyway, last chapter got sort of the reaction I was looking for:

HHH – No problem for the present; hope the rest of the day went well.

DH – Yeah, I didn't want to do the old I-hate-you-because-you've-got-the-one-I-want routine: Julie's too mature for that. As for the toothbrush, all I can say is keep watching, and surely you know who Akki is right – check AODAI if you're not sure. Oh BTW, you really should write a TailsCream fic – the ideas you've got are priceless, some of them.

V – Well, he hasn't rained on it yet…

TG – You'd die if someone did that – imagine how Shadow felt :-). Anyway, chaos it is…

Her nightmare would have been virtually the opposite of this; though she knew most of them were itching to know her story – why she left the Legion and, she guessed in Sonic's case at least, why she'd set up with Shadow – everyone here seemed at ease around her. Julie marvelled as she sat down, Cream smiling pleasantly as she hitched up a little on the settee to make room for the echidna; _and I was worried about this?_

"Right then everyone", she looked around at where Amy, flanked by Tails and Knuckles as there wasn't enough room for everyone to have a seat, had risen to greet them all, "first off, Sonic and I are both glad you could all make it and, I'm sure you'll agree, it's good to see each other again".

"Some more than others", Rouge cut in with a directed glance; Sonic gave a wink and casually kicked his feet onto the small table in front of him; both, however, fell silent as the pink hedgehog cleared her throat and casually slapped her boyfriend's shins,

"Be that as it may"; _translation_; Julie as well as everyone else present read the hidden message in those few words; _interrupt me again at your peril_; "we've all got news to share and stuff to talk about, so here", she gave a flourish and drew out an elaborately decorated piece of paper, "is the plan – there's not much on at the moment, so we're going to have a good half hour here, get the news we need to off our chests. Then I reckon it'd be a good idea for us to split up; Rouge", the bat gave a heavy sniff at the same time as look up, "we know you're suffering so we need to give you a course of therapy".

"Believe me", the bat chuckled as she tapped her sinuses, "I don't need derapy to clear these, I need dynamite".

"Not that kind of therapy", Cream shook her head before rubbing her hands together, sharing a wink with her older sister, "in a case that serious you need the best kind of therapy there is; retail therapy". Tails jerked his head around, alarmed as Rouge's eyes glowed,

"Knuckles check your wallet"; there were a few sniggers as the guardian did just that; Julie tried to come up with an explanation as to why the fox's comment was funny, only to find her glove sleeve tugged,

"Tell you later", Cream whispered under the hubbub of talking before she made her offer, "you're coming as well aren't you?"

"What, shopping? Err, don't think I need anything in particular"; _cue the puppy dog eyes_; despite her rapidly maturing features Cream could still pull it off – the second those soft brown orbs widened and the fingertips clasped together Julie wilted like a sandcastle in a tide, "but, I guess it can't hurt to look around".

"Nah, it never will; besides", abandoning her persuasive bent the rabbit waved a hand towards where Sonic was now stood up, "it's more fun than hanging with those speed freaks".

"As for us lads; first things first, we need to assist Tails in a serious scientific experiment; professor, the theory?" With an air of mock-properness, the fox stood to his feet, face serious as he began his explanation, Julie listening intently,

"I have recently developed a new engine; it's sitting in the garage but needs to be tested. A few minutes should install it and after that the real work begins. Sonic and Shadow", Julie saw her flatmate's head swing towards the fox, a slight smile on his face as he must have seen Sonic's huge grin out the corner of his eye, "I need you two to keep a steady pace with me as I test-drive; Knuckles, you're the passenger, I need you to hold the testing appliances for me while I do the steering. That okay with everyone?" Julie hid a smile as the other echidna gulped and raised a hand,

"Would it make any difference if I said no?"

"Not in the slightest; remembering of course", Tails cut off the guardian's fermenting question with by pointing at Amy, "that if you do say no, your day will mostly consist of window shopping and occasionally lying through your two front teeth if anyone asks you if their butt looks big…"

"Alright, hand me the clip-board", Knuckles slapped his hand into his lap, retracting his protest immediately in the face of that threat, "I'm in".

"Aww", Amy feigned disappointment, "are you sure Knucks; we could use a hand with the bags".

"Perfectly", Julie joined Tails in sniggers as the guardian seemed to relive a terrible nightmare, "shopping in Paris, Vienna, urgh, the horror". Julie found her eyes drawn to Rouge as a secret smile played over the bat's face; she was pretty sure that, as the guardian's wife reached down for a tissue, she was the only one who saw the bat give a long-suffering but playful sigh.

XXX

The first round of drinks was brought in; the second Cream reached up and passed the largest mug on the tray to her, Julie realised that, even more than she'd ever been in the Dark Legion, she was among people who really didn't hold anything against her. Due to the extra work she'd volunteered for in her early years at Necronopolis during her quest to track down her only link with her parentage, she'd unwittingly picked up an unwanted reputation; it had only been when she'd joined the ranks of the Legion proper that she'd realised how badly that reputation had stuck. The officers had expected her to do extra time off her own bat with no complaint or pay, the rest of her troopers had begrudged her supposed 'popularity' with their superiors and as a result she'd been lost in a limbo, accepted but not exactly liked by anyone. Here, this was a different story entirely; _they know nothing, or next to nothing about me, well_; as she took a sip of her drink, Julie let her eyes stray to one particular part of this gathering; _barring one exception that is_.

"Ah, just what the doctor, or soon to be doctor", Knuckles raised his glass to Amy, who looked away in seeming embarrassment, "ordered; how's the course going anyway Ames?"

"Chaos, panic and disorder, and that's just me", the rose hedgehog answered with a slight smile, "fresher's week wasn't too bad, but since then it's been either ridiculously busy or completely dead, really stop start, and to really put the icing on the cake we've had at least half a dozen venue changes so far; I've nearly missed half my lectures by not knowing where they're being held – need to get the internet here to look up any changes before they happen".

"I can sort that out Amy; why didn't you tell me sooner?" Tails looked a mite unhappy at being left in the dark until Sonic gave a gruff smile,

"Having the web's all well and good, but you gotta be able to pay for it as well, so that's where I come in", before anyone could ask, he'd answered, "yeah, I finally got a full-time paying job, and one I don't mind doing too much".

"The ultimate slacker, working?" Cream giggled, just beating Rouge to the punch and therefore cleverly defusing a situation before it could occur, "when did you take on office hours?"

"Not long ago; had to search hard to get what I really wanted, but I found it at last".

"Well don't keep us in suspense", Shadow demanded, leaning down to scrutinise his former flatmate's face as he probed for the answer, "what do you do now, come on, I'm desperate to know".

"Us too", Knuckles and Rouge chorused, the bat adding, "I was beginning to think the phrase 'Sonic working' was an oxymoron, as opposed to just Sonic, which is a mor…"

"Thank you batgirl", the hedgehog cut her off even as she licked a finger and hissed, Julie hiding her sniggers behind her glove, warming to Rouge more as she duelled with the blue hedgehog; _if I'd known her earlier I could have had tips off her for dealing with Shadow_; "but anyway, it's a cool job – I heard about it the same way I do anything, by accident. It was a new initiative set to work on renewable energy, people power, if you like; I did a bit of digging and when I realised what they were after I signed up like a shot. Basically, all I do is run on a specially made treadmill full of dynamos under the wheel; the faster I run the more power I produce. So I can literally run all day and", Julie saw him give his girlfriend a wink, "thanks to Amy's brilliant idea, I can learn at the same time".

"How?" Julie heard herself asking without thinking; as Sonic glanced over she held his interested gaze, almost as if sizing up why she wanted to know. Then he smiled and before she knew it the crisi moment was over,

"They put this screen up in front of me; it's a touch-screen, so I can do all sorts with it; answer problems, ask for help, pretty much anything depending on whether I'm finding something hard or not. At the minute I'm studying for an A-Level in maths; I know it's not much, but it's something to build on".

"It's a good idea", Shadow chipped in, interest piqued at Sonic's flash of inspiration, "how long you been going, and any idea what you're after when you've aced maths?"

"Well I was thinking geography; I run all over the world, may as well figure out how it was made hadn't I? I know I can do this stuff", the hedgehog's face creased in wistful annoyance as he reran the old disappointment he still had over in his mind, "but I need the bits of paper to prove it; I never did any of the exams so I have to start again".

"Harsh, but I wonder", Cream's commiseration suddenly brightened, the rabbit's fur virtually tingling as an idea gripped her unshakably, "yeah, Mr Sonic, can you actually sit the exams on the screen?"

"No, and don't call me Mr", the hedgehog demanded, though Cream wafted the criticism away with a single hand,

"Right, well I wonder…leave it with me; I might be able to help there, just give me a bit of time to come up with something. I'll let Rosie know if I manage to get it, just keep your fingers crossed".

"Oh no, it's happened", Knuckle's dramatic declaration was matched only by his frenetic ticking off facts on his fingers, "fiendish plotting, relying on luck, lots of secrecy", he pointed at the rabbit and cowered, "floppy's taken on Rouge as a role model".

There was a little general laughter at this comment, punctuated only by a sharp slap as Rouge's already cold-reduced temper was vented on her husband and Julie leant down to whisper out the corner of her mouth,

"Floppy?" Cream held one of her ears up with her hand, smiling at the same time as answering,

"Or flop-ears; just what he calls me, called me it from day one. Must be an echidna thing". As she reached over and gently ran a hand down the rabbit's long ear, feeling the soft fur and tender skin there for a minute before pulling away, the former Legionnaire couldn't and didn't bother to hold in a smile,

"Must be; suits you though, but if they let you fly don't knock it. Wish I could".

"It's no great shakes really", Cream looked away nervously, twisting her hand as she thought into the not so distant future, where she faced her hardest test to date, "not when you've got something like the Tornado to play with".

"Yeah Shadow mentioned you were training, the ALT right?"

"Don't remind me" the rabbit groaned, shuddering at the cursed initials, "it's nearly a month away and I'm a wreck already".

"You'll do fine", Julie promised her before suddenly smiling and leaning in a touch closer, smile now extending to wicked levels, "worst come to worst, just smile at Tails and he'll give you the keys. Shadow says he's got it bad for you".

"Shadow should keep his nose out"; _he should_; Julie admitted even if she couldn't help but notice Cream's sudden blush; _but I think he might have been right_; "we're just friends".

"Oh good, good" Julie answered non-commitally before turning her attention back to the main conversation;

"Well, if it doesn't work out in the end", Sonic carried on after taking into account his younger brother's question about what he would do next if this job eventually fell through, "hopefully I'll have enough of an education to try for something else; if not, there's always charity work", the blue hedgehog's eyes misted a little as a scenario he'd often thought about drifted into his mind, "always wanted to get into that; come winter, whatever happens, I'll stick on the big red hat and fake bread, take a trip into the hospital; look kids, it's…"

"Papa Smurf".

XXX

As everyone around him fell over or clutched at anything to arrest their descent into hysteria, Sonic, cheeks now a brilliant red, pointed poisonously at where the smug bat blew him an insulting air kiss,

"That was unnecessary". Despite the fact they couldn't have been more than fifteen feet apart, such was the volume of laughter now echoing through the apartment and the fact that Knuckles had fallen almost across her lap as he hugged his laughing stomach, Rouge had to shout her reply back,

"Nah, you deserved it", she cocked her head back and gave a healthy sniff, "a woman weakened is a woman dangerous".

"And a woman cheeky is a woman asking for it; consider thineself on the hit list Rouge"; Sonic made his threat with the full intention of making good on it; Rouge, of course, just didn't listen, looking away and holding up a palm,

"Dalk to the hand".

"I get more sense out of it".

"You would"; looking up from where the infectious mirth had struck her down with a vicious strain of the dreaded giggles, Julie saw Shadow reappear from behind the seat he'd been stood behind, wiping his vermillion eyes and leaning over the back of the chair to prop Amy back up, the pink hedgehog still breaking down hopelessly every time she lay eyes on her boyfriend,

"Ohh, this is what I miss about Station Square"; _if it was like this even half the time Shads_; the former Legionnaire sat back up, feeling a touch light-headed as the blood drained back down from her head and she reached over to help Cream up as well; _I can understand that_.

XXX

It took a little time and several aborted attempts, but eventually calm was restored, well, mostly anyway; there was no denying the fact that Sonic was virtually steaming with embarrassment; Julie fancied she could almost see the cogs grinding to come up with a way to get his own back on the beaming bat. Shaking her head, the echidna watched on as she saw Amy take a deep breath,

"Now you mention it Sonic, Christmas isn't that far away". The blue blur answered quietly,

"Yeah", suddenly his gaze snapped around to catch Rouge, voice laden with promise as he intoned solemnly, "but if all some Mobians get in their stockings is a mousetrap, it's their fault. I can't believe Mighty told you that".

"Put it this way, I never gave her a choice in the matter", Rouge ran her tongue along her teeth as she recollected how she'd managed to wring that reluctant fact out of the armadillo just prior to this visit; she'd needed some heavy duty ammo to hit Sonic with and Mighty was far and away the best source of such titbits, "I made her an offer she couldn't refuse". Knuckles groaned and put a hand over his eyes,

"Oh goody, I'm going to have Vector breathing down my neck about keeping you on a tighter lead when we get back".

"And when you're talking about breath that could melt through a bank vault, that's not a good thing", Tails commented with a smile before heaving a sigh and shaking his head, "all right, what did you do?" Rouge tried to look innocent despite her massive grin obscuring the remorse in her face,

"I just let slip that, if she didn't tell me something about the Smurf over there", Julie had the distinct impression Sonic was counting to five slowly under his breath by this point, "I'd let Charmy know that his comics weren't being thrown out when he thought they were; under her bed was a bit of a gold mine if you're into animation, if you catch my drift".

"You are evil Rouge", Shadow gently punched his one-time team mate on the shoulder as he walked past to refill his drink, "Mighty's as nice a person as there is any you threaten something like that".

"Desperate times and all that".

"Since when have you been desperate batgirl?" Knuckles demanded haughtily, making Sonic's face light up a little as Rouge rolled her eyes disgustedly, "but anyway, speaking of charity work, I need a word with your boss".

"Remington?" Julie was left a little bewildered as Knuckles pointed her out, "what's he got to do with anything?"

"He keeps trying to shanghai me for some community project or other", the guardian huffed, folding his arms in a token of frustration, "I'm a busy Mobian; I'd love to help but I just don't have time at the minute and besides, I really can't handle schools", the echidna shuddered as though reliving a vivid nightmare, "all those kids all over me, babies using me to pull themselves…"

"THAT'S IT!"

The sudden exclamation made them all jump; Tails, who had been mostly silent throughout the whole conversation up to now, had suddenly leapt a foot into the air, punching upwards with lightning in his feet as everyone else backed off, alarmed at the eruption from the previously quiescent foxboy. Completely discounting the reaction his outburst was getting, Tails rounded on the guardian and speared him with a finger, gabbling desperately the last time Knuckles had mentioned something important concerning children exploded into his brain with the force of a nuclear blast,

"How did you know it was a boy?" Before anyone could question what he was on about he'd answered them, "you told Shadow and I, and everyone else earlier, you were getting a baby brother, how did you know it was a he?"

In the silence that followed the fox's outburst, the only noise was a series of soft pants as Tails recaptured the breath he'd just explosively vented and a couple of shuffling noises as the others turned to regard the guardian; for his part, Knuckles merely scratched his head; _umm, actually – I can't remember mum telling me_;

"I, er, she just…"

"Lara-Le's pregnant?"

XXX

As all eyes quickly snapped to her, just as she'd predicted they would, Julie was at the same time grateful for the opportunity to ease this into the public knowledge and horrified of the potential consequences if she botched this chance. It was a few seconds before someone, not, as she'd anticipated, Knuckles himself, but Tails questioned her,

"You know Lara-Le?"

"I know her name, couldn't identify her by sight, but, ah well", deciding honesty was the best policy in this situation, Julie slapped her knees and sat back, a half-embarrassed, half-gleeful smile on her face as she noticed everyone, Shadow especially; _I never told him this did I? Should I have…oh wait, the others…_; realising they were waiting for her to start talking, the former Legionnaire tore her eyes away from the ebon hedgehog and carried on, "well, it was the first time I actually saw you Knuckles, and you Rouge, now I think about it, you were there too. The unit I was in at the time, well we were transferred to this new facility; taken there blind, none of us actually knew where we were, or why we were there in the first place. It was only when Kragok", she noticed everyone there stiffen at the name, Knuckles taking an especial interest of loathing at the name, "yeah, he was running the show, told us the plan was underway. We didn't realise what we were supposed to do until he briefed us; it was meant to be a trap…"

"With Lara as the bait", Sonic stood up, his quick mind allowing him to pierce the veil fastest, "you were there, Knuckles told us all about it; there must have been fifty Legionnaires…"

"Yeah, and I was one of them; I'm not proud of it and, well I can't speak for all of them, but I'm sure most of the others weren't particularly happy about his idea", despite the grim situation and the somewhat harsh parting she'd had with her former home, Julie wasn't about to intentionally besmirch the Legion's name, "but there it was, it was too late to back out. We knew the guardian's mother, Lara-Le, was in and the guardian was on his way, with back up. We'd been drilled; the second the shutters started coming down, everyone headed for the main room and lined up, ready to shoot; that's when we saw you all, I saw you Knuckles, for the first time".

The guardian had been a touch nervous for a second as Julie's pupil dilated slightly; he also hadn't been the only one as another spirit was fraught at the echidna's sudden look. Thankfully, after a second, she shook her head, metallic dreadlock flickering in the light streaming in through the curtain, and finished,

"Picture the scene; I see Knuckles and bam", she clapped her hands suddenly, making them all jump, "it hits me like a kick in the face; feels like I'm flying. Then, next second, bang again; I'm half-blind and deaf as a post, something blew up beside me and I got stunned by it. When I finally get my head back together, I suddenly see Kragok go sailing through the air; I run to catch him, look forwards and see a lot of red; I got one good close up of who I thought was the love of my life then bang", she half-laughed as she concluded the dramatisation, "reality, and Knuckles, hits me with an elbow in the face and I just…" she mimed collapsed with one of her forearms, "…whump, out like a light".

"Ah", remembering that second more because of who had followed the flying Kragok than who he'd actually hit, Knuckles still rubbed the back of his head self-consciously, well aware of his own strength, "sorry about that".

"Oh, forget it; it was a good shot" Julie complimented, touching the point of her chin with a finger and smiling at the guardian before finishing, "so yeah, I know of Lara-Le, but I don't know anything about her or what she looks like; don't worry, I'm not offended that I wasn't told or any of that rubbish – you have to assume worst case every time".

"Tell me about it – believe me paranoia ain't fun", Knuckles answered grimly before his brow furrowed for a second; then he brightened with his own question, "you were there, you must have met, or seen at least, the Chaotix as well then".

"Who?"

"De guys who were with us", Rouge filled her in before shaking her head and pulling that last of the tissues the echidna had given her from its holder, "need to get some more when we're out, anyway", she blew her nose before finishing, "there was the big green guy, someone who looked a bit like Knuckles…"

"And the third one, he just appeared out of nowhere didn't he? How did he do that?" Julie queried, recalling a question that had plagued several Legionnaires who had been present at that doomed experiment. Amy laughed and answered, even if she knew her own dealings with the Mobian Julie was describing were less than pleasant,

"He's a chameleon, they do that naturally; he's sneaky, sly and if those little ninja stars he throws around don't get you", the pink hedgehog screwed her face up, "his sarcasm will". Julie raised an eyebrow,

"He's that bad?"

"Oh yeah, you have to see it to believe it; in fact", Shadow stroked his chin as he mused on he point, "that's not a bad idea; if nothing else Mighty could use the competition and having some friends up there would be good for you".

"Sorry", Julie locked eyed with the black hedgehog, probing for an answer as her hand rolled forwards in the air, "what did we just decide here?"

"That you need to meet the Chaotix I think", Cream filled her in, gaining confidence as Shadow nodded, confirming her correct assumption of his ideas, "they're friends of Mr Knuckles and Mrs Rouge, and they live on Angel Island". After taking a second to digest the idea, the echidna snorted and nodded,

"Something else to look forwards to, and anyway", she pointed suddenly at Tails, "unless I'm mistaken, I reckon I can answer your question as well foxboy".

Though it wasn't her strongest point, Julie had been schooled in biology and, due to the fact the Legion operated mostly behind closed doors, her teaching had been specialised on echidna anatomy. Because of this fact, she was able to understand how Lara had been able to tell the sex of her baby,

"It's to do with the check-up", she elaborated as she realised no-one else, especially not Sonic and Amy as they spent most of their time down here, would understand what she meant by that, "when an echidna lady realises she's pregnant, she gets a check up set for two and a half months. This is routine and mostly to do with making sure she and the baby are okay; one part of this is an ultrasound check to make sure the shell's formed correctly and the baby inside it is growing all right. Problem is they have to use a fairly powerful ultrasound beam to get through the egg shell, and a beam that powerful gives a really distinct picture of the baby, including its sex even at that age; Lara would have been able to see it was a boy straight after that first scan".

"Especially 'cause she'd know what to look for", Sonic tacked on at the end, elaborating at Julie's raised eyebrow, "she's a nurse".

"Oh, in that case, yeah, she'd have known straight off".

"Wonder why, oh, she probably never assumed it was important, and it's not, so", Knuckles clapped, nodding at Tails who also seemed mollified by the explanation, "there's your answer foxboy".

"Sure is, but, anyway", Tails glanced down at his watch and a second later the sound of him bringing his hands together made them all prick up their ears, "time's rolling on, we better all get where we need to go; Amy, you want us…?"

"Dinner's at half-five, that gives us four hours give or take. I will admit now, however, that the buffet will be a bit of a new idea so anything could happen".

"Just in case though, the ambulance is on speed dial and the loo roll's in the fridge; joke, joke!" Sonic darted away from where Amy was know glowering menacingly at him; when a large hammer seemed to materialise out of nowhere into the pink hedgehog's hands, Julie drew her vulnerable shins up onto the sofa with the rest of her, eyes not straying from the formidable head of the weapon, her voice a haunted whisper,

"What the heck is that?"

"Rosie's Piko Piko Hammer", the former Legionnaire glanced to the left to see Cream whispering her answer, "don't worry, the worst it does now is crush old cans; she just carries it around for old time's sake more than anything".

"Right", the echidna murmured back, still not entirely sure about the hedgehog girl as she was finally calmed down by Shadow; with an effort and a final death glare, Amy huffed and offered her hand to Rouge,

"Okay, let's get going; last one there puts a fiver towards the crisps".

"Need us to pick up anything while we're out Ames?"

"Nah, we got it covered; we're hitting the shops anyway", Tails shrugged and gave a thumbs-up as the hedgehog shook her head, the fox filing out the front room followed by the other three male Mobians, though Sonic skirted around the back of the sofa to keep out of his girlfriend's range, "okay then; first stop", Rouge cut her off, trying to splutter a sentence through a coughing fit,

"Tissues".

XXX

As she watched the two Mobians in front of her rise into the air, Cream apparently challenging the older bat to a game of aerial tag, promising to keep her illness in mind, Julie found herself walking side by side with Amy for a time, eyes on the skies as she watched the airborne chase. _I wonder, what does that feel like?_; something that wasn't quite envy but pretty close to it stoked her emotions as she watched Rouge swerve out the way of Cream's latest lunge; she was so busy wondering that it took a tap on her arm to realise someone wanted to talk to her,

"Huh, oh sorry Amy", she bent a little closer to listen to the hedgehog, "what were you saying?"

"Well", Julie slowed up a little, taking her time to get a better look at the hedgehog's face this time; _looks like this is embarrassing – bet it's about the mechs I've got – just act casual_; Julie let none of her thinking show up on her face as Amy managed to pull herself together to a small degree, "I wanted to ask earlier, but there wasn't time; Shadow said you left the Legion with, a bit of a bad taste?"

"That's about the most polite way you could put it".

"And you know…?"

"Yeah"; _not like I wasn't expecting this_; "Shadow said who you were by mistake, but he explained; you're the one who brought back Echidnopolis, defeated the first grandmaster and blew the Bloodstone to kingdom come. Don't worry; he said why, told me what happened and believe him – I'm not afraid of you or anything stupid like that, I'm just glad to be here – according to him if it hadn't been for you I'd still be stuck who knows where with the rest of the echidnas, save Knuckles". Julie watched on with mild relief as she saw most of the hedgehog's apprehension drain away, though she was still a touch sceptical as Amy made to speak again,

"Right well; sorry", the hedgehog declared suddenly, Julie knocked onto the back foot as Amy gazed up at her with something very close to fanatical longing in her eyes, "I have to know, the Legion, does anyone know what happened to Dimitri? Is he alright after…what happened?"

It wasn't so much the question that knocked her for six – it was the manner in which it was asked. Julie was under no impression that this was some misguided attempt to boast of her victory; every fibre of Amy's being screamed aloud for a desire, a genuine need to know, to find out about the condition of her former foe. _But Shadow said_; she scrutinised every inch of the other Mobian's face, travelled every tiny crevasse, scoured every surface to unearth some hint, the barest suggestion that the question had some double meaning, a hidden agenda, but there was nothing there; _he said he tortured you, made you half-mad with guilt and fear – how can you be concerned about him?_

"Sor, sorry, I don't understand", using her willpower, realising she made little sense with that last comment, the echidna shook her head and pulled herself back together from where that question had fractured her preconceptions of this subject, "Dimitri, he, he hurt you, set you…"

"I know; Shadow said he stuck to the truth", Amy seemed to sigh before looking up again, some of the zeal gone from her eyes, a touch of fatalism infecting her tone as her next question came more sluggishly, a sore subject being turned over by her words, "listen, did he tell you about someone else, a Dr Eggman?"

"Yeah, some fat guy with a megalomanic streak a mile wide".

"Well, put it like this; compared to even the least of what Eggman did, Dimitri was an absolute saint", even as Julie tried to compute that seemingly nonsense statement, Amy pressed on, "Dimitri had been held captive for years, years and years; even he didn't know how long. And he thought he was doing the right thing; he genuinely wants to help everyone but he can't see that what he's doing is the opposite of helping, but most of all", she swallowed softly; _even now, it hurts to think about this too much_; "when I was lowest, right after I realised what I'd done, what I'd set free, he stayed with me".

Unable to say anything meaningful, Julie confined herself to listening, letting the hedgehog tell this part of the legend, a part only she could possibly know fully, at her own pace; _they never told us about this in the barracks_;

"I woke up, in Station Square, my home; he was there, he'd made me something to drink, trying to be normal; I raged at him and he was calm about it, when I broke down, I was exhausted, he held my hand, stopped me falling right off the edge of the cliff into", she shuddered, "I don't want to think about what might have happened if he hadn't been there; I'm not stupid Julie – I know that if that had been Eggman there he'd have laughed about it, rubbed my face in it and left me to rot. So I can't hate him, I don't think anyone who meets him, really knows him, can ever hate him, because we can sympathise with him; we all want to change the world, Dimitri just tried to do it in a way too radical for most and had to be stopped. I let him live because he saved, if not my life, my sanity and", she chuckled; _how can she laugh?_; in that second, the simple act that seemed to banish the preoccupation from the hedgehog's mind, Julie thought she could see the barest reason as to why this Mobian, someone she'd have missed in a crowd in the street, had been able to best the grandmaster; _nothing gets her down – she breaks through all barriers by rising above them_; "he finally got Sonic to admit he liked me – that alone's enough to call a stay of execution".

After a second of digesting what Amy had said, reasoning through her side of the story, Julie looked back down at the hedgehog and slowly shook her head, a slow, steady smile spreading out over her face as she returned Amy's laugh,

"Man, Shadow said you were impossible not to get on with", Amy beamed at such high praise and Julie sighed, "he got it right for once; but, I'm sorry Ames, no-one knows what happened to Dimitri; when we were all brought out of stasis, there was Enerjak and that was it – if anyone would know it would be him but asking him about his predecessor probably isn't the best way of starting a conversation".

"I can imagine", Amy shook her head before giving a slight sigh, "well, wherever he is, I only hope he gets better, in body and in mind". Seeing the sincerity in her new friend's voice, Julie watched on with barely believing eyes as Cream called, asking what the hold up was; as Amy ran to catch up, the echidna felt herself somehow inadequate; _I don't know how people like that exist in this world_; it was as she realised she was lagging and raced to catch up that the echidna smiled again; _I'm just grateful there are, and that I've met one of them now_.

XXX

"Would you mind if I brutally murdered your wife?"

Though not a particularly tactful question to ask a married Mobian, considering what had recently occurred prior to this trip in the Tornado it wasn't one that was completely unexpected; flicking his eyes sideways to see Tails grinning at the same time as take a sharp left corner, Knuckles called back over the passenger seat,

"Would it come as a great surprise if I said yes?" In the rear view mirror the guardian had to hold in a laugh as Sonic's face crumpled for a split-second before brightening again,

"Can I horrifically torture her?"

"No".

"Remorselessly hunt her down and make her life a misery?"

"Sorry, she's got me to do that".

"Ah, that one's already taken eh?" Sonic fingered his lip, discounting the choked splutters coming from the driver's seat and the fact that Shadow had his back to him, a sure sign he was trying hard not to laugh, "what about, steal her phone and spent a week calling the Australian talking clock?"

"Definitely no, both phones are in my name now; I get a discount in most places on Angel Island" the echidna explained as a few interested eyes were turned his way before turning around in his seat and making it clear, "listen Sonic, I know she can be a pain, but she's my pain; you can't torment her, torture her, beat her, cheat her at poker, really trust me and Vector on that one, or make her life any more miserable than she claims it already is, do you understand me?"

"Fine, fine, spoilsport"; _finally, there is peace_; Knuckles turned back around in his seat and settled down a little, comfortable that he'd got his point across.

"Knuckles?" Refraining from groaning with extreme difficulty, the guardian slapped a paw over his eyes and; _I just know I'm going to regret this_; had to ask,

"What?"

"Would you mind if I had an affair with her?"

The Tornado's jeep mode swerved alarmingly; it was a few seconds before Tails managed to straighten up at the steering wheel,

"You gotta warn someone before you come out with something like that bro"; and it was true; Sonic's comment had left the fox fighting a desperate battle to stop collapsing as Knuckles, Shadow and to a lesser extent Sonic himself had done, the blue hedgehog trying to look angelically innocent as he waited for an answer. It took a few minutes for the sheer absurdity of what he was saying to percolate through the haze of humour now in Knuckles' mind but, after a battle of wills, the guardian managed it. With a gasp for air and after running his hands down his face, Knuckles managed to piece together a sentence,

"Sonic, if you, you of all Mobians, can sweet-talk Rouge into leaving me and somehow survive what Amy does to you when she finds out you deserve her. Oh, that's a classic; I'll have to tell her about that later, when you're a safe distance away and out the range of mockery".

"I known, I know; all fun and games", luckily for Sonic, everyone was too bust concentrating on their own mirth to focus on his face and thus missed the flash of mischief that flicked over his face; next second it had vanished as he raised his hands pacifyingly, "she's all yours and welcome, much like"; _uh oh_; Shadow virtually felt his former flat mate's eyes roving over his back and whipped around in an attempt to gag the blue hedgehog before he could blow the incident he had witnessed out of all proportion, "that Julie-Su, or should I say, Jules, is going on the evidence I've seen".

"Nothing happened" Shadow growled, temporarily forgetting that Sonic was immune to threats and death glares of most persuasions as he became aware of unwanted attention from the front seats,

"Well it's a lot of nothing if it's got Sonic as wound up as he has been", Tails commented, a deep restlessness in his tone as he spared a look over his shoulder, "he's been making snide remarks about something for ages; I guessed it was between you and Julie, are you two going out now?"

"The only time I'd step out with Julie was if one of us was an acting pallbearer"; _now that's right out of a Tails' classic and you know it – I'm not telling them what happened – you're turning into Sonic – I'm not…I'm not denying anything happened, I'm just not telling my friends, yet_; after a few minutes of hard thinking, off-putting as Sonic's trademark grin in the corner of his eye was, Shadow managed to wrestle his conscience down into something of a compromise, "listen, I know if I don't do it Sonic will, so I'll tell you what's going on, or gone on, when we're all done with this new engine"; _bingo, new topic_; "which, if Sonic's told me right, the one for the Cyclone isn't it?"

"Oh, er", Tails's eyes suddenly disappeared from the rear view mirror, "yeah, as a matter of fact it hopefully will be". There was a chortle and a spurred paw gently swatted the fox's shoulder as Knuckles grinned,

"Still on for that big surprise are we foxboy?"

"Heh, heh, ye-umm", Tails managed to stutter before Sonic moved in to rescue him from the predicament he'd inadvertently created,

"Well, it's not a surprise any more; Cream found out about it".

"How? I thought you were keeping your garage under lock and key Tails" Shadow pressed from his seat, desperate to play for time and come up with a way to minimise the excruciation factor when he had to tell his own story.

"He was", Sonic began, seeing his brother's head fur start to slide downwards from the head rest of his seat, "but he wasn't so careful with other bits of his master plan; as it was the only ones who ended up surprised were me and Ames…"

_Pulling up, Sonic let the pink hedgehog in his arms slide to the floor,_

_"Well, there's the workshop, but where's Tails, and more importantly Cream?"_

_"No idea", Amy's face was a touch worried as she wondered where the two younger Mobians could have gone – it had been about fifteen minutes since she'd had a desperate phone call from Vanilla explaining that the traffic in Station Square was for some reason completely horrendous now and she needed to get to Mystic Ruins by half-three to pick up her daughter. After assuring the older rabbit that the situation was fine and bribing her boyfriend with a promise of extra chilli-dogs, the two hedgehogs had run to the wilder areas just outside Station Square to pass on the message; after all, Sonic had mentioned that it was useless trying to phone ahead – Tails never kept his phone switched on in the Tornado in case the signal messed up some of its electronic equipment._

_"Must be inside; come on", the blue hedgehog said breezily, heading for his younger brother's home at a jaunty pace, "get a quick cup of juice, then a drive ho…"_

_The front door exploded open, Sonic leaping back startled as something shot out of Tails' home like a bullet; it was only when it shouted back that he realised who it was, and more importantly, who had careened out after him, snapping at his heels with great tenacity,_

_"You can't go in; I'll get it back to you tomorrow"._

_"Gimme that key!" Cream shouted back, accelerating before seeming to make a last ditch effort; launching herself forwards in a flat-out dive, the rabbit tackled Tails to the floor, knocking him over as, unseen, the two hedgehogs exchanged an incredulous look, "I want my coat now"._

_"NO", Tails was keeping his right fist bunched, trying to roll over onto it as Cream scrabbled her hand over the top of his fist, "you can't…"_

_"I can, now give it…"_

_"What are you two doing!"_

_Both younger Mobians froze; it took willpower and lots of it but, as they turned to see their respective older siblings looking at them, neither Sonic or Amy laughed out loud; grinned maniacally maybe, but didn't laugh outright. Frantically scrambling back to their feet, faces red as cherries, it fell to Tails to break the ice,_

_"Err, hi guys; what's, um, what's the occasion?"_

_"If I didn't know any better I'd say it was you two getting together at last", Amy chuckled as she moved forwards, Sonic in tow as he was having to fight harder to contain himself, "why were you fighting?""Because he won't give me back my coat", Cream snapped, throwing the fox by her side a disgusted look, "I left it in the Tornado; he's put the plane away and says I can't go in the garage"._

_"And there's a good reason for it" Tail retorted hotly, causing Cream to come to a halt where she'd been walking towards her older sister, "I'm working on something in there"._

_"And that should surprise me why exactly?" The mechanic shook his head, focussing on the conversation, not caring that his older brother was taking in more bribery material than he knew what to do with as the argument raged on,_

_"No, not like that; I'm, well", he stalled a little, not wanting her to know about the project he had ongoing, "it, it's complicated, it's at a delicate stage and I can't afford a knock right now"._

_"Why not? Why's it so important Tails?" The rabbit crossed her arms, remembering the blueprints she'd seen earlier and recalling the name that had headed them, "what's this Cyclone thing supposed to be?"_

_Sonic flinched as he saw his brother's jaw drop – Tails had been trying to keep that secret for ages and now this. All the hedgehog could do was wish the fox luck in the explanations he was now slowly beginning to give,_

_"What, how did you know about the Cyclone?"_

_"There was some stuff left on the table, about a month or so back; you were in the middle of doing something, forgot about my lesson. I saw the name but that was it, but come on", she was not to be denied, "out with it – what are you working on?"_

_"The Cyclone", the fox wet his lip – he knew he had to come clean here, but he definitely didn't want a scene, "well, it's the next step of the charter business I've got going. It, er, it's a bit like the Tornado, but it's got some extra features…"_

_"A plane? The Cyclone's a plane?" Cream scratched an ear at this point, not quite seeing what the big deal was, "why'd you want to keep that secret; I've seen you tinker on the Tornado before, why can't I see…" _

_Amy saw her younger sister tail off, arms dropping to her side as the rabbit saw the big picture; the reasons behind the secrecy, the fact she was learning to fly, what Tails was doing and how she fitted in,_

_"You", the words were a shocked, awed whisper, "you're building this, for me!"_

_"I hope so", the fox said brazenly, quickly to avoid the possibility of tears, "listen, you said you wanted to fly, become a pilot, so I knew I could help you but also, when you'd qualified, you could help me. What I thought was, when you were all qualified up and ready to go, if you had a plane of your own you could work with me, here, help me get my business going. I was hoping it'd be a surprise but, well, you caught me out a good one". For a second nothing happened, the suspense was unendurable as Sonic and Amy waited with hearts in mouths until, slowly, oh so very slowly, the rabbit began walking very stiffly and slowly forwards, back towards where Tails was stood. For a second they hoped for the admission but no, Cream decided differently; stopping just in front of the fox, she slowly brought her hand forwards as, equally gingerly, Tails reciprocated – both hands met in the middle and shook slowly, a bargain made,_

_"So", she spoke after a minute's silence, "so we're going to be partners?"_

_"Well, technically I'd be your boss", Tails said, fatally failing to notice the rabbit's eye hardening, "after all, I'll hopefully have a pro licence by then and, hey!" Sonic winced as Cream suddenly yanked in the handshake and twisted; a split-second later, Tails was caught in a headlock and being subjected to a merciless monkey scrub,_

_"We're going to be partners", the rabbit declared loudly over the captive fox's squawkings, "right Tails?"_

_"Yes, we'll be partners; ow, quit it, stop!"_

_"That's for not telling me earlier foxboy!" After a second more high speed scrubbing, the rabbit finally let go, the mischief in her smile causing Sonic to turn to his girlfriend and whisper,_

_"Remind you of some time in the not-so-distant past?"_

_"Oh yeah", the pink hedgehog's eyes flashed with fun, "now what makes me think you're going to make Tails's not-too-distant future worse than unbearable?"_

"And she was right", Shadow heard the fox mutter from his driver's seat as Sonic finished his recounting of events; they were now close to Mystic Ruins, the story seeming to have helped time pass, "every chance he gets that story comes out".

"And I don't blame him", Knuckles answered with a grin, "that's just pure gold – young love and all that".

"Right, that's it", the fox declared, simultaneously accelerating alarmingly at the same time as reaching for the handbrake as everyone begged for mercy and buckled up, "tumble test time!"

XXX

_Much as I'm not often wrong_; Julie thought to herself as she handed her basket up to the accountant; _there were a few things I was definitely missing_. As she took her bags from the other end of the till, the former Legionnaire winked at the others who were with her,

"Right, that's the lot", she shifted to get a little more comfortable before finishing, "where to next?"

"Well, it's still a little early but, I guess better late than never", Amy seemed to agree with herself before pointing the way they needed to go, "if we head to the Quick Stop we can pick up anything extra we'll need for tonight, should be fairly quiet at this time and the last thing we want to do is forget about something like that".

"You said it Rosie", Cream added her support for her big sister's idea, "let's get that out the way then back to the serious stuff".

"I like the plan; here", Julie smiled as she reached down to take the rabbit's bag, "want me to take that?"

"You sure, it's a bit heavy".

"Believe me", the former Legionnaire smiled, adding Cream's purchases to her own with no fuss and even less effort, "it's not heavy for me".

"Shadow mentioned you were stronger than you looked", Amy chipped in, eyeing the metallic parts of the echidna's arms with an almost envious smile, "bet that comes in handy".

"It can do", Julie smiled as she rubbed the knuckles of one fist with the palm of her other hand, tone deepening, a little darker as she continued, "especially when said hedgehog gets a bit too uppity".

"Oh dear, with me on one side and you on the other I fear for Sonic's safety right dow; you think Shadow's annoying, you ain't seen nothing yet" Rouge broke in with a chuckle as they moved on, walking to their next destination at an amiable speed, no-one hurrying or pressing the need for speed, just relaxing at letting time pass over them at its own pace.

It was only as they came closer to the Quick Stop Shop that they realised Amy's first prediction had been wrong; the pink hedgehog herself taking particular interest in the size of the queue,

"Wow", she commented as she moved a little closer, "Si and Chocky must be maxed out; not usually this busy". At the ease with which the pink hedgehog mentioned the names of who she assumed was running the shop, a memory was triggered off in Julie's mind as some of what Shadow had told her came back to the fore,

"Oh, this is where you used to work; he mentioned you had a job before you got your place at the university".

"Yep, this is it", Amy said proudly as she stepped over the threshold, "I owe these guys a lot for helping me build up something like a nest egg; hey Si", she called over suddenly, trying to get the attention of the cash register, "where'd the sudden rush come from?" Julie saw a human look over at the mention of his name; he must have seen Amy as his eyes widened in what looked disturbingly like relief and thankfulness,

"Ames", his eyes quickly rolled heavenward, the pink hedgehog coming closer at his apparent desperation, "my prayers have been answered; Chocky's had to go to the other shop, there's been an accident – I'm holding the fort on my own", he gestured towards the rest of the shop that was still teeming with people before making an exaggerated plea, "help!" Julie saw Amy's shoulders shivering before she called,

"Okay", and then turned to the rest of them, "well, looks like he needs help for a bit; sorry to drop out like this…"

"No problem Ames, tell you what", Rouge offered reassurance and then a plan, "when you're done, give us a bell and we'll meet up somewhere close by; you can pick up anything you need here after your extra hours".

"Still a sneaky planner at heart Rouge?" The bat smirked as Amy shook her head and quickly departed with a final wave; Julie saw her tapping some buttons on the pad next to the cashier's entrance and, a few seconds later, her head appeared from behind a till next to Si's; realising there was nothing any of the other Mobians could do her, Julie beckoned towards the door and spoke as they left the Quick Stop,

"Is she always like that?"

"All the time", Rouge assured the former Legionnaire, looking serious at the same time as trying not to sneeze, "heart of gold and will of steel; if she's got her mind set on something nothing will stop her".

"Tell me about it", Julie took a final look at the shop they had all just left Amy in, something like minor reverence on her face as she spoke wistfully, "I never believed the rumours about, well, what happened with Dimitri"; _so they know him as well_; Julie saw Cream's face twist at the name as though she'd bitten something sour, "but, now that I meet her, I can understand, not how, but why she beat him".

"What makes you say why Jules? It was the right thing to do and…"

"Exactly", the echidna cut Rouge off slightly, turning to the guardian's wife with a strange half-smile on her lips, "it was the right thing to do, and I don't think its within Amy not to do the right thing".

"You said it", Cream declared, "Rosie's never done anything bad in her life – embarrassing maybe, but never actually bad, it's just not her to be nasty".

"And long may that continue", Julie backed the rabbit up before looking around, "now, if I remember right, isn't there something like a coffee shop nearby?" Rouge gave a chuckle,

"Shadow got you hooked already?"

"Yep, but I'm running low – he said the Marching Coffee was something I might like".

"It's got a bit of a kick to it", Cream warned; the echidna merely grinned wider,

"Just the way I like it – lead on".

XXX

With a screech of brakes, the Tornado, complete with new engine, slewed to a halt, twin bolts of blue and black pulling up alongside and conscientiously popping both passenger and driver door, allowing Tails to hop out casually,

"Well, that went well", he commented as he dusted himself down and spoke to no-one in particular, "the engine seems to be on a par with the Tornados; I might have to replicate it and ditch the old one if the emissions tests go as I think they should". Sonic crossed his arms,

"In English Tails? Not got round to the science A-levels yet".

"Oh, sorry", the foxboy genius apologised as Knuckles heaved himself out of the passenger seat, breathing heavily as he was unused to travelling in a car, especially one travelling at the speeds the Tornado had been reaching recently, "well, this engine doesn't use fuel to work, not like petrol or hydrogen or anything".

"So what does it run on?"

"Metal", he said simply; _yep, you're confused enough…right about now_; "it works by nanocombustion; basically, all you do is get some scrap metal, grind to nanoparticles, that's where thousands of particles can fit on the head of a pin, and stick them in the engine as the fuel". After a second of head scratching and swapping glances, Knuckles felt he had to make a relevant point,

"But metal doesn't burn".

"Not normally", Tails accepted, though he raised a finger in a bid to earn some more explaining time, "but these nanoparticles, they're different; because they're so tiny, they've got a comparatively huge surface area – this extra surface area is what lets them burn properly; more oxygen gets on the surface of the particles. Using them as fuel gives no pollution save a tiny puff of charcoal in your tank, no carbon dioxide, nitrates or anything like that; it's a really clean fuel to use. All I needed to do was check it actually worked and", he pointed at the clipboard the guardian was carrying with a chuckle, "if that's anything to go by it must do".

"You bet; I didn't notice anything amiss while I was running with it", Shadow commented before tapping the bonnet of the stationary vehicle with a finger, "score another one to the foxboy genius".

"Aww, don't; I'm not that smart", Tails protested, shy at the attention, "it was all there in theory, I just built the engine".

"And field tested it", Sonic reminded him before turning to the open space where they'd recently been driving, "and speaking of fields…" _At last_; relishing the challenge once more, Shadow skirted around the bonnet of the convertible vehicle to sand side by side with his blue counterpart,

"I can guess", he saw Sonic's emerald eyes flick towards him, the unspoken test laid out and accepted without hesitation, "hope you've been working hard Sonic, I know I have".

"Believe me, I've been working like a maniac training for this; shout when you're ready Tails, meet you back at the Ruins".

"Be gone long?"

"About…" Shadow finished his sentence for him,

"An hour or so; need a long run and then some"; Sonic's smile faltered for a second but then instantly rekindled itself, the thirst to succeed back to the fore as Shadow called over his shoulder, "call when you're ready". There was a pause, a fractional delay before, suddenly, the command burst upon them,

"GO!"

After the wind died down, Knuckles looked at the speeding figures on the horizon and watched as they passed out of sight,

"Whoa, they're really going all out".

"You bet; Sonic's been looking forwards to this all week", Tails answered as he headed for the Tornado and threw open the driver's door, "he really means it when he said he's been training, he wants to beat Shadow once and for all".

"Likewise for Shads I should think", the echidna mused as he clipped his belt in on the passenger side, "they've never stopped trying to win". Tails paused for a minute, hand nearly touching the gear stick before he pulled back, regarding Knuckles with a piercing eye,

"Have you Knuckles; have any of us stopped trying to win? I sometimes think that's the only thing that keeps us going like to does, just to get better".

"And to help others get better" Knuckles added, thinking of the time he now spent with Charmy, instructing the bee in self-defence and helping to improve his technique, taking pride in his pupil's improvement, "nah, I don't think you can ever stop; I know I don't want to".

"Good, well, in that case", the fox engaged first gear, smirking as he snapped his trap, "I've got just the thing to improve your strength", Knuckles looked over in alarm as Tails sniggered, "well I've got to swap the engines over again haven't I?" Realising he'd been stitched up like a kipper, the echidna could do nothing but shake his head,

"You sneaky little fur-ball".

"Oh yeah", Tails replied with a laugh as they headed for his home, "cunning as a fox me".

XXX

"Hey", Julie looked down into the froth that topped off the drink she'd been served with, probing it tentatively with the spoon provided, "I wanted a coffee not a shave". As Rouge spluttered into the hot chocolate she'd ordered, Cream managed to contain her reaction to a simple statement,

"That's just the way it comes; you can eat the whipped stuff on top, don't let it melt into the coffee if you like it black".

"Or sweet" Rouge tacked on as Julie quickly spooned off some of the froth, regarding it sceptically for a second before taking the plunge and popping the spoon into her mouth; Rouge and Cream saw her shudder as it was withdrawn,

"Ick, far too sweet", to displace the taste she took a hasty gulp of her drink, smacking her lips as she reappraised the guess, "but the coffee's not too bad".

"Nah, it's all right", Cream agreed genially as she took a swig, "hopefully Amy will be a couple of minutes at most, then we can call for a ride".

"Or take a quick walk; it's only, what, forty or so minutes back to hers isn't it?"

"Something like that, but anyway, still need to pick up a few more odds and ends for Cheese and Chocola before this day's over" Cream declared before, with a muted thump, the door to the coffee shop flew open and after seeing who it was, the rabbit raised her glass in a salute, "hey Rosie, go alright?"

"You bet"; Julie watched on as the hedgehog made a quick order before joining them at the table, face slightly flushed but beaming with triumph as she added a small bag to their purchases made so far,

"Sorted; they gave me a fiver's worth of stuff free; not bad for an hour's work"; Rouge nodded in appreciation,

"Nice that dey remember you so well".

"I'm grateful they asked at all", the hedgehog told the bat earnestly before turning to Julie and smiling, indicating the mug she now held, "so, what do you think to a mocha Station Square style?" Meeting her eyes, the echidna swirled what liquid remained in the cup and smiled,

"It's a bit too sweet and not quite strong enough, but you make it better than Shadow can", as if to verify the point she drained the remainder of her coffee before smacking her lips and finishing, "just got to try out that Marching Coffee and see if it's got the kick he says it has".

"Oh believe me it has; he offered me a sip just after he got a jarful for Christmas", Cream told her, shuddering as the phantom sourness of the drink scrubbed into her tongue, "took all day to get rid of the taste, and all night to get to sleep afterwards". Julie smirked at the info, bending down to check the labelled jar was still safely wrapped up in the shawl she'd brought to prevent any potential breakages,

"Ah, sounds like just what I'm after", she ran a gloved finger around the lid of the jar before straightening up again, right into the middle of an incoming question from Amy,

"Er, Julie?" _What's on her mind?_; put a little on guard by the sight of the hedgehog regarding her with a slightly puzzled, slightly embarrassed expression, the echidna replied tentatively,

"Yeah, what's up?" She seemed to hesitate for a second before, biting the bullet, her remorseless nature let her carry on and ask,

"Umm, speaking of Shadow, is, you know, everything, alright between the pair of you?"

As Julie staggered under the weight of such an unexpected query, trying to piece together something that could vaguely count as an answer at the same time as reason with herself if she could really tell these Mobians the truth, Rouge seemed to stir herself enough to add her own ideas to Amy's questions,

"Yeah, I noticed that when you were talking to us; you two seemed a little, you know", she placed her hands on the table edge, slowly inching them apart to make her preconceptions plain, "distant? I mean I know it must be hard living with him all the time, but…"

"I know, and, er", the factor that tipped the scales was the memory of what one, and only one, of these three Mobians had seen before; with a wry grin, Julie tried to simultaneously explain what had happened, get some grief off her chest and ask for a little advice; _after all, two of them are in steady relationships and I haven't got a clue in this_; "well, yeah, something went on, something big; I guess I'd better start at the start or this won't make sense…"

XXX

Even before the dust settled and the pair of now virtually exhausted hedgehogs could begin their customary arguments as to who'd won, Sonic stood tall and proclaimed to the world in general,

"Right, that's it; I've held it in as long as is Mobianly possible", Shadow felt a sinking feeling of déjà vu; he'd known this had been coming, but that didn't mean he had to enjoy it, "Shadow, tell me, tell us in fact", he amended, indicating broadly where, alerted by the commotion of their return, Knuckles had led Tail out of the workshop, the fox wiping his hands on what looked like an oily rag, "what is going on with you and Julie; tell us now or I will run back to Station Square, race to the tallest building I can find and shout out loud from the rooftop exactly what it looked like, get it?"

"You so much as try and you'll be staying on that rooftop Sonic, tied to the lightning conductor", the ebon hedgehog threatened, even if he knew it was by and large useless to try and divert this attention, "anyway, I said that wasn't what it looked like…"

"I should hope not", the hero grinned, folding his arms behind his head as, over his shoulder, Shadow saw with mounting despair increasing interest being generated from the two Mobians who didn't yet know what Sonic was on about, "you normally have to pay good money for that sort of show".

"You being an expert on said subjects of course?"

"You got to the count of three". With a sigh, Shadow realised he couldn't stop the inevitable truth spilling out; it was a choice now of whether he did it or Sonic did it for him and that really was a no-brainer,

"Okay, right, just, give me a fair hearing at least", the former ultimate life-form pleaded, stalking towards the doorway of Tail's home and slumping down onto one of the stairs; looking up and crossing his fingers, he started what he hoped would be both a decent, not too embarrassing explanation and also let him ask for a bit of help on something, "now, what's the one thing, Sonic, you can remember me really hating…?"

XXX

"I hate mornings, and anyway, I'd gotten up fairly early this time, about two weeks ago now", Julie spoke quickly, trying to gloss over this bit, "so I go for some breakfast, take a good yawn and bam"; she took a little satisfaction in seeing her audience of three quiver as she slapped her palm with the back of her hand, "glass of freezing cold water right to the face; I damn near fainted from the shock. So there I am trying to convince my lungs breathing's sort of necessary for me to live as Shadow goes smarming his way out the kitchen, all happy-go-lucky and everything. Well eventually I sort of snap out of it and got hedgehog hunting I'm about ready to rip his arm off and beat him to death with the soggy end when he just has the cheek to say I deserved it". At this point Cream, having just stopped sniggering at the mental image of Shadow being hammered to death with his own amputated arm , had to ask innocently,

"Why did he say that?"

"Something about me not putting my hand in front of my mouth when I yawn, or something stupid like that, I can't remember exactly", the former Legionnaire quickly said, glossing over the details of her bad manners before quickly coming back on track, "anyway, point is I'm steaming and he's gotten away with one, so I do what I do best", she gave a dark chuckle at this point, her early successes coming back to her as Rouge raised an eyebrow, "I got even".

XXX

"A prank war?" Knuckles shook his head at the same time as try not to laugh too much, pointing at Shadow as the black hedgehog blushed, "you, Mr Military Mobian, in a prank war?"

"Oh yeah, I was mired right out in the trenches this time; Sonic gave me a bit of practise but this", he shook his head, "this was something else – rules were no nudity, obviously not for me exactly, but she said she couldn't shave any of my quills off, no repeated tricks and the winner", he favoured Sonic with a sly smile, "you'd have loved this; the winner is the first one who aggravates the other so much they attempt to kill them". There were a few very quiet seconds before Tails made an obvious point,

"Wait, you were playing that hard?"

"And the rest; Sonic", the blue blur looked around at him name, having been leaning on a porch post to try and stop giggling by this point, "what was the worst trick we ever played on each other? Syrup in the body shampoo, something like that?"

"Yeah", after a second of remembering, Sonic concurred with his former flatmate's statement, "yeah, nothing was too much worse than that".

"Right, well I used that on day two", Shadow stated with emphasis before his red eyes glittered in memory of the, well, the fun in the challenge before the confusion had struck them both down, "and this war lasted eight or nine days".

XXX

Julie didn't even try to recount all the pranks they'd played for two reasons; one she couldn't remember them all and two it would have taken too long. Instead, she picked out something like the edited highlights, though of course her own took priority,

"There were a few accidents, you know, tricks going wrong; one time I nicked all the cushions off the settee; he was supposed to sit down and fall through", Amy bit her lips to stop laughing then nodded in understanding, "well the useless idiot jumped on didn't he? Full stretch out, landed on it smack and half-crippled himself as the bar in the middle of the settee nearly broke his back; I had to pick up the pieces and sort of glue him back together for work next day".

"He survived though", Cream pointed out, fondly imagining the echidna in front of her scratching her head as she puzzled over the instructions that came with Shadow in kit form, "I mean, he seemed to be walking fine earlier".

"He was then, but after that, oh it got really nasty".

XXX

Shadow waited for the mock-cheers to his latest addition to the catalogue of pranks he'd come up with before moving on,

"Then it went from war to outright apocalypse", before any of the shocked gazes could translate into questions he carried on, "right, it's midnight, and someone slaps me up and into wakefulness; I sort of come to and Julie's staring down at me; now there's something to put you off getting up", he chuckled at his own joke, not quite seeing the glimmer of calculation in the eyes of his two older friends, "but she comes up with some spiel about a door slamming, she thinks we've been burgled and of course I have to act the hero. So I go outside; next thing I know there's a slam and she's locked me out of my own house".

"How did you fall for that one?" Tails asked over his sniggers, "that's gotta be one of the oldest tricks in the book and you walked right into it".

"It was cold and I was tired", Shadow argued indignantly before sighing, shuddering at the memory that came next in this sequence, "but that was only the half of it; I wait for a few minutes trying to get her to let me back in, then there's a bit of a row along the corridor and these…girls show up; they're obviously out on a night out, all glad rags and kinky boots, so I stand aside, want them to go past. Next thing I know they've got me pinned against the wall, hollering that they've found the 'eneteretainment' that Julie promised them for the hen night they're holding on the floor above!"

XXX

Rouge covered her face with both hands to prevent her laughter causing too much of a scene; as she dragged her hands down, the ex-spy had to rein in her giggles to ask,

"Oh my God; what did they do to him?" The echidna answered with a devious smile,

"Going by the look on his face, and the way he was walking afterwards, nothing gentle", she chuckled along with her friends before suddenly her face set in stone, memories of the next injustice rankling still, "but then, then he goes and does something completely unforgivable – I worked hard all week and got up early to get to the shop first; he had no right to do that". Cream leant forwards, looking even younger than she was in her earnest desire to know,

"What?" She virtually pawed at Julie's arm as she demanded, "what did he do to you?" For a torturous second it looked like there would be no answer before, with a basilisk glare and a growl for a voice, the reply came,

"He made me stick to my diet plan".

XXX

Sonic clapped his hands in mingled triumph, memories of this old chestnut doing him proud foremost in his mind as he whistled,

"An oldie but a goodie; tripwire across the door, that's just classic. What did she do?"

"Well, apart from scream herself hoarse, deafen me and get every dog in the district howling like mad, not a lot", Shadow said airily before, with a sigh, making his next decision clear, "but she struck back, and boy did she strike back; oh go on"; _I can't say anything – I'm too embarrassed to really put anything like a decent spin on it but if it's not said by me he'll get a foot in anyway. Better now than later I guess_; mind made up, he wafted a hand at Sonic, "you better take over this next bit; you know what she did, or, pretended to do". For a second, his former flatmate's face was confused, but then it suddenly lit up like a Roman candle,

"Oh, you mean…_that_! Well, in that case", the blue hedgehog rubbed his hands together in glee, beckoning Tails and Knuckles to come closer at the same time as start, "well, we'd just given Shadow a call…"

XXX

There was a solemn silence at the table for a moment, the mourning of lost calories keenly felt by all before Rouge spoke into the silence, seemingly innocuous as she stated,

"So I take it you were a little bit peeved?" The echidna regarded her with a chuckle,

"That is an understatement and a half, but", her eyes hardened, a wolfish smile dawning on her face as she relived her next triumph, "I made him regret he'd ever set eyes on my treat before then". Amy ran a hand lightly down her face,

"I just hate to ask…"

"You already know", Julie cut her off, a sly wink only adding to the hedgehog's confusion, "you saw what happened; I was aching for revenge, he was talking to his best pals – what would you have done?"

"Not that" Amy said sternly before dissolving into giggles; Rouge and Cream exchanged a look before the bat asked,

"Did we miss something here?" Amy looked across the table, saw Julie nod and began,

"Well yeah, her next trick, well it", she beckoned the bat closer, well aware that, though she was growing up fast, there were a few things her younger sister didn't have to know yet; Rouge leant in to listen – there was a split-second of disbelief before she fell apart laughing, looking at the echidna with one had over her mouth,

"You, she's serious?" Julie gave a half-smug, half-gleeful nod that set her friend off properly; Rouge nearly fell off her seat as she tried to picture a plan like that in motion, "that is juhuhuhuhust twisted, diabolical, oh", she suddenly raised both hands level with her head, looking at Julie and bending at the waist in a gesture of supplication, "I'm not worthy, I'm not worthehehehehehe!" Bemused by all this, Cream scratched an ear,

"Did I miss something?"

"Yes, and for a very good reason", Amy informed her younger sister, "I'll tell you when you're eighteen".

"Hey"; _gotcha Rosie_; the rabbit smirked in triumph, "you're not eighteen".

"No", the pink rascal conceded before giving her own smirk, Rouge beginning to regain control by this point, "okay, I'll tell you when you look eighteen". _Damn_; realising she'd been foiled, Cream contented herself by flicking her tongue out as the bat opposite her lightly tapped Julie on the shoulder,

"So, so you took the crown then huh? Prank Queen of Angel Island".

"I wish; no", she raised a hand to the looks of disbelief, "he somehow didn't break; I was too busy laughing my guts out to realise it at the time, but he'd tromped off somewhere and didn't try to murder me, so the contest was still on. But not for much longer, as things panned out…"

XXX

Shadow had to wait, tormented like you wouldn't believe, as Sonic's gift for storytelling devolved the keen intellected mechanic and stern guardian before him into whimpering blobs of jelly, completely stripped of every notion save to laugh until it ached, and then laugh some more.

"It hurts", Tails complained as he gasped for air, clutching his stomach as he tried desperately to breathe, "it huhuhuhuhurts!" Knuckles couldn't even mange that, face as red as the rest of him as he dry-heaved for so much as a sniff of atmosphere; however, just as Shadow hoped he'd pass out from lack of oxygen and therefore miss the last bit of his story, the echidna managed to suck down a deep, deep breath and half-sit up, looking at Sonic with sparkling eyes, shaking his head to try and dislodge his mirthful tears,

"D,damn Sonic", the guardian paused to pant down some more badly needed air, "thanks, I needed thhahat". Tails, having not been afflicted quite so badly, looked over at Shadow and punched his arm lightly, commiserating with him,

"Well, what can we say?"

"Apart from 'man that was a harsh trick, you have my deepest sympathy for living with someone so devious'?"

"Well, we could say that, but we'd be lying", the fox admitted with a grin, trying to stop the laughter rekindling inside him and burning through his barriers again, "what I meant was, well, you can't win them all and come on; there's no shame in being beaten by something that low". This time, for the first time in what felt like far too long, it was the black hedgehog's turn to smile,

"I wouldn't know; I've not been beaten by a trick like that before".

"Not beaten?" Knuckles was positively agog at this statement, staring at Shadow as though he'd just sprouted wings out of his back, "how, why not? I'd have ripped her into little bits for that sort of…underwaistedness", there was another snigger from Tails as he echidna grinned before becoming serious again, "why didn't…?"

"I was too embarrassed to try and kill her", Shadow explained, "I told Mighty something similar to this; I just locked myself in the bathroom and tried to convince myself that it was all a bad dream. When that didn't work", he said heavily with a roll of the eyes, still cringing at the memory even now, "I plotted and schemed and something just, well, hit me. Next day I made a call at the Chaotix".

"Wait, this would have been last weekend wouldn't it? Yeah, Vector mentioned you looked a little wild", Knuckles finished his mental maths before rubbing his hands together evilly, "what's it worth I don't tell him the real reason you were so uptight?"

"He already knows; I had to tell Mighty and Charmy to stop them going on about my supposed 'new flame'; the girl I was living with", Shadow explained tiredly before perking back up again, "but he got me what I needed; that next week, right on the Monday, I made a bit of a bargain and, ah, put the dampers on Julie's singing career…"

XXX

"I've heard of this", Rouge mentioned, recalling something similar being mentioned to her on one of the few occasions she'd ventured into the EST HQ, "so you all send in songs and one of them gets picked".

"Oh yeah, and just my luck, I don't know how he did it though"; _it couldn't have been dumb luck, he must have fiddled it somehow – if I ever find out how I'll make sure it never happens again, ever_; "he made sure my tape got picked".

"Let me guess", Amy spoke rationally, seeing hot shame in the echidna's face as Julie relived the next few seconds to toe-curling indignity in advance, "he'd done a bit of doctoring?"

"I wish; no, he'd gone one better than that; he caught me doing some karaoke", her grip tightened involuntarily, anger still resurfacing at the memory even now, "the sort only hot, running water can tempt from you".

"No", Amy shook her head after a second's thought, not laughing only because she was having trouble believing Shadow would stoop that low, "not Shads; he wouldn't…"

"He would, and did", Julie muttered fiercely, glaring into the dregs of her coffee as thought they'd muttered a dire incantation over the grave of her grandmother, "so yeah, the whole of the EST got a right earful of me partying on down in the shower; laugh and I'll stuff your ears up your nose", the echidna broke off to threaten Cream's growing chuckles; as the beige rabbit blinked innocently, she sighed and moved back on track, "but there it was; it felt strange really, like I was too mad to get angry – I was serenely calm, well, for the rest of the work day at least", her eyes lit up with a fierce, flaming fire, the desire to rend and tear present there as she finished, "when we got home, well, that was another matter".

XXX

"Remember how Lara was, right after we sort of crawled out of the bedroom after your stag?"

"Like I could forget" Knuckles hastily glossed over those memories, some primordial instinct not letting him recall the petrifying gaze his mother had turned on them all following the drunken revelry of the previous night, "that bad huh?"

"No", Shadow shook his head, "think worse, much, much worse".

"I can't", Sonic shivered even now; _somehow, she scared me far more than anything Eggy ever managed to come up with – man, put that look in a ray gun and you could paralyse half the world's population with fear_; "nothing gets worse than that". Shadow, however, stuck to his guns,

"Well this was; I put down my paper and, there it is – I just about manage to avoid fainting when she sort of growls at me, telling me I'm gonna die, then she runs after me. I believed her, I honestly thought she could've killed me, so I was going at it hell for leather, running like mad, but she'd locked the front door, I couldn't get out". Gripped by the story, Tails demanded eagerly,

"So what happened next?"

"Well, er", Shadow spoke apparently shyly, imploring for help at this point, "this is the point I sort of need help with".

XXX

"So I had him by the ankle, then I yanked and down he went", Julie had them all on tenterhooks by now, all other noise in the shop drowned out as she raced to the climax of this tale, "I pounced up him, got a hand around his neck; I was about to start the pounding when he knocked my elbow; next thing I know we're in each other's arms, trying to suck each other's tonsils out. Don't ask how it happened", the echidna finished quickly, purging herself of this secret before she lost her courage, "it just did. Then I sort of wake up and, I'm confused as hell, I run and barricade myself in the bedroom – since then, yeah, we have been distant. All I want is for things to be back they way they were; fun, we were friends but, can that happen now? After something like that?"

Understandably, there was a bit of a shocked silence at these words, two of her audience trying to put themselves in her shoes and the third trying not to laugh rudely at the mental image. Julie could do nothing but wait, allow them to deliberate and decide on their courses of action before hopefully advising her,

"Jules?" _Hope_; she looked over at Rouge as the bat spoke, almost earnest in her desire to know a solution to her new problem, "do you feel better now?"

"Err"; whatever she'd been expecting, that wasn't it; after a second of stupefied blinking the former Legionnaire managed to speak, "in what way?" Seeing where her friend was going, Amy chipped in to explain,

"Getting that off your chest; you've been living close to someone without talking for ages, so it must be good to talk, right?" Thinking about this, feeling deep inside herself and realising that, almost without her noticing, a weight had been removed from her soul that she hadn't even felt being applied; free of this unrecognised burden, she allowed herself to soar,

"You know", twisting, flying upwards and free of this leaden secret, the echidna allowed herself to smile, "actually, yeah; it does feel different, sort of odd".

"Exactly; you just needed a bit of breathing space", Amy smiled, happy that her rudimentary knowledge of counselling allowed her to explain a littler deeper than she would have been able to otherwise, "you've been in the same place, around, I imagine, the same sort of people, Shadow and work, for a long time", she waited for the important complimentary nod before continuing, "so you couldn't get away from the stress that sudden shock generated. Now, here and with a new crowd, you can just relax and, like you just did, vent that unconscious tension to different people".

"Basically, talking helps", Cream managed to decode before Julie chortled, tapping the table in front of her in amazement and looking up at the hedgehog,

"Shadow said you'd be a great doctor some day", she raised her glass in a light-hearted but nevertheless genuine gesture of appreciation, "and he was right". Amy squirmed in her seat, not able to meet the older Mobians' eyes as she answered awkwardly,

"Aww, you're making me blush; it's just the truth, that's how counselling is".

"Tell me more about it; sounds like a useful skill if this is the least it can do", Julie leant in, eager to know more but forestalled as Rouge leant back, letting free a cavernous yawn at the same time as make a plea with her hands,

"Sorry, that's all I can do folks", she rubbed her eyes as she looked around, the lines of tiredness that had been around her eyes now seemingly ingrained deeper than before now, "I gotta get to sleep, unless any of you fancy carrying me home?"

"I think I'll pass" Amy chuckled before Cream glanced up,

"Yeah, not really into body-building just yet"; she deflected the bat's acid look with a waft of her pretty eyelashes before there was a soft jangle of metal on metal and Amy offered,

"These'll let you in; you think you can make it?"

"I'll manage", the ex-spy gave a haggard smile before standing up from the table, reeling to her feet, "sorry to let the team down, but the bug beat me for now". Despite herself, Julie couldn't help but like the guardian's wife and commented,

"Get some rest; the rate you're going if you don't you won't have enough energy to sleep tonight". With a gruff chuckle and roll of the eyes, Rouge excused herself, walking slowly out of the café and back into the main body of the mall. When she had departed, Julie turned back to the other two with a sigh,

"Shame, mind you she looks like she could use a decent forty winks; but then", suddenly more business-like, she span back to the remaining two Mobians, "basically, you're saying things should settle down now I, we, in fact; Shadow's away from me for a bit, have had a bit of a break?"

"Hopefully" Cream said before her expression changed slightly, becoming a little more crafty as she winked, "but, if you're after revenge on your flatmate, Tails has a picture you really should see".

"Really, do tell…"

XXX

"I have to say Shads", Sonic exclaimed a second after hitting pause and taking the liberty of a swig of a provided drink, "I never thought you had it in you".

"Well what would you have done", the black hedgehog argued a second before restarting the game, finger on the accelerator as Sonic joined back into the contest with a will, "if it's a choice between kissing a rabid echidna and being beaten to death by one, I'll take the former any time".

"Good logic; I bet Rouge would agree with you on that one" Knuckles chipped in from the sidelines, weighing up his chances in his next chance; he reckoned he could give Shadow a run for his money, but with Sonic it would depend on his distraction tactics. Suddenly, the decision was made for him; with a jerk of his thumb, Shadow forced his virtual stunt car to fly off the bridge he was trying to cross, sending it plunging into a ravine and out of the game – as he passed the controller to the stunned echidna, the ebon hedgehog shook his head,

"Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time, but ever since", he tried to put into words the feeling of cold properness, the almost uncaring care and thought that went into every gesture, every movement since that mad moment, "it's been…different?"

"I have to admit you two didn't look like a barrel of laughs when we picked you up" Tails commented from the settee, where he was sprawled reading a physics magazine at the same time as waiting for his next shot at dethroning the current winner of the game he had created. Shadow nodded,

"It's been like that all week; I haven't got a clue about what to do next…"

"You're doing it", Sonic spoke over him casually, shuffling around on the floor to give his next opponent a clear sight of the screen, "happens with Amy and I sometimes; we'll get a bit cold, so she'll drop out to the movies with a couple of her girl-friends, or I'll hang around here for the night, give each other a bit of space. When we get back, it's just like it was – you can't be around the same people twenty-four seven; you two getting apart like this'll help. Haha, false start", the blue hedgehog chuckled as Knuckles hit the accelerator a mite too early and a red light flashed up over his vehicle. While the game reset to the start point Knuckles backed up what the hedgehog was saying,

"He's right; sometimes I reckon that's why me and Rouge get on so well – because we're so independent, we just get on and do our own things when we feel like it. It's a game of give and take mate; you just gotta find that balance".

"It's not easy though, especially for her", Shadow commiserated as Tails joined the dots,

"Yeah, she can't go out much because she's still got shiny bits and, as we all know so well", Shadow chuckled a little as he saw the fox smile at the back of Knuckle's head, "despite their gullibility, echidnas bear grudges like no others".

"Nice try foxboy", Knuckles didn't turn around at the insult, guiding his car expertly towards the end of the first lap, a hair ahead of Sonic who'd been slowed by just clipping the last corner curb, "but no cigar".

"So close; hang on, I got it"; the crisp ringing of the phone allowed Tails to excuse himself, his absence letting Shadow nick the seat he'd been in and flop down with a sigh,

"Well, here's hoping the time off'll cool things off". There was a musical tinkle on screen, Sonic looking over, unconcerned that his inattention had his car heading straight for a brick wall,

"You really think, I mean, don't wanna judge, but you making a play here?" Unable to properly answer and aware of Knuckles now showing an interest, Shadow considered the question he'd asked himself, in one form or another, several times before,

"I don't know", he answered them with the same phrase he used on himself, trying to explain it even as he did, "I can't help but credit she's resilient; the day after, I found her", Knuckles looked down, still needled by the knowledge that he'd hurt someone even if he'd had no choice, "she was talking about what she needed to do now the Legion was out of her life – you've got to respect that kind of attitude. She's…I don't know if this is the right way to say it, but she's just plain fun to be around; she can scrap with the best of them but, if you need it, she'll help you out. Maybe something is happening, but I don't know yet; I haven't got a clue what Julie thinks of all this". Knuckles gave a gruff chortle and shook his head,

"Shads, even now, after the wedding and all we've been through together, I still haven't got a clue what Rouge is thinking ninety-nine percent of the time, that's just the way women are. You just gotta go with the flow, let her make the moves; if you come over too strong, chances are you'll scare her off, especially if she's feeling like you are". After a second of consideration, Shadow simply shrugged,

"Well, whatever happens will happen, though believe me Jules scares me a lot more than I ever will her".

"She's been cool so far".

"You haven't seen her first thing in the morning", Shadow smiled, turning his back on them and acting like he was holding up something in front of his face, "don't look in her eyes or she'll turn you to stone".

"Bad bed hair huh? Been there, done that, not good" Knuckles commented before Tails appeared in the doorway, looking somewhat forlorn,

"Sorry guys, playtime's over", he explained before the cries of denial could be mustered, "that was Ames; they need a quick ride home and then she can start cooking, so it looks like it's gonna be a quick drive to the mall to pick them all up".

"Oh well, finish on a high they say" Knuckles sighed as he hit the off switch of the machine with his toe before standing up, "and I was definitely flying high then. Hang on", seemingly gripped by a sudden thought, the guardian turned to the mechanic with a questioning look, "is there enough room for everyone, even with these two running?"

"Yeah, it might be a bit squashed though", Sonic answered for his brother before making to head out, "anyway, I'm heading for home straight off; I can make a start on some of the pre-cooking skit, save time for Ames. See you at home". Shadow looked over at his sometime-competitor with a sarcastic smile,

"The rate you were going out there we'll beat you back".

"Shadow, you couldn't beat me if I was out for the count; I'm even faster asleep than you are normally".

"Wait, you actually sleep? There was me thinking you just existed in a permanent daze".

"Nah, you're the one who's always dazed by my superior speed". _Gotcha_; the black hedgehog struck a surely killer blow,

"The only thing you've got more of than me is persistence; you'll never be equal to me but you still keep on trying".

"These days I don't even need to try…"

"Enough!" Fascinating as these verbal exchanges always were, Tails really didn't fancy the idea of trying to explain why they'd all shown up late due to the fact a Piko Piko Hammer to the toe often hurt quite considerably. Without another word he pointed them to the door forcefully and, despite the occasional muttered boast that the other was making things up, both hedgehogs and one echidna exited his home. Setting his sights on the city, Sonic spared them all a quick,

"Later" and took off, wind whistling after him as he headed for home. After a second of watching him go, Knuckles jerked a thumb towards the waiting Tornado,

"Come on, let's get going; the sooner we pick them up, the sooner we eat". As he unlocked his vehicle, Tails smirked,

"Well they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach; must be true for echidnas as well". Knuckles smiled sardonically at the comment before catching a glimpse of Shadow out the corner of his eye and smirking back at the fox,

"Maybe, but I doubt that holds true for hedgehogs", Tails pricked his ears as the guardian pointed the former ultimate life-form out, "going on Shad's evidence, the stomach might be aiming a mite too high".

XXX

"Ah, about time"; Amy gathered her bags, helped considerably by Julie's augmented arms and waited for the Tornado to pull to a smooth stop, the boot already popping, allowing the three remaining girls to hurl their purchases into the storage space with a minimum of fuss. This completed, the pink hedgehog pulled open the rear door nearest to her and let Cream jump in first, followed by Julie and then lastly by herself, Shadow having slipped out the other door by now, able to run home under his own speed.

"What was the joke?"

"Believe me Cream", Amy heard Knuckles say as it looked like the guardian was trying hard to stop sniggering, "you're too young to know". Amy smiled secretly as her younger sister played the amateur dramatics to a tee, flumping back into her seat with her arms folded crossly,

"I've heard that a lot today; it's no fair; hang on a second", she twisted in her seat, looking out the window nearest her, "where's Sonic?"

"He's gone back to your place Amy, wanted to get a head start with the cooking". _Really, that was nice of him, just as long as he doesn't actually try and start melting the cheese_; the pink hedgehog smiled at her boyfriend's surprisingly thoughtful action before, with a sickening lurch, Knuckles' question brought her back to earth at breakneck speed,

"While we're on the topic of missing persons, where's Rouge?"

"She had to go back early", unfortunately, Julie never looked to her left and thus missed Amy's whitening face, carrying on her blithe explanation, "she said she was feeling a bit under the weather, wanted a quick kip".

"Tails", Amy finally rediscovered her voice and thereby the means to communicate her sudden fear, "get to my apartment quick, for the love of God make it quick!"

"Why, what's…?"

"Do I have to spell it out?" The undergraduate quickly ticked off her points on her fingers, speaking without pause for breath, "Sonic plus Rouge plus no supervision equals…?"

"Calamity" Knuckles finished for her, seeing the dire concoction that had been inadvertently created and knowing none of them could stop it; _all we can hope is that they've left us some pieces to pick up_; "step on it Tails; they're like cat and dog with us there, the Master alone knows what'll happen when they're left alone".

"My guess is nothing pleasant", the fox finished as he hit the gas and the Tornado span away from the curb; using the rear view mirror, Julie could look back to see Shadow, having been taken rather aback by the sudden take off, firing up his jet skates to catch up, "let's just hope they've left you a roof over your head or it'll be a long, cold night for all of us".

XXX

From the second he'd quietly opened the door to the lounge of his home, wondering what was making the strange snuffling noises and seen Rouge laid out on the settee, he'd spared a few seconds to clasp his hands together, roll his eyes heavenwards and mouth a silent prayer of thanks. Since then, having gently woken the bat up, he'd been having the time of his life with her; _I wondered if Knuckles was exaggerating_; he listened to another of her gasps, seeing her face contorted into wonderful contours of bliss and grinned to himself; _now I know he was telling the truth. And best of all_; he added a little more force, making her mewl uncontrollably; _I can always say he gave me permission for this…_

He heard the door open slowly and disappointment reared its ugly head; pretty soon playtime was coming to an end. But before that, he had the chance to put the matter beyond any doubt whatsoever; slowing down a touch, letting Rouge slip off her plateau of unbearable pleasure enough to croon a few sweet words,

"Noo-ohoho-ooo", she spasmed weakly, her energy gone by the past fifteen minutes or so, "Soooooonic, doo-ohhhohhh-on't, sto-ooohhho-ooop!"

XXX

Having leant towards the door, Cream stood back and turned around, face drawn as she gave her bad news,

"It's quiet, far too quiet", she glanced around nervously as Amt crossed her fingers and moved forwards to unlock the door, "you don't think one of them's dead do you?"

"I wouldn't put it past them", Knuckles agreed with a smile, though, if you looked hard enough there was a trace of uncertainty there to be seen, "but hopefully they've just knocked each other out for now".

"We can but hope, either that or everything that can be destroyed already has been" Shadow added pessimistically as, with a tentative fingertip, Amy looked away with her hand over her eyes and prodded the door open.

"Tell me the bad news", she asked whoever was nearest, still not daring to look, "how much is it going to cost to repair the damage, medical or otherwise?"

"Judging by this", Tails totted by the figure as he poked his head around the door, "the right side of zip-ola", he smiled, simultaneously relieved and wondering what had happened as he beheld the immaculate hallway, "there's no collateral damage, at least not here".

"Really?" Everyone crowded around to see for themselves, Amy nearly sagging against the door frame as she breathed a heavy sigh of relief; _just as well, I don't think the insurance companies would have brought damage by Drill Drive_; "wonder what…?"

"Noo-ohoho-ooo; Soooooonic, doo-ohhhohhh-on't, sto-ooohhho-ooop!"

Six hearts stopped beating as Rouge's voice, a full half-octave higher than normal, floated out towards them, muffled by the door but still perfectly audible. Julie, zombie-like, found her eyes on Knuckles and Amy without feeling her head pivot, seeing their twin looks of horror and sheer, outright disbelief at the sudden moan. Strangely enough, it was Knuckles who managed to move first; the guardian ploughed forwards, slamming through the opened doorway with a gargle of shock-fuelled panic. _This can't be happening – this isn't what it sounds like_; even as he pressed forwards, desperate to know, the red echidna found a certain small part of his mind pointing out that this wouldn't be the first time Sonic had done the impossible. He crashed through the door to the lounge, took one look at the scene and his stunned brain thrust into his mouth the first words it could come up with,

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY WIFE!"

If his shout hadn't broken the paralysis spell, Sonic's answer of,

"Nothing you haven't done before" certainly did; with a sound like a miniature stampede everyone else crowded to the door to the lounge to see the scene before them and how delicious Sonic's revenge had actually been.

XXX

Though Rouge was lain flat out on the settee with Sonic knelt at one end, all the confusion ended when it became obvious where the blue hedgehog's hands were. Seeing his friends all observing his moment of triumph, the blue blur grinned up at them all, giving an extra spurt to make sure Rouge couldn't beg for help,

"Hiya guys, have fun? I know Rouge did, didn't you batgirl?" She managed another helpless whimper in answer, unable to speak due to the hedgehog mercilessly circling his fingers on the sensitive skin of her ears, torturing her virtually out of her mind. She'd woken up at a voice in her ear, frozen in place as she'd realised something was actually holding them in a firm but not unpleasantly tight grip and her stomach had shrivelled up as she'd rolled her eyes upwards to see Sonic beaming malevolently down at her. Despite offering a sincere apology, Sonic had started teasing her ears and hadn't let up since; her mind had melted to mush a long time ago and she couldn't do anything bar try and pray for a miracle. Seeing her writhe on the couch, Amy pointed accusingly at her boyfriend and demanded,

"Sonic, stop that right now – that's like torture for her".

"Nah it's not", his smile deepened, a little darker as he carried on slyly, "now if I were doing _this_", all present saw his fingers speed up and the reaction was instantaneous; Rouge's back arched almost into a bow and she panted desperately, eyes rolling madly as she was not even able to make a sound to relieve her torment, "that would be torture, but this is just nice and steady". Sonic eased himself back to his former speed and, as the bat began to slowly relax again, her husband, not quite able to dispel his smile, shook his head and spoke,

"Well, maybe she deserved this but, come on", he pointed to where his bride was now quivering in a heap, to all intents and purposes helpless, "quit it before she wets herself or something".

"You think she might – oh, ultimate payback".

"Sonic!"

"Okay, okay"; the threat of the brandished Piko Piko Hammer was enough to dissuade him; in a single move the blue hedgehog sprang back and let go; Rouge flopped down on the settee in a state of fugue, completely unable to do anything due to the haze the hedgehog's torture had left her in.

"Great", Julie heard the guardian rumbled as he moved forward and stooped down; a second later he straightened with Rouge in his arms, "I now have a vegetable for a wife".

"Hey, you married her" Tails quipped as he walked past, asking for directions for one of the bedrooms as Sonic began to dance a quick jig of victory. Though she couldn't quite understand what had happened and how Sonic had managed to put the guardian's wife down the way he had, Julie was quick to realise one thing; _when she wakes up, I really, really hope you can run at least as fast as Shadow can!_

A/N: Wow, huge chapter this one, hope everyone likes it; isn't it nice to see Sonic acting evil sometimes?


	12. Chapter 12 Quiets Words and Secret Ideas

Chapter 12 – Quiet Words and Secret Thoughts.

A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry; should have got this up yesterday but something popped up and I forgot about it until near enough midnight. Anyway, some interesting comments from the normal panel of reviewers:

DH – Yeah, I always wanted to try out the two-points-of-view-one-story trick but never had a better chance than this – might have to give it another shot if I get the chance later. Oh, and you think Sonic set Knucks up well last chapter, read on…:-)

TG – You've put your finger on one of the most essential points of the Sonic games; Sonic, the main character, doesn't really have much of a personality, or a back story come to that, while most of the other characters do; interesting isn't it? Anyway, I always thought of him as a nice guy who can, very occasionally, sink a little bit low, and come on – Rouge deserved it!

V – You like long chapters – you should like this one then.

RGN – Ah, great to hear from you again; just a slight request. Even if you can't think of anything to really say, just drop me a line – I really like doing these pre-fic notes to the reviewers and it gives me an idea of if people like the series as a whole; now I know you've been reading since at least Iron Skin, I can tell the fics from then on have held your attention, so must be okay. Aside from that though, no, the soul-touch, I never saw the point of it; if the echidnas live longer than any other species, why would they need something like that to find a mate – they've got longer to do it than anyone else? It made no sense to me.

Strangely enough, when the guardian returned to the kitchen after depositing Rouge in Amy's bedroom, letting the bat recover from the torture session Sonic had just put her through, he could do nothing but compliment the blue hedgehog. Laughing as he set down the handful of napkins Amy passed to him, he shook his head at Sonic,

"Man, that was cruel in a way I never thought possible for you", Sonic gave a sly smile and tried to look innocent; getting in on the act, Tails raised both hands behind his older brother's head to make it look as though he'd sprouted a pair of horns, "I like it".

"But I doubt Rouge did", Julie chipped in even if she couldn't hold in her own chuckling completely, "I just hope you're as fast as they say they are when she wakes up".

"Oh believe me, no matter how angry she is, she can't hit what she can't catch", the blue hedgehog turned to where Shadow was getting the back of his hand slapped by Cream as he attempted to nick one of the bread rolls she was buttering, "I can leave Shady over there eating my dust any time I feel like it". _His ego's never going to take that lying down_; sure enough, Julie saw her suspicions confirmed as the hedgehog she house-shared with stood tall, his eyes starting to smoulder as he was pricked by Sonic's words,

"Amy, I think his medication might need tweaking again", seeing the genuinely puzzled expressions greeting his somewhat roundabout statement, the black hedgehog explained, "oh, he's had these fantastical delusions since before I moved out; the pills were keeping them down for a while but the docs said they'd lose their effective sometime".

"Delusions; the only delusions I've ever had were…" unusually Sonic tailed off mid-sentence, though before anyone could figure out why, he casually ran his hand through the quills on his head and said in a suave voice, "hey baby, was it good for yooooiiikes!"

Julie had just started to turn around when something white-pink and moving at a very fast pace whipped past her; it wasn't until she saw Sonic dodging nimbly around the table and shouting,

"Mad bat! Mad bat!" that she realised what had happened. Rouge, having evidently thrown off the lingering effects of whatever submission technique the blue hedgehog had been using on her, darted after him, face twisted in rage as she declared

"And when I get hold of you it'll be 'dead hog', dead hog'! Stop ducking around the table – I demand you do the decent thing and receive a pasting!" Seemingly unable to keep the giggles out of his voice, Sonic evaded her apoplectic charge and shot back,

"I demand right of substitution – if you're going to pound anyone pound your husband", Knuckles looked around alarmed as he joined the dots, only to be frozen a second later in horrified dread as Sonic finished, "after all, he gave me permission for it".

"What!" _Oh you cruel sod_; Shadow looked away as he realised how tight a spot the red echidna was in now – it was a case of go along with Sonic's story or be forced into telling Rouge what he'd _really_ said Sonic could do if he could get away with it; he was damned if he did and damned if he didn't. Rouge stomped to within an inch of her partner's face and hissed her next words up his nostrils,

"Is he telling the truth Knuxie?" All present felt their sympathy for the guardian rise as he looked into the Look of doom and tried to give a whimpering smile,

"Er, well, I never thought he'd…" He flinched as Rouge poked him hard in the chest with one finger, fangs bared as she made a dire promise,

"You just wait until we're back on Angel Island Knucklehead; I'll nail you to the wall through the GPP for that one – how could you be that stupid?"

"It has to take practise; now come on, calm down", taking a deep breath and his life in his hands, Tails marched forwards and, hoping against hope this would work, came between the husband and wife, trying to defuse the situation. There were a few tense split-seconds when he feared being flattened by a sharp kick or heavy punch, but no, thankfully his hide remained in one piece as at least some of the anger drained away from the bat and she restrained herself to a filthy look,

"Practise, yeah; he gets at least a good three hours a day every day", she suddenly span at a sudden chuckle, "but don't think I'm going to forget this spiny – you going down in a big way".

To the surprise of most, rather than shoot his mouth off at the threat, Sonic instead settled onto his back foot, hands up in a placating manner as he shuffled out from behind the table he'd been sheltered behind, talking all the time,

"Okay, right, maybe that was a little bit harsh"; it was obvious just from the Rouge's sudden change of expression that she'd been the last person in the room to expect that kind of a comeback, "but luckily I just might have something to even the score somewhat".

"Now that really would be something to see" Knuckles muttered out the corner of his mouth as, taking his opponent's stupefied nod as answer, the blue hedgehog quickly left the kitchen, leaving behind a trail of whispers and shrugging shoulders as everyone tried to guess what he had up his sleeve this time. He was gone only a few seconds, however, entering and offering something to the bat who, having thrown off her shock, regarded the object in his hand with something close to distaste,

"Breath mints?" Rouge looked up with a wry smile on her pursed lips, "you really think you can smarm your way out of that with a couple of extra strongs?"

"Maybe; just suck one and breathe through your nose – no, I mean it, it'll help in a big way", Sonic flashed his trademark grin as, half-disbelieving, the bat slowly took one of the pro-offered refreshments – as she did, he answered her unasked question, "learnt this by accident when Ames infected me with the fresher's flu – it was a choice between this and telling Mighty about it and that really was a one choice option".

"What would Mighty have…?"

"Hickory nut vinegar", Tails broke in forcefully, answering Shadow's question with the reflexive shudder that he now had to give whenever he thought about that foul witches brew, "that's what Mighty would have done; you ask her for a shot of that and you're a braver or madder Mobian than I am". Knuckles looked around with a half-pitying look,

"She got you with that?"

"Yeah, you too?"

"Nah, I was lucky; Wyn described it to me after she forced a spoonful down his neck – apparently Lara was getting concerned that the cold wasn't shifting quick enough and resorted to desperate measures. Is it really…?"

"No, it's worse", Tails shivered again, tongue cringing away from even the mere memory of what must have been its darkest hour, "much, much worse". Chuckling at seeing the foxboy quiver, Julie nodded at the mint in Rouge's hand and shrugged,

"In that case, what harm could it do?" Sparing Sonic the merest dirty glance and muttered oath, the bat slowly popped the sweet into her mouth and sucked vigorously; when, however, she took the breath Sonic had suggested, her eyes went wide and she spluttered as though shocked at her breathing. Hastily crunching the remainder of the treat, the bat licked her lips and exclaimed,

"Hey, my sinuses", she pinched the bridge of her nose with two fingers, apparently massaging them before coming to a diagnosis, "clear as a bell. How did that happen?"

"Menthol", Sonic said simply, speaking cockily as everyone turned to regard him astounded, "those mints are packed with menthol aren't they? Suck them and breathe the menthol vapours through your nose and hey presto, blockage gone. See", the hedgehog grinned at the bat as he tapped his temple before turning away, "not just good looks". _Nailed her, finally nailed the…_

"Too bad you spend most of your time sitting on them"; spinning around, face red from the sheer audacity of that comeback, Sonic gaped at the bat as Shadow had to look away, Cream and Amy already sniggering away merrily at the ex-spy's inflection. Knuckles, on the other hand, huffed and looked at his wife reprimandingly,

"Do you mind not sizing up other men when I'm stood a few feet away?"

"Ah, I treat men like I do jewels", Rouge answered with a sparkle in her eye, forcing the echidna to smile as he saw through her overacting, "look but don't touch".

"J,just as well", Amy managed to gasp as she somehow managed to look back into the pot she was stirring again, "I'd have to hammer your hands flat if I thought you were after him". The bat pouted playfully before giving a carefree shrug,

"Aww, maybe next lifetime hey lover-boy?" Sonic glowered but said nothing as the bat casually walked past and ruffled his head quills, the rest of the room shaking their heads at the wordplay that these two so often evoked from each other – fascinating to hear but at the same time unable to be anything but banter between friends.

XXX

It was only as they sat down, gossip for the moment put off as hunger resurfaced slightly, that Cream noticed an important omission from the table,

"Rosie", the rabbit called into the kitchen where her older sister had disappeared into, the scents displaced from within making mouths water in anticipation, "you forgot the knives and forks".

"No I didn't; trust me you won't need them", the faint reply came back through the door, followed a second later by the explanation of, "the main bit of the meal's the bowl in the centre of the table". After a second of sizing up the heftily sized platter, there was a second of expectation and, as Julie reached forwards and plucked one of the cocktail sticks up from the table, she made the comment the situation seemed to demand,

"Wow", the former Legionnaire twisted the skewered bread cube around, watching it flutter on the end of the short wooden stake, "student funds really as tight as Shadow was making out huh?"

"Now how did I know that one was coming?" Sonic rolled his eyes in her general direction as, holding open the kitchen door with one foot, the blue hedgehog, hands adorned with what looked like an extra thick pair of oven gloves, helped Amy carry the largest pot the two hedgehogs possessed over towards the table. Shadow and Knuckles stood up to make way for the pair as, with a great deal of care, they jointly deposited the bowl, complete with the wonderful scent it was generating from its interior, onto a heat proof mat in the centre of the table, arranging their creation so the pot was now encircled by a forest of breaded cocktail sticks. Slipping off one of the oven gloves, Amy wiped her quills back to their proper place and spoke to the assembled throng,

"Right, this is a new idea I learned in my first week; the department held sort of a like a getting-to-know-you-function and this was a side dish there. I loved it and I hope you will as well; I know you will" she joked reprimandingly as Sonic hovered hopefully just over the bowl rim, breathing in a deep, lusty lungful as his girlfriend lifted the lid free of the dish, releasing a scented cloud of divinely aromatic steam.

"Just for once I'm grateful", Rouge said as she looked around and up, licking her lips at the smell alone, "those mints really let me get a good whiff; thanks Smurf".

There was a very pregnant second's pause as Sonic's shoulder slumped a little, his still gloved hands flopping down onto the table top as his shoulders shook. After a short pause, he looked up at the bat, eyes crystallised into jade stones of mischief as he smiled ominously,

"Right, that's it", he suddenly lunged around the table, voice rising to a shout, "I'm pulling them off this time!"

"You and who's army?" Rouge shot back, jumping to her feet, only for something akin to a steel restraint to clamp down on her arm and pull downwards, arresting her descent into an out-and-out slugfest with the hedgehog at the same time Sonic was collared by his girlfriend and returned forcibly to his seat. Seeing the problem dealt with for now, Knuckles gave a long-suffering sigh and looked his wife dead in the eye,

"Behave yourself or I'll sit on you"; as there were a few dispersed giggles at this threat, least of all from Sonic himself; Shadow couldn't help getting in on the act,

"Ditto for you", he pointed at his former flatmate, "behave or we'll get Julie to sit on you". The named echidna span around and growled, bristling at the indirect insult and plotting dark and dangerous things to get even with her cheeky housemate. As she finally managed to plonk Sonic back in his seat, Amy drew herself up to her full height and took a deep breath,

"Right, that's enough of this; you two, up here now"; sharing a glance, the two trouble makers decided it was probably safer not to argue this one and, slowly, came to stand in front of the suddenly stern pink hedgehog, feeling for all the world like unruly schoolchildren standing in front of the class. Satisfied that all was well, Amy moved onto step two of her plan,

"Right, I'm not having this any more; you two have had your fun but that's enough. Rouge, you are not allowed to call Sonic Smurf, or any other embarrassing nicknames Mighty may have told you about – Sonic, you don't touch Rouge's ears, clear?"

"Yes Amy" they both mumbled together, though one of the two was silently smirking away merrily; _it takes the devil to find the right loophole…_;

"Good, shake and say sorry"; arguments, or even thoughts of arguments, lasted until the haft of the Piko Piko hammer slid into view – thickly, both older Mobians turned to face each other and, gradually, met hands and shook. As always, Sonic was fastest of the mark,

"Okay, fun's over; sorry batgirl".

"Me too"; _thanks for this one Tails_; "Maurice".

Sonic's face falling was a picture; he immediately span to his girlfriend and speared Rouge with the finger of injustice, only to hear the bat's mocking words in his ears,

"No good looking at her", everyone else still seated got ready for trouble as Rouge leered at the still disbelieving hedgehog, "I can't use embarrassing nicknames, but she never said anything about embarrassing real names did she", the bat rolled the next word around her mouth like a delicious sweet, "Maurice". Sonic's face crumpled and she celebrated her victory, only to suddenly realised as she turned around that his grip on her hand had tightened considerably,

"No", she saw the look of concentrated fire in his eyes, the deadly smile on his lips and suddenly felt a sudden fear that he must have seen something else as well, "she also never said I couldn't go for other sensitive areas".

"No, no way! Gerroff!" Caught tight by his grip Rouge leapt backwards, prancing to try and keep out of range as Sonic swooped in low, trying to get his arms around her knees and start the punishment he felt she so richly deserved; Julie stood up with the others and leant a hand to dive in and try and pry the troublesome pair apart, catching Shadow's eye as she did so – the black hedgehog rolled his eyes and tried to grip hold of Sonic's back spikes, speaking in a heavy tone of sarcasm,

"Great to be home". Speaking over Rouge's sudden laughter, evoked as at least one of Sonic's hands found a home, the former Legionnaire jerked her head towards where Amy was stood clutching her head quills, eyes screwed shut and teeth bared in a picture of fury,

"For you maybe, but I doubt she'd agree with that too much".

XXX

After finally dragging the two warring Mobians apart, all eyes turned in time to see Amy's hands slowly relax their grip at the same time a heavy, tension filled sigh steamed out of her lips, relieving her of her stress at the same time a short mantra was repeated,

"No; the proper counsellor never lets her temper get the better of her"; apparently reassured, the pink hedgehog shifted her attention towards where the guilty parties were watching both each other and herself with baited breath – they were doubtless far from reassured when, after a second of pursing up her lips and deciding the best course of action, she clapped her hands once and let out a sinister chuckle.

"Oh yes, just what we need here; right, you", she pointed at Rouge, the bat cringing as she knew she'd crossed the line too far and now the punishment was due, "get over there, face the wall and don't make a sound. You", she speared Sonic this time, "over there". After registering exactly where the hedgehog had indicated, Julie was the first to start sniggering,

"You're sending them to the naughty corner?"

"Too right I am after that little episode"; the shackles of disbelief sundered by this affirmations, last minute pleas were attempted to try and stave off monstrous embarrassment,

"But…"

"We'll be good…" Amy, however, was far too ticked off to be relenting now,

"No buts and too late; you act like children you'll be punished like children. Now go – one minute per year of your age; I'll be generous and make it eighteen" she added at the last minute, both in the interest of fairness and for the fact that she wasn't too sure how old Knuckle's wife actually was. All attempts at pleading broke on the sternness of her face and, all too aware of the snide looks boring into the backs of them, bat and hedgehog turned and very slowly, squirming in embarrassment every inch of the way, both made the trek over to their respective corners. When she was sure they were exactly where they were meant to be, Amy called out,

"Starting now", and then blew out a long breath of exhaustion, "right, sorry about the delay; shall we get started?"

XXX

"Please Amy", Knuckle spoke thickly through a mouthful of molten cheese covered bread; following the hedgehog showing them how to gently dip one of the cocktail sticks into the gently simmering liquid cheese, lift and wait for the soaked bread to solidify, they'd all been taking turns at dunking into the delicious fondue, "teach me all you know". As she raised an eyebrow, the echidna smiled and jerked his head towards where the drooping wings of his wife indicated her mortification,

"Oh that", Amy hid a smile as her eyes flicked to the clock; _about two more minutes left to go_; "well that's basically what counselling is; you've got to know what works for different people. For instance, I know that you Shadow", the black hedgehog looked around, suddenly wary as Amy went on and he saw Julie taking particular interest in her words, "you're a bit like Sonic, but I know your ego isn't the size of an average planet, so if you misbehaved like that pair did I wouldn't make you stand in the corner; I'd be more likely to, say, ban you from having coffee for a week or so".

"No coffee?" The black hedgehog said aghast, almost unable to conceive such a terrifying thought, "I'd sooner be in the naughty corner".

"Like Rosie said; whatever works", Cream piped up to support the older hedgehog's comment just before Tails pointed at the clock and, alerted by his keen eyes, Amy gave him the nod. Trying not to grin too much, the fox looked over the back of his seat and called over,

"Right, time's up you two. Don't worry, we saved you something". Strangely, there was no snappy comeback from either of the two former troublemakers; both simply turned around and shuffled back to their seats, hardly daring to look up and certainly unable to meet the eyes of any of their friends. Both sat down and almost mechanically reached for the nearest nibbles, confidence reduced to ruins as everyone else tried hard not to gloat too much. Julie watched on, amused for a moment before, with a sharp pang of pain in her heart, she saw Knuckles reach over and sympathetically put his hand on Rouge's shoulder, helping to remove some of the shame from her soul.

Bitter memories swept over Julie for a second, but she wrestled them down; _I've had the best day I've had in ages – I'm not going to let something as stupid as jealousy ruin it now_. When she brought her head up, having lowered her hand to fake a coughing fit, disguising her internal struggle as best she could in the circumstances, she realised with relief that no-one had really looked in her direction; their attention had been brought up by Sonic leaning over the table and picking up a cocktail stick. Flicking the cube of bread from the end of it, the hedgehog sighed and passed it to the side of him.

"Umm", perplexed by this gesture, Rouge looked down at the sharpened piece of wood, then at the Mobian who had offered it to her, "what's this supposed to be?" Sonic regarded her with a quirky smile,

"In a previous existence it might have been an olive branch"; with a roll of her eyes, Rouge gently accepted the gift and broke it in two quietly, handing half back and signalling a temporary ceasefire in their eternal quip war.

XXX

As the flimsy wooden stick broke, so did the tension around the room; there was a generally more relaxed atmosphere as the calm reasserted itself and, as she reached over for one of the last rolls remaining, Amy heard her name being mentioned by Knuckles, laughing as he called over,

"Boy Ames", he pointed to where Rouge sat still slightly pink in the face, "I tell you what, you're going to make one heck of a counsellor when your three years are up". As the younger Mobians' face glowed with pride and she saw Sonic writhe a little out the corner of her eye, Julie felt somewhat inclined to make a second relevant point along this line of thought,

"And after that", the former Legionnaire spoke with a lightness in her tone that Shadow paid close attention to; _not heard her this cheerful for ages – that's gotta mean this whole thing's a hit!_ – "when all the training's over and you decide to settle down, you're going to make an even better mother".

A slight hush descended as Amy's cheeks went ever so slightly pinker, though she didn't drop her eyes, accepting the compliment as just that; a compliment. Before the pause could lengthen too much, Sonic leant back in his seat and, not looking away from his girlfriend's face, answered with a slight laugh,

"Now believe it or not, we've actually done some talking about this; the whole commitment, marriage, the whole nine yards job – yeah, I know, shock of the century, me actually thinking like that but there it is. Anyway, after a bit of a heads-together sort of affair, we decided that the situation we're in just now is fine as it is; basically, we're not doing anything else, not tying the knot or anything like that, at least until Ames has her qualification and we've started saving up to get a foot on the property ladder. If we rush in we might blow it and that's the last thing either of us want".

"Now there's a change", Tails chipped in, smiling as he regarded first Amy, then his older brother and shaking his head, "you thinking with your brain rather than your feet".

"Come on, I've spent my whole life on the edge; this is the one thing I'm going to slow down and really take my time over", seriousness percolated through Sonic's eyes and, leaning forwards, voice softening as all the false ego and bravado sloughed away, leaving behind only genuine truth, he finished, "this is the one thing I really want to get right".

No-one, not even someone who'd had more than her fair share of reasons to be cynical about life and love, could deny that Sonic meant every word he said; suddenly the heat in the kitchen seemed to have increased slightly, but not in an uncomfortable way; some strange, almost heatless fire had been stoked up that warmed them all from in the inside, making them more relaxed an able to forget their own concerns. No-one really watched the clock to see how long it lasted; it only ended when Amy herself smiled and shot a wink at Rouge, past twenty minutes forgotten,

"Yeah, so it'll be a few years before we follow in your size twelves, and anyway, I should hope I'll be a great mother", Julie chuckled as Amy jerked a thumb towards a still shamefaced Sonic, "I'm already looking after the world's biggest kid".

"Ah come on Rosie", Cream sought to spare the blue hedgehog's blushes a little, "he's not that bad".

"I should hope not, after that little episode", Knuckles answered with a chuckle, deflecting the hedgehog's black look with a raised glove, "but when he decides to really get going, well, let's just say there aren't enough corners in the world".

XXX

_The food was divine and the drinks flowed freely_; Sonic's memories of the feast they'd all just shared was soured slightly as he looked down and tested the water with a tentative pinkie; _now all we gotta do is clear up after it_. Sighing as he realised if he put it off now it'd only take longer once the food had dried off, he sank both hands into the soapy water and, feeling a glass under the surface, scrubbed at it with the cloth he had located in the bowl itself. After a second he lifted it out of the water and, blowing away a few loose suds, decided it would do; there was a musical clink as he placed it on the draining board. It was only when he heard another clink of glass being scraped against metal that he realised he wasn't alone in his endeavours; he span around to see who was there, only to suddenly shake his head and propose a new theory,

"Must be an echidna thing", at Julie's raised eyebrow, the hedgehog explained, "Knuckles is just the same; glow in the dark red fur but somehow you just never see him until he's virtually looking over your shoulder. Hey, no need for that", he pointed at the dishcloth Julie was holding, "you're the guest, you don't have to…"

"Quite right; I don't have to but I am", Julie headed him off with an explanation, disguising her deeper goals with the smokescreen of being a good Samaritan, "anyway, I need to keel the karma at an even keel; I had a great meal, now I have to clear up after it – the whole good/bad she-bang sorted again". Sonic groaned, his hands splashing down into the sink as he implored his new helper,

"Please no more religion or personal beliefs; some of the new bunch Amy knows at Uni now – nice enough people but", his expression told the story;

"Not all the buttons in the right holes?" Julie suggested as a polite expression, Sonic nodded vigorously,

"And the rest".

"Tell me about it; knew a few back then, know a few in the office now", absently-mindedly drying a few of the implements Sonic passed her, Julie allowed him a few seconds to digest what her last comment had meant before moving onto the crux of the issue, "and, of course, I know Shadow, who's out there in a league of his own".

"Not quite, he's got me for company", Sonic chuckled; _right, I think I see where you're going with this_; "oh, and is it true you two only have one bed in the apartment?"

"Yeah", Julie answered without thinking; when she realised how that sounded she quickly rounded on the hedgehog, trying hard not to blush at his sudden smirk, "not like that you dirty-minded swine; geez you're as bad as he is sometimes".

"I know, just kidding; Shads filled us in – one week in bed one on the couch, that about right?" Sonic placated her; to his surprise she seemed to shake off most of her discomfort easily, asking a question in a tone that matched her suddenly, strangely troubled face,

"Sonic, you were his house-mate once right?"

"Yeah, he bunked down here before moving quite literally up in the world. Why?"

"Well, it's just", she tailed off for a second, recalling what she had read before and still, even now, not able to believe the half of it, "he, after about a month of me being in that place, he let me read this book he's got; I didn't realise he had amnesia until he told me about it. Maybe it's jut me but", looking out the corner of his eye, Sonic saw the echidna sag a little but held his tongue – as far as he was concerned she had to ask the question, he couldn't do it for her, "I can't believe most of it".

With a sigh, releasing the utensils he still held under now-lukewarm water, Sonic stood up and quickly dried his hands, speaking quietly as she was as so not to alert the rest of the gang, who were at the moment in a heated debate about which movie to try and rent; _anything as long as it's not Bridget Jones again – the nightmares of those leopard-skin pants…_

"He said you helped write that book Sonic", seeing his attention shifting from the mundane task he'd stated, Julie did likewise, giving the blue hedgehog her full and undivided attention, "and you lived with him for near enough two years, so you'd know if anyone would; all that stuff, everything he did; it's all true, isn't it?"

"Yeah, every single word of it"; his answer was simplistic, but said with such conviction and sincerity that she could not believe otherwise, "Shadow's not had the easiest of lives Jules; for a start he wasn't, or at least we don't think he was technically born as such; Gerald Robotnik, Eggman's distant relation, created him for some reason none of us know, not even Shadow any more after Metal scrambled the few brains he had".

"Hey", a single raised finger cut him off, Julie regarding him with a stern look tempered with a slight smile, "no insulting Shadow's manners, wits or lack thereof; that's one of the few pleasure sources I've got and I need all the fun I can get". Matching her expression, Sonic stood to attention and threw a corny salute,

"So the baton had been passed on, and just between you and me if what he was saying earlier was anything to go by it's found a worthy successor", "Julie smirked but said nothing, listening intently as Sonic sobered up and continued his story, "but aside from that, all we really know for definite about his time on the ARK, before any of us knew him, was that he had a close relationship with Maria; you must have read that right?"

"Yeah, but Shadow says he doesn't recognise the name". Sonic's eyes darkened and he lowered his head sadly at this news,

"Still no luck there then; damn, that's the big one – if he remembers that, Maria before she died, that'll be the biggest step he can take; forget everything that happened after that, the whole Metal Overlord and that sort of thing, even then he wasn't a hundred percent sure who he was, he'd spent the last God-knows how long in the deep freeze prior to that so his recollection was hazy at the best of times. He just needs that one break, that's all it'll take to undo all the damage they did". Hearing these words, and the tone they were spoken in as well, Julie was able to cement a conclusion she'd been suspicious of from the first second of seeing Sonic and Shadow together,

"You really do care for him don't you?" Sonic gave a small snort and pointed towards the lounge of his apartment, where the debate about films still waxed strongly,

"Julie, in there is nearly everyone in the world I care about, more or less", he said solemnly, never moving his eyes as he did so, "there's not a Mobian in there I wouldn't put my life on the line for, and who I know wouldn't put their neck on the block for me in turn. We've done it all Jules; we've quite literally stood up and saved the world together; none of us, not even Knuckles with his strength, me with my speed or Amy with her attitude, could have done it on our own. We all need each other; that's why we're all here now – it's just good to have people you know you can hang with, compete with…"

"Annoy mercilessly?" Julie broke in, gesturing insinuatingly towards one of the corners of the room they were stood in; Sonic grinned awkwardly for a moment before regaining his composure,

"Well, up to a point; but this is it Jules", he gave a slight laugh and shrugged, "Shads moved out because he felt it was time to go on, he needed to try and make it on his own, but he's never gone. I think he told you something like this; he knows if he's had a bad day, he can give any one of us a call and spit out some steam just like we would him".

"Yeah", the mnemonic push sent Julie back in time a little way; once more she was back on Angel Island, rubbing her sore eyes with a towel and listening to Shadow saying she shouldn't try to deny it was a hard job to adapt, that he wasn't expecting her to suddenly turn into an Echidnopolis natural at the drop of a hat and she shouldn't try and force herself to either, "yeah, he said you did the same thing; now I get why".

"Good", Sonic finally returned to the washing having made his point, running in a little more hot water to aid his task here, "Shadow's been through the mill, but he's become stronger because of it – not wanting to pry, but I reckon that's why you two get on so well; I don't even want to imagine how tough it must have been abandoning everything for one chance at freedom – I don't think I'd have had the guts to try it myself".

"The Legion wasn't the best of places anyway", Julie answered half-convincingly, turning the hedgehog's words over in her mind; _are we really that alike? We've both had troubles before, is that why we shacked up together – shoulder to shoulder against the world?_ Her thoughts, however, were broken by a voice that made her jump, not just because it was unexpected, but also because it was so familiar to her,

"Oh, that's were you've been; trust me, this'll help", Shadow threw something green and small into the sink; after a second Sonic's face brightened,

"Oh, I was looking for that; get everything off the table alright?"

"Yah, just had a couple of hardened streaks of cheese, that was about the worst of it; the fondue was a nice idea, but I'm not sure if I'd want it all too often – bit of a special occasion sort of thing rather than an everyday meal".

"I agree; Amy said she wasn't going to try it until we had the date set; too fattening she said".

"And I'd agree" Julie backed the pink hedgehog up, rubbing her satisfyingly full stomach as she dared Shadow with her eyes, "I just got this figure, I don't want to lose it to too much fancy food". The black hedgehog raised his eyebrows, accepting the challenge and turning to Sonic with a sly smile,

"Figure; the only figure she's ever come close to is eight", he waited until she was just about to strike before adding, "stone". Choked off by his sudden change of direction, from derision to compliment, Julie stuttered, unable to land anything like a decent comeback as Sonic snickered; _naughty corner – if only Amy were here now…_

"Anyway, they're about ready to go Julie; go get settled, I need a word with Sonic"; as he reached out a hand for the dishcloth, the echidna felt herself smile slightly and threw it towards him, knocking past him as he made to move into the space she had previously occupied; to her surprise and amazement, she had to snatch her hand up suddenly as a strange desire to slap the hedgehog's tail reared up out of nowhere – hastily leaving the room before anyone could notice her discomfort, the former Legionnaire scooted away and excused herself to head for the bathroom, needing to clear her head. _Must have been because we'd been talking about him a lot_; she rationalised hurriedly as she took a deep breath and leant on the wall, supporting herself carefully as she thought it through; _we're in a house with at least two committed couples – the vibes from them are getting to me, that's all it is_. However, even as she re-emerged, confident and ready to take on the world, there was a part of her, small and almost drowned out by the majority of her consciousness, that held that thought firmly in her mind and began to take the time to dissect the question further.

XXX

It had taken some doing, but eventually a film had been chosen that they could all agree on; for a second it had looked like Cream would pull of a coup with a promise that she wasn't going to say Bridget Jones if she made the final decision – only at the final minute had Sonic pulled the catalogue away from her, realising her finger was inching towards the dreaded figure of Bridget Jones 2. _She's getting far too sneaky these days_; the hedgehog thought as he flicked his eyes towards where the rabbit was curled up at the foot of one of the chairs, Knuckles' boots suspended just above her head as the echidna sat cross-legged in his seat, the only way he said he could ever get comfortable; _maybe he was right – she has taken after batgirl_. The thought of Cream dressing up in jumpsuits with immaculate make-up made the hedgehog snigger for a minute before giving his attention back to the film, drinking in the storyline that seemed to have more twists and turns in it than the average hosepipe, even if the main character seemed to lack anything resembling a personality.

Right now, however, none of what had gone before mattered; it was a case of every man for himself. His resources were fairly limited having just taken a couple of light losses, but at least he was in a better boat than Tails and Amy, who'd been forced into a sort of rogue alliance to pool their few dwindling chits and stay afloat. Sonic took a swift glance around the table, trying to size up emotions and figure out who was going better than he was; _a couple of jacks and a pair of aces – if I drop one and hope, there's not many left in the deck but two pair's better than diddly_.

"Sonic, er, how many?" Looking up, the hedgehog smiled at Julie's look of concentration; due to this being her first time at the card table, the rest of the players had decided on a quick house rule; one of the pennies she had counted as two pence for the rest of them – theoretically she should be able to keep playing for twice as long as she had twice the starting capital. Well, in theory at least; she'd had a bit of the rub of the green, but now her fortune seemed on the wan as she'd lost a little over the past few previous hands, Rouge having done her famous trick of reasserting her lead with a big hand after a losing streak, suckering Tails, Amy and to a lesser extent Julie as well into parting with some of their coins. Taking a second, running his tongue along his teeth in an attempt to look like he was in serious thought, the hedgehog slowly answered,

"Hmm, just take one, play it safe"; he slid his card over, watching with a thin veneer of amusement as the echidna had to drag the card to the table edge to pick it up properly, looking down in embarrassment as she flicked him one back from the top of the deck. Scooping it up, reflexes honed over innumerable meetings like this prevented him from giving any indication of his find; _two pair it is then – no more than three coins_;

"Right, dealing's done", Julie announced as she placed the deck to the side of her, "place your bets; Cream, you first?"

"Yep, one on the dealer's right starts" the rabbit approved her learning of the rules as she pushed a single bronze coin forwards,

"One lucky penny going up; any takers?" She looked to her right; Tails flicked his eyes to his side, nodded as Amy shook her head and laid their collective hand of cards on the table,

"Nah, we fold"; the rabbit snickered,

"Getting too hot Rosie?" The hedgehog snorted disdainfully even if she was aware of Rouge's eyes on her back, the bat smiling as she pushed a pair of coins forwards,

"Okay Cream, I'll match and then raise one"; _if she's raising chances are it's a good hand_; forewarned by that admission, Sonic also folded, not risking anything on a hand as flimsy as his. It looked like a round of bad hands as Shadow declined to play any further part also; it looked like it was going to be a two-horse race until Knuckles tapped a pair forwards and grinned darkly.

"I'm in; what about you Jules?"

"No, better not risk it". As she lay her cards down, the guardian smiled,

"Right then, dealer's out so ladies first; Cream – you're no lady" he answered as Rouge pouted, seemingly put out by his gesture towards the younger rabbit – she merely fluttered her eyelashes and gave a toxic smile in answer. Snickering as she presented her hand, the rabbit put her cards down in a pair of neat, ordered lines,

"Fives and threes, full house". Rouge gave a whistle, dropping her wrist to expose her hand and shaking her head,

"Beats me, just three kings? Knucks, can you…?"

"Nope, run of spades, nine high; yours flop"; Cream's eyes sparkled with joy as she reached out and pulled her winnings towards her, increasing her stack of coins by about a quarter again as Tails nudged Amy in the ribs,

"We could have had that; ours was eights and tens"; the hedgehog answered as she passed their redundant hand to her younger sister, the rabbit starting to shuffle the cards together as she accepted hands from the other players,

"I wasn't sure and anyway, we can't risk anything – anything less than a running flush is a no-go".

"Running flush", Julie repeated, picking up her first card as it skidded over the table towards her, "does that beat four of a kind?"

"No; I don't think anything beats four of a kind except a higher four" Shadow filled her in, picking up his third and regarding it by rolling his eyes down, "well, at least if there is it's never been seen on this table".

"Ah, not true", Tails held up a finger, beaming proudly as he recalled that moment with utter contentment, "I've had a royal flush before now; ten to ace of diamonds, bankrupted Sonic in the third game; he thought his full house of aces was unbeatable".

"Rotten fox" the blue hedgehog grumbled under his breath before taking his last card and scrutinising the possibilities; _right this is more like it – in with a shot…_

XXX

It was just as two cards wafted over the table towards Amy that there was a heavy knock at the door; all present saw the partners who lived in the apartment share a nonplussed look before Sonic stood up and headed for the front door slowly, apparently racking his brains to figure out who was calling at this time.

"No idea who that could be", Amy whispered as the door opened a fraction of a second after a second knock; there was a brief pause before Sonic's voice, apparently horror-struck and full of recrimination, echoed down the passageway,

"Oh no – Vanilla I am so sorry", Cream clapped her hands over her mouth as her eyes flew to the clock and the glaring hands of time seared into her vision; _I should have been home an hour ago!_; "we were just, never realised it was so late".

"I know, I know"; at her confused expression and questioning look, Rouge leant over and whispered in Julie's ear,

"Vanilla, Cream's mum – she's all right".

"She'll need to be" the echidna murmured back before with a slam, the front door was shut and, with Sonic in the background looking abashed, the visitor presented herself with a thinly amused expression, her eyes lingering for a second on where Cream sat, one side of her boiling face covered by her dangling ear as she studiously avoided her mother's gaze. With a slight chuckle, the older rabbit shook her head,

"Time flies when you're having fun; ah, you must be Julie-Su", at her name the ex-Legionnaire stood and shook the paw the rabbit offered, allowing her to finish her greeting, "I'm Vanilla Rabbit; you know my daughter Cream?"

"Not as well as I'd like to", Julie riposted with a smile, seeing the compliment register in the older Mobian's face, "someone with manners makes a change from the rest of this rabble".

"I doubt they'd disagree too much", the rabbit agreed with her before by suddenly turning to address the table at large, "but anyway, finish the hand but after that I'm afraid we really must get going; got a lot of housework needs doing tomorrow".

"Don't remind me", Cream groaned, shaking her head at the thought of giving the attic its yearly blitz; that was a job that came with a bath afterwards guaranteed – she'd need one just to get the shards of fibreglass from the loft insulation out of her fur, "would you mind if we made this last hand last a little – sort of, you know, twenty or thirty years?"

"You get points for trying flopster", Knuckles conceded with a smile as he dealt swiftly around the table, eventually ending by swapping three of his own hand and retaking his seat,

"Right then, dealing's done; let's go around; Julie"; _here we go then_; luckily, her poker face didn't wobble as, to a general gasp of astonishment, the echidna pushed forwards her entire stack of coins, smiling awkwardly as she drew back,

"Well, if it's the last game, let's make it go with a bang right?" For a second no-one answered until Cream shrugged and gave a thumbs-up, adding her coins to the growing pile in the centre,

"Why not – they're only pennies. Come on everyone, put in what you've got and cross your fingers". With a resigned air of mingled hope and expectation, all assembled added their own coin collections, great and small, to the steadily growing pile in the centre of the table. When all was added and no more remained, Knuckles drew in a deep, deep breath and twisted to his right,

"Okay, this is it then; Julie, what have you got?" The other echidna, fingering her cards for a moment, apparently sorting out the order they were in, flicked her tongue across her lips before winking at the table at large,

"Not quite a royal, but I guess it's the next best thing"; with that, she placed her hand on the table, drawing her arms back in a sweeping motion, much like an enchanter performing a spell that would have hypnotised an audience. And judging by the reactions from the other players, as they all craned their necks and goggled their eyes at the combination of cards she had, the effect was pretty similar.

"Running flush, king high"; Cream whistled through her teeth as she took in the hand and revealed her own dismissively, "all I got was two measly pair. Can anyone beat that?" There was a collective shaking of heads and grunts of denial, culminating in a clap from Sonic that sealed the deal,

"All right Jules; beginners luck shines through after all".

"I guess, but anyway", the former Legionnaire tapped the Mobian by the side of her on the shoulder as Vanilla looked on meaningfully, "this little lady's got somewhere to be; as do we if we want to beat the curfew Shadow". Glancing up at the clock, the black hedgehog nodded in agreement, standing as he inquired,

"Okay if I get another drink of water before I have to split?"

"Sure, go for it", Amy answered quickly as she scooped up the coins in the centre of the table back into the little money pot they'd originated from, "after that, we'd better start thinking about sleeping arrangements; we've got three rooms as you know, you two…?"

"That'll be fine" Knuckles nodded sheepishly, trying not to meet anyone's eye as his slightly inherent shyness came back to the fore; seeing it, Julie felt a familiar pang but, to her relief and gradual acceptance, acknowledged it as being much more reduced than before;_ must have been something about that talk with Sonic_; the echidna chuckled a little; _he's a bit smarter than Shadow was letting on_. Speak of the devil; she could virtually see the quip brewing in the blue hedgehog's face before something else came blaring out from the kitchen to completely shatter the peace.

Everyone present slapped their hands over their ears as a frightfully loud wailing burst forth out of the kitchen; Julie vaguely remembered the time one of her old Dark Legion tutors, the one with augmented ears, had dragged his fingers down the chalk board he'd been working on to get the attention of his students, and thought she could draw a parallel between the two noises. Someone was shouting, trying to make themselves heard, but as someone knocked into her, Julie saw one of the group was taking more direct action; Vanilla shimmied to the side as Amy, gritting her teeth against the abominable racket, drove into the kitchen, seeking the source of the noise. Blocking out as much of the sound as she could with her palms, Julie joined the crowd of others as they crowded around to see where she'd disappeared to. Unfortunately she arrived too late to get a good view; there was a vague blur as Amy swept down to seize something off the floor in the kitchen near where Shadow was backed up against the sink then, as suddenly as it had sprung up, the dreadful din ceased completely, the resulting silence stark in the sudden absence of noise. Cautiously, almost as if fearing a second attack from the wailing banshee, all present lowered their hands from their ears,

"Man, that could have put me in a coma", Rouge observed, having just been quick enough to avoid the worst of it smashing into her enhanced hearing but still suffering nonetheless, "Shads, what did you do?"

"I, I", the black hedgehog stuttered, clearly unnerved by what he'd set off, "I just knocked something as I turned the tap on, went to pick it up and it started screaming", he said, pointing a quavering finger at the slim, fluorescent yellow tube Amy now held, "what is it anyway?"

"An attack alarm", the pink hedgehog explained, holding the screaming device away from her as she did so, "they hand them out to all female students on like the first day; if you get mugged or anything you just hit that button on the top and get people to know where you are – I never carry it because I'm afraid it'll go off in a lecture or something. Here", she offered it forwards with a wry smile, "you can have it". Gingerly, as though being handed a live atomic weapon, Shadow accepted the gift, cradling it in his hands as though it were a new-born baby,

"Oh good, just what I always wanted", he smiled as he looked up and a certain member of the audience caught his eye, "something that makes more noise than my housemate". Julie snarled a touch as he looked around before glancing back at her,

"Here, you carry this while we get where we need to be; curfew ends in half an hour. Sorry guys, gotta get going".

"As have we" Vanilla added, giving her daughter a meaningful look as she said it, insinuating outside where her car was parked; seeing the general mood of the atmosphere changing, Tails owned up next,

"yeah, looks like it's about that time; Amy, the food was wonderful and the film was okay – next time though, we go for Back to the Future".

"Tails, that is ancient", Rouge chuckled, seemingly fascinated by the fox's obsession with old movies of that calibre; last time he'd had the choice, they'd all been treated to a really old version of The Time Machine, maybe even the original, she wasn't quite sure.

"The old ones are the best" the foxboy countered before giving a smirk, "you of all people should know that; ahh, kidding, kidding, kidding".

"I'd like to think you were", Vanilla said sternly as she quite literally tugged the fox's ear, "hard to be sure these days though". Not really having a way out of this situation, Tails had to resort to old-fashioned grovelling,

"Believe me, that was a bona fide joke, just not a very good one"; _thank the Lord_; relief seeped through him as the elder rabbit dropped the hold she had on his vulnerable appendage, nodding in deference to Rouge as he did so. Luckily for him, she seemed to have considered Vanilla's approach suitable chastisement and let him wriggle free of the hook he'd impaled himself upon; rubbing the side of his face, the fox glanced up and point to the side of him,

"I blame it on the genes; I've got Sonic's penchant for weak jokes and cheap laughs". The named hedgehog chortled even as he registered the warmth in his younger brother's comment,

"Tails, that hole's just getting deeper; the rate you're going I'll be turning undertaker a few seconds from now".

"Just make sure I get a good service", Tails retorted with a wink before heading for the door, "well Amy, that was a proper hit; great idea for a party". Though it was tempting, Amy knew in her golden heart that she couldn't take all the credit from this and said as much, just for good measure pointing out the Mobian responsible,

"Hey, don't look at me; it was his idea".

_Oh dear_; Shadow saw who her finger was indicating and, as he had expected and feared, the flare of interest that supernovaed in Julie's eyes. For his part, Knuckles merely shrugged and held up an awkward hand; _right, damage limitation_; before anything much else could happen, Shadow surged forwards and made his move,

"Okay, we're really off now; Julie, we'll have to run it okay?" Before she could say anything other than an undecided grunt, Shadow had hustled her towards the door and, the second it was opened and he'd shouted a few hasty goodbyes, he scooped her off her feet and was gone in a blaze of jet skate fire.

XXX

Even before he'd set her down she was out of his arms; spinning to face him and eyes like quartz, Julie looked hard at her flatmate as though almost daring him to drop his eyes,

"Knuckles", she said once, the word slow and measured, "this was all Knuckles' idea – he arranged this whole thing? Why did he want to see me? Am I still some kind…?"

"No", Shadow cut her off partly in exasperation and partly in defence of his friend, gesturing for her to keep the noise down as he explained, "we all did; Knucks, me, Amy, the lot of us – look, you're not stupid; I know you'd find out who Knuckles was married to eventually and that it might come as a shock".

"And it did" Julie broke in before falling silent, letting Shadow pick up his story again,

"Right, so that was one problem; I wasn't going to cut Knuckles and Rouge out of my life just in case they upset you – maybe that's me being selfish but there it is, that's my decision. But apart from that, you had to meet Amy just because, well, she's Amy, not the shatterer of the Bloodstone, Dimitri's doom or whatever else the Legion labelled her as. This was a way to get us all together, on mostly neutral ground, not Angel Island or anywhere like that, and just break down the barriers – maybe it wasn't the best idea ever but it was all we could come up with. Anyway, it's too late now; you've been there, met them all – what did you think?"

There was a long, deep pause at this question; though outwardly he remained as collected as ever, Shadow secretly had every finger and toe crossed as he saw Julie tap her chin with a finger, totting it all up in her head. The tension mounted, rearing up to a crescendo as she suddenly paused fractionally before raising her head to look him square in the face,

"You said you had a part in that whole plan?" Trying to gauge where she was going and tentatively accepting it was a good sign, Shadow nodded,

"Yeah?" She kept her poker face until the last minute, keeping her housemate on tenterhooks right up until the inevitable smile peeped through her lips,

"Must have been a bit part for a plan that good – it went well".

"Hey", the black hedgehog said indignantly as he reached into his pocket for the key the landlady had provided for them, "I have my moments".

"Yeah", Julie agreed before adding cruelly, "senior ones".

"Says you Ms Shadow-could-you-run-me-my-phone-in-your-lunch-break; what would you have done if I'd have said no?"

"Beaten you to a pulp when I'd got home; I needed to reschedule that check-up because they switched the overtime rota. Anyway", the echidna stood to the side as Shadow moved forwards, seeking to let them both in, "come on, it's cold and I want to crash for the night".

"And most of tomorrow morning I imagine; I hope you don't snore"; the hedgehog ducked the clip she aimed at his ears and unlocked the guesthouse door with his key, hiding his smile as he had his back to her; _the air's clearer now_; silently he celebrated Knuckles being right and making an accurate prediction; _a little time alone and it's all better again – maybe the Chaotix will do the same – after all, they've got their own place as well she can visit_. Cheered immensely by the thought, Shadow led Julie in and silently, two Mobians revelled as the coldness that had existed between them was banished to a distant memory, burned away by the warmth of both new and renewed friendships.

XXX

_Harsh_; Julie thought to herself as she surveyed the room she now very temporarily owned as her own, the slam of the door still reverberating from her room mate's exit; _but fair_. With a light giggle, the echidna quickly decided to use to the time to get ready to hit the sack; with Shadow occupied in the quest to find a late-night chemist and replace his 'forgotten' toothbrush, she could get changed with the minimum of fuss. Still, even after knowing the black hedgehog for nearly a third of a year, his speed managed to catch out; as her nightgown fluttered down over her back, there was a second knock at the door. She span around, pulling the garment down hastily even as a voice made it clear the rush wasn't as great as she'd feared,

"You decent in there?" She paused for a few seconds, checking herself down before nodding and giving the all-clear,

"Sure, come on in"; with a draft of cold air and a click as the door was pulled to, Shadow re-emerged into their shared room, moving over to the bed he'd claimed as his own and falling to his knees to gather the rest of his toiletries before nipping into the small ensuite bathroom. With a yawn and a stretch, Julie took stock of the time by glancing on her watch and decided not to try and read anything; _just use the bathroom after him and get down to some serious napping_. With that thought in her mind, the echidna reached down to a pouch in her own small bag and withdrew a small bottle of perfume and her own toothbrush – she reckoned she'd need a shower in the morning just to waken her up in time for the flight home. Just as she straightened, the bathroom door opened and she walked forwards, smirking as she saw Shadow out the corner of her eye,

"Senior moment"; she ducked inside quickly, chuckling as she avoided any potential repercussions with a quick jerk on the door handle.

XXX

"Now that's a cheap trick"; _still works though_; Shadow thought viciously as he heard Julie blundering around in the pitch black, unable to see anything as he'd switched off the light in the shared bedroom. He was still celebrating when, with a thump, something large and bulky thudded into the side of his mattress,

"No", he called hastily, suddenly afraid as horrid visions of a heavy weight descending to shatter his kneecaps flitted through his mind, "this one's mine; to your left and forwards".

"I know that" he heard the echidna grumble back irritably; he waited until she was too far gone to get him before riposting,

"Just checking; you sitting down from that height could have been fatal".

"Not as fatal as me ripping your tongue out tomorrow morning; ah, there we are", pricking his ears, the hedgehog heard materials being chafed together, then the sound of a body slipping underneath a thick, warm blanket, a final slap as her robotically assisted arms collapsed onto the top of the hotel's bed.

"Hmm, bit smaller than I'm used to, not too bad though – what do you think?" Shadow gave a short bark of laughter,

"Beats the settee any day of the week".

"Now that I do agree with", the echidna answered from somewhere in front of where he was now staring into the darkness, "we've got to do something about that – even something like a camp-bed would be better than that piece of junk".

"Hey, I resent that", the hedgehog answered indignantly, "I don't mind that bit of kit; I think it's alright".

"That's because you've got low standards"; _bulls-eye_; Shadow saw a golden shot loom up right up in front of him and took a snap shot he couldn't miss at it,

"I've got you as a flatmate haven't I?"

"Exactly"; _huh?_; "I'll drag you up to my level kicking and screaming if it kills me"; _damn, should have worded that better_; Shadow could do nothing but silently curse as the golden opportunity slipped away, frittered by a poor wording – all he could do was try to salvage something,

"I suppose I should be flattered by that", he paused for a split-second but, when it became apparent there wasn't going to be a reply, he pressed on, "not like you to expend unnecessary energy on anything".

"Likewise; I'm amazed you came up with even a bit part in this visit", Shadow saw the path of her blow and tried to think of a counter even as she finished, "thinking out the box isn't exactly your forte".

"Unlike you, where thinking full stop's usually a problem".

There was a long pause at this, tension swirling in the air as Shadow strained his ears, waiting for the comeback and trying to think several moves ahead, only to hear a virtually silent sigh and the next words come out of the darkness in a much softer tone than before,

"Okay, you got me; I'm too tired to try and argue any more. Let's just get some kip; must be the flying that got me as bad as this".

"Not used to it are you; don't worry, it's like running with Sonic or me, just takes practise". He heard Julie chuckle before a slight rustling noise was heard; at a guess, he'd have said she'd propped herself up on her elbow before replying,

"And how am I going to practise that, unless Tails is running two for one specials as he's training Cream?"

"I doubt it; I'm fairly certain those are one-to-one sessions only"; as he'd expected, Julie tried to hold in her laughter to the inflection but just couldn't choke it off completely,

"You're rotten to him you are", she complained as soon as she stopped sniggering, "you and the rest, making fun of him like that; as far as I can tell he's being business-savvy".

"He is, but you should have seen how he teased Sonic, we all teased Sonic, when it was obvious he had the hots for Ames and wouldn't admit it".

"I dread to think", the echidna answered before settling back down in her bed, shuffling around to get a little more comfortable as Shadow wondered if there was anything else he aught to say.

There was a slight pause as each Mobian, it seemed, tried to weigh up the pros and cons of speaking again verses sleeping; Shadow licked his lips several times but was unable to breach the peace completely; in fact he was so tense and willing himself to speak that he nearly shouted in alarm at Julie's voice,

"That Rouge", the black hedgehog got his heart rate under something like control in time to catch the last of her statement, "she's a bit of a card-sharp isn't she?"

"Comes with the territory I guess", Shadow shrugged, voice non-committal as he shared his idea around, "she was supposed to mingle with high society as a spy; she must have bankrupted a few casinos in her time. Anyway you", Julie was grateful for the concealing darkness as she heard the hedgehog's voice lighten, "you weren't half bad yourself; trying to tell anything from you was like squeezing blood from a stone, and you said that was your first time? Boy"; _here we go_; "get you trained up and you'll be unbeatable; how'd you keep your face so level?"

"Ah", the echidna held up a finger even if she knew Shadow couldn't see it, "that was because I knew something you all didn't".

"That being"; she smiled at the humour in the hedgehog's words and braced for the explosion,

"I knew I was lying when I said it was my first time at poker".

It was as satisfying as she could have hoped for; there was a loud but muffled thump as Shadow sat bolt upright, glaring into the darkness and raising his voice to a low shout,

"What!"

"Oh come on; I was in the Dark Legion", Julie explained before he could work up too much steam, though she couldn't dispel all the mirth from her voice as she went on, "what did you think we did when we had some R and R, free time in the barracks; we made our own entertainment. I've been training at poker since before I can remember, mum brought me a pack of cards for my seventh birthday, showed me how to read people properly, and the first lesson was always take any advantage you're offered".

"That is low Julie", she gauged his reaction with exquisite care; _he's not really angry, more a bit annoyed that…_; "none of us are anything like professional players and you pull something like that?"

"Aww, I was going easy on you; I was folding when I knew I could have rinsed the lot of you out and never betted much; believe me I wanted the game to go on, it was a lot of fun playing with different people like that". There was a snort from the shadows ahead of her, followed by a short burst of relief as she heard an impact that could only have been Shadow flopping back down onto his pillow,

"Humph, well, Rouge must do the same, she's got to be a better card player than the rest of us; at least you didn't play to win completely". Julie reassured him of that point quickly,

"Nah, where's the fun in that. Besides", she allowed herself a quick smile as she thought of the best way to play this one, "that was nowhere near as serious as even the least of the Legion games".

"Why not?" _Thank you, drive through_; Julie had to inject a little sauce into her voice as she looked over to where she approximated the hedgehog lay,

"Because in the Legion, we never played for money", she waited just a split-second to let that sink in before following it up, "we always played strip".

There was a strangled gargle and groan from her room mate; Julie sniggered into the covers as Shadow grimaced; _urgh, the thoughts, the visions…eeeeuuurrgggh!_

"I know, I didn't want to suggest those rules back there", as he was occupied in trying to preserve some of his mind from rampaging illusions of Legionnaires in various sages of undress preserving their modesty with little more than a hand of five cards, Shadow couldn't answer in time, "but that wouldn't have been fair on the girls and anyway, didn't want to give the kids bad dreams".

"Forget the kids", Shadow exclaimed as his body shuddered for the last time, all wrung out of contortions as he finally managed to curb his imagination, "I'm more interested in protecting my dreams".

"Yeah it was probably a good thing that idea never saw the light of day", it was the laugh after that comment that set Shadow's guard up, "they might charge us laundry if you couldn't control yourself in the middle of the night; ah, just what I wanted", she gleefully seized the pillow that had landed across her legs, thrown there by the nettled Shadow, "extra pillow; perfect comfy sleep".

"After that thought", Shadow quivered as he rolled over, "I doubt I'll be able to sleep ever again – quip and I swear I'll sling you out the window". Just this once, the promise in his voice was enough to convince her of his sincerity and, choking her laughter under material, the echidna followed his lead and turned in to catch some sleep.

XXX

It was the sunlight that did it; played into her face by Shadow and a couple of curtains, Julie found herself dragged grudgingly back to something like a functional state. The black hedgehog hopped backwards as his roommate convulsed, an explosive stretch and flex coupling her mammoth yawn to try and get her back on her feet,

"Hot him is et?" She asked groggily through a combination of a heavy yawn and the back of her hand; after a couple of seconds' translation, Shadow thought he had a rough idea what she was asking,

"You've got about thirty minutes before breakfast, then we're off to the Ruins for a quick flight home; listen, don't eat too much heavy stuff if you're not fond of flying – airsickness is really not fun to play with".

"Not a problem, not feeling too hungry today", she ran her tongue along her teeth, feeling the gluey feeling she'd had since last night there and grimacing in distaste, "don't know what it is but something's different about the water down here; my mouth feel weird". Shadow smiled agreeably even as he rolled his eyes,

"Some folk are never satisfied; come on, if we get packed up now we can just walk to the Ruins, and I need to make a five-second stop at one of the malls on the way out; I'll explain later" he said quickly, pacifying her raised eyebrow. Considering that for a second and shrugging, the echidna whipped off her covers after Shadow turned his back, granting her a little privacy before he suddenly realised something,

"Oh wait; you're having a shower aren't you?"

"Yeah, need to wake up fully".

"Right, in that case let me go first", she knitted her brows; _didn't you get a wash in last night?_; before she saw his hand emerge with a few items, "just want to brush my teeth and splash my face".

"Oh, okay", she watched him get ready, grappling with her conscience as the hedgehog bustled around near his bag before she decided the time had come to let slip, "by the way, your toothbrush is in my coat pocket".

Shadow stopped dead, turning to look at her with an expression of indignation and long-suffering expectation mashed together all over it; seeing this and smiling in what she hoped was a winning manner, the echidna tried to explain,

"Well you were making comments about my weight and I've been burning calories like you deliver mail; that just jumped out at me – I should have told you last night and I'm sorry". There was a second where she feared Shadow would have shouted but, thankfully, the moment quickly passed; with a deflating sigh, the black hedgehog shook his head huffed,

"Well, I needed a new one anyway, but Jules", she'd started to turn away but something in his tone made her turn back, alarmed by the sudden glint in his eye, "what would you say if I told you I already knew about my toothbrush?"

"You…what?" _He…why didn't he take it back?_; she couldn't fathom this and, as such, had to wait for him to fill her in, the black hedgehog gleefully grinning away the whole time,

"I knew but played along; I just wanted to set you up; you know you're feeling a little, how should I put it, down in the mouth today?" She had to nod dumbly; the rest of her reactions had been lost in his seamless deviousness and how well he'd acted this one out, "well, that would be because what you used yesterday wasn't toothpaste".

"Wasn't; hang on, what…?" The rest of her question was lost in the slam of a bathroom door and, a split-second after that, the chuckles that percolated through it from the giggling hedgehog inside.

XXX

"We will have to try that again next time we're down", Julie commented as the pair of Mobians walked towards the train that would take them back to Mystic Ruins, "light but very filling".

"I'm not surprised, the number of calories it had in it" her companion joked even if the memories of the cream scones was, he admitted to himself, rather more than pleasant, "let me guess; no treat for you next week?" The echidna's answering look of desultory scorn coupled with just the merest hint of sarcasm answered far more fittingly than any words could have done; turning away, Shadow let loose his smile and a few accompanying chortles as he answered his own question, "just as well the tape's got a few of your old exercise sessions still on it".

"True", Julie answered with an air of heavy fatalism, looking down at her stomach as she mourned slightly, "I knew this weekend was going to be a bit of a blow out but, hey", to Shadow's hidden joy, her expression broke into the smile he was more comfortable in seeing, "it was worth it".

"Glad you feel that way"; _ain't that the truth_; compared to the innumerable doomsday scenarios that had raged through his mind just prior to starting this trip, what had actually occurred had been little more than a miracle. From his point of view at least, Julie appeared to have gone down a storm with the rest of the crew he kept in touch with, least of all Amy and Rouge, the two he'd had the most reservations about. _Best of all, it'll be just like it was when we get home – at least I hope it will, I loved it when we were annoying the living hell out of each other. Hell, I love her now but it was different then…wait, was that the…love?_

The thought, or more precisely the swift analysis of that thought, stopped Shadow in his tracks for a moment, Julie thankfully not noticing as the window display in a nearby delicatessen caught her eye. _Did I think really think that – did I mean love like a friend or, the other kind of love?_; sneaking a glimpse from the corner of his eye, the black hedgehog found himself uncomfortably aware of certain details standing out more no than they ever had before in the past; _yeah, she is a pain in the proverbial – but Sonic said that about Amy and look at them now, never mind what happened just after they got together. Is this what love is?_; that question made him break out into a smile; for the first time in his life, even after nearly two years of co-habitation, he suddenly felt more in tune with Sonic than he ever had before.

"Hey", he shook his head, the call jerking him back to reality, "what are you waiting for, Christmas? Let's move it; you're the reason we're here anyway". Nodding meekly in assent, the former ultimate life-form smiled slightly as he sped up a little to catch up, not needing his jet skates to regain the ground he'd lost on the echidna; _well, the jury's out, but it'll be worth the wait to find out and see_.

It was just over the road when Julie saw it happen; almost before her eyes, Shadow's face seemed to empty of laughter and light, those emotions chased away by a deep, to her faintly unsettling, seriousness as he gazed at the street ahead of them, eyes fixed on a single point a little way ahead of them both. Prickled by unconscious worry and not a little concern for his sake, Julie tried to follow his line of sight and see what had captured his attention so but was prevented as Shadow started walking once more, seemingly drawn towards this mysterious entity like iron fillings to a magnet. She watched, spellbound, for a moment, before hurrying to catch up, whispering urgently as so to not make a scene,

"Shadow, what's up?" Slowed but not stopped for a second, the hedgehog turned to answer her,

"The opposite of down"; before she could recover from the appalling joke, he'd resumed his purposeful pacing, "no, seriously, this is just something I do, every time I'm down here now; maybe one day it'll let me see back". _See back_; she pondered his words silently, seeing almost of his own volition his hand disappear into his pocket, pulling free a few spare coins before it hit her; _back, as in looking back, into the past?_ The thought of such an important event stopped her from even considering further interference; Julie knew this was not something she could interfere with and as such hung back, watching and trying to silently explain why Shadow was doing what he was doing. She said nothing as the hedgehog carefully inserted the coins into the slot at the top of the gumball machine, then twisted the handle, allowing something to fall to the bottom of the machine with an audible clunk. Craning her neck, the echidna tried to peer over the slightly taller hedgehog's shoulder to see what he was holding now in his cupped hands before, almost as if aware of the interested eyes on his actions, Shadow spoke solemnly, turning to face her as he did so,

"I can't remember exactly what, but sometime, a long time ago, I know something important, something beautiful, emerged from a ball like this. Maybe if I open enough of them, I'll be able to piece together what it was"; Julie watched on, unable to do anything other than cross her fingers and say a prayer in her head as, looking down, focussing intently on the plastic sphere in his hand, Shadow gave a twist and gently, ever so gently, eased the top half of the gumball free of the bottom.

For a long, long second, neither Mobian moved; Shadow was too deeply immersed in his own battle to recover lost memories to pay any attention to anything else, while Julie was too busy willing him to succeed to care. Eventually, however, nerves could only take so much and, in a dry, hoarse whisper, straining every vestige of hope she had that the answer would be what she wanted, Julie breathed her first words in what felt like ages,

"Anything? Was that….the one?" After a tortured eternity seemingly lost in indecision, Shadow shook his head and Julie felt her spirits collapse on his behalf,

"No, nothing yet"; _yet?_; apparently he'd seen the look of confusion on her face and, clapping his hands to put the little bubble back together, he tossed it towards her, "didn't I just say if I open enough I'll remember? So that one wasn't it; just means I'll have to come down here and try again later". Infused by the renewed spirit in his answer and thankful for that, the echidna agilely flipped the gumball he'd thrown her up into the air before catching it again skilfully and riposting,

"Just as long as you bring me when you do; I have got to get down here more often. Anyway", she stopped spinning the ball through her fingers and pointed to it, not able to get a view through the frosted plastic casing, "what's in there after all that?"

"You open it", the hedgehog offered, smirking in a way that put Julie on her guard, "you'll get more use out of it than I would". _Right, now I'm officially worried_; silently casting her eyes up to Heaven to help her, the former Legionnaire slowly prised the two hemispheres apart and took a look – Shadow gave a satisfied nod as he saw her features twisted involuntarily into a grin,

"And", she held up the comb that was approximately the size of her smallest finger for his inspection, "what am I supposed to do with this? It'd get lost in this lot".

"Jules, your hair would count as an expedition for anything smaller than a pair of hedge trimmers", he grinned at her sardonic sigh before pointing to her bag, "just slip it in there for now; you can empty it when we get home".

"I suppose", she answered resignedly as she eased open one of her bag zips and stuffed the cheap plastic toy inside; as she did so she caught a look at her watch and her eyes shot open, "oh what; Shads, time's getting on, we better shift it".

"Right, hold on"; luckily by now Julie had an idea of what she was doing and the resultant acceleration didn't catch her out as much as it had in the past, though it may have been a factor in her forgetting to empty her bag later; something that may just have saved her neck some time in the not-so distant future.

XXX

Seeing the look of apprehension on the other echidna's face, Julie just couldn't resist it,

"So Rouge", the bat looked around, cocking her head at the former Legionnaire's smile and nod towards Knuckles, "what are you planning with him when you get home?" Realising what she meant, the bat scowled and glared murderously at where Knuckles sat trying to look innocent,

"Nothing gentle I assure you; sometimes you really do surpass yourself you know that?"

"I pride myself on it" Knuckles answered, trying to curry favour with his wife before there was a burst of static on the speakers and someone else stepped in to completely destroy this picture of forgiveness.

"Actually Rouge, back there Sonic told a little white lie"; as Shadow pointed to the speakers to show Julie how Tails was managing to communicate with them from his seat in the cockpit, the bat pricked her ears at the same time as Knuckles tried frantically to see where Tails was taking this story,

"Really foxboy; go on, I'm interested".

"Yeah, Knuckles never said Sonic could…"; _oh no_;

"Shut up Tails", Knuckles had finally put two and two together and come up with a pair of black eyes as the result; shooting to his feet, the echidna cut off the pilot with his roar, "if you value your life this'll go no further". Even as the echoes of that proclamation died away, all present heard the answer from the front of the plane; Knuckles felt the sweat on his back freeze as the laughter curdled into a high-pitched impersonation,

"'Hi floppy, guess what' – sound familiar? Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted", Shadow hid a smile as he also thought he could see what Tails was playing with this time, "Knuckles never said Sonic could get even with you".

"Really?" The bat looked over incredulously at her husband, "why didn't you say that earlier?"

"Because"; _oh not you too_; Knuckles could only cringe as Shadow joined the assault on his future health, "he said Sonic had his permission for something else if he could get away with it".

There was a split-second of utter stillness before a pair of very interested eyes homed in on the guardian; Julie couldn't help but sympathise with the other echidna as it looked like he was trying to come up with something very clever at very short notice,

"Did he now?" Tapping her fingers together and resting back in her chair as much as was possible for her at the angle she needed to see her husband, Rouge gave a saccharine smile and raised her eyebrow,

"All right, what did you say? And why didn't you say this earlier?"

"Because, er", Knuckles had always known he was no good at keeping secrets from anyone; Rouge hardly had to try to prise secrets from his mind, "well, first off he stitched me up like a kipper; we were all joking around weren't we Shadow?" Tempting though it was to let the echidna dig an even deeper grave, Shadow couldn't bring himself to lie for the sake of it,

"Yeah; we were all in the Tornado, driving to fit in this new engine, and well, you know how Sonic is?"

"Sadly yes", the bat rolled her eyes before looking back at Knuckles, "right, what did he say?" After taking a couple of breaths, knowing it was going to be squeezed out of him no matter what he did, the guardian had to writhe and wriggle his way to the inevitable conclusion,

"He, I thought he was joking, well, he was at first; he was ticked off about the Smurf business and wanted to get even, so he started asking if he could do all sorts of things…" The former spy's eyes narrowed dangerously,

"What kind of things?"

"Joke things, you know", Knuckles shrugged as he tried to recall the hedgehog's exact words, "can I horrifically murder your wife, brutally beat her, that sort of thing?"

"You said no I hope?"

"Of course I did", Knuckles fended off the attack from the unprecedented angle as Julie looked out for her new friend, "so I said he couldn't do anything to you and he shut up for a bit".

"First time for everything"; that evoked a slight smile from the guardian before seriousness reasserted itself in the guardian's tone and he finished,

"Believe me I wish he'd stayed that way; then, right, after a minute or two, he comes out with this thing that breaks us all down – even you Shadow, and Tails as well, we were all laughing at it. So I think he's joking and, sort of join in, I say yes; I never thought about it until he said that 'little white lie' back on the ground".

"Oh did you now?" The sugar in Rouge's smile seemed to have curdled to citric acid as she hunched forwards, suddenly becoming more predatory as she closed in on the meat of the issue, "so, what was this hilarious thing that nearly ended up with me passed out on Amy's settee then, hmm? Come on, I'm all ears; one word I dare you". Shadow wisely decided it would be more prudent not to take the opportunity Rouge had left herself open to as Julie listened in with evident interest as Knuckles crossed his fingers behind his back,

"Well, I sort of said, if he could manage to get away with it, you and he could, well, have some kind of, umm, extra-marital relationship".

"Basically", Tails crashed into the conversation as Rouge tried to untangle her husband's mangled speech, "he said Sonic could have an affair with you if he could chat you up enough".

Julie saw the explosion brewing just before it happened; with a long, loud cry, Rouge erupted into unstoppable laughter, clutching at one of the armrests as she tried to sit up straight and speak. Just from her reaction the former Legionnaire could tell this was all just a joke and, if the reaction was anything to go by, Rouge must have thought it an exceptionally funny one,

"He, he came up with thahahahahat?" Shadow's nod, the black hedgehog struggling to keep his own mirth internal, set her off again; it was a good few minutes before she could compose herself enough to talk again, by which time such naked hysteria had all the other passengers at least sniggering quietly,

"Oh that was a gem", the bat wiped her wet eyes, seeing the scene perfectly in her head as if watching a cinema scene, "I understand; he said that, then after I was about to start beating on him he switched the blame to you…"

"…Because, well, would you hold your hands up to what I really said; that really was the lesser of the two evils".

"And sometimes that hedgehog really is pure hell in a can; I'm going to have to go some to beat that one"; Rouge sat back only to lean forwards again at Julie's declaration – she shook her head in sympathy as the echidna pointed to the side of her,

"Must be a hedgehog thing"; Shadow coolly looked away, secretly satisfied as he knew this time he had all the cards; _trying to figure out what she brushed her teeth with is going to drive her round the bend – that'll teach you to send me running to the chemist last thing at night Julie_.

XXX

Thankfully, the rest of the trip passed without incident; as the Tornado rolled to a halt on the grassy plains on the familiar shores of Angel Island, all four passengers unclipped their belts as Tails sounded off his familiar farewell,

"Thank you for flying Skyfox airlines" and the exit ramp hissed into place, allowing all aboard to disembark safely, gathering their luggage as they did so; it was only when they got to the bottom of the ramp that a secret wink was exchanged and Knuckles gently cleared his throat and, stepping forwards, placed a restraining but not oppressive hand atop Julie's own, preventing her slinging her bag over her shoulders,

"Not so fast Jules; if you don't mind, there's, well, Rouge and I want to show you something, actually, two things. They're both at our home; don't worry, we'll get you back to Echidnopolis before nightfall, so, up for it?"

"Err", caught out by the suddenness of the offer more than anything, Julie flicked a quick glance sideways; Shadow looking as nonplussed as she felt convinced her it was probably best to rely on her instinct and, as this weekend was definitely counting as one of the best she'd ever had, that instinct was calling for her to extend it as much as was possible.

"Sure, sure I'd love to", with a smile, a calculating smile it was true, but a smile nevertheless, she handed her bag wordlessly over to her flatmate. Knuckles beamed and shimmied to the side,

"Glad to hear it; Rouge'll take you there fastest, I just need to have a few words with Shadow and", the former Legionnaire had to hold in a few chuckles as the guardian's lilac eyes darkened as he looked up scathingly at the cockpit of the Tornado, "after that, a few words with a certain smarmy two-tailed mammal".

"Right, I'll leave you two it, oh, but just for the record", Julie pointed insinuatingly upwards as Knuckles raised an eyebrow, "nothing beats white vinegar for getting bloodstains out of fabric". After a second of thinking, the other echidna grinned wolfishly,

"Thanks for that; right", he looked over her shoulder to catch his wife's eye, "see you at home, won't be long".

"No problem Knucks", unleashing the power of her leg muscles, Rouge pushed off into the air, using her wings to circle tightly overhead, "hands up Jules, this way's quicker than walking".

"You, ah", though she'd seen enough in a day to convince herself Rouge really was a match for Knuckles, Julie still had a few reservations about this one, "you sure you can handle it?"

"You bet; compared to Vector and Mighty you're small fry – you'll understand when you meet them later. Come on, trust me"; _well, she's not let me down yet_; with that simple truth in her mind, the echidna hesitated only a second longer before, giving up, thrusting her hands skywards. A shape blotted out the light for a second and, almost before she knew it, she was getting a birds-eye view of the world, looking at the tops of her boots as she saw the ground fall away alarmingly, not daring to utter a word even as she heard her carrier shout,

"See you around Shadow", over her shoulder towards the figures still left on the ground. Sparing the merest hint of a look over her shoulder, Julie was comforted slightly by the sight of the two other Mobians waving at them from the ground; though she couldn't be sure, she almost swore she saw Shadow give a thumbs-up before she had to look away again, focussing on the horizon to avoid the plummeting sense of vertigo that assailed her.

XXX

Rouge knew she had to let her passenger take her time; it had been just the same when it had been Knuckles she'd been carrying. It was only natural for those without the gift of flight to feel uncomfortable up in the air; _in fact_; she mused as she winged it back towards her home; _we're all pretty lucky now I think about it – how many other Mobians get as much experience with flight as us lot have?_ The answer, as she glanced down with a wry smile to see the top of Julie's head, the echidna staring forwards with her eyes fixed on the horizon to avoid looking at how far away the floor had fallen, was obviously not enough. Out of respect for her new passenger, she was flying closer to the floor than she would otherwise have done, reducing the scare factor as much as was physically possible; this was as much common sense as courtesy; she surmised Shadow must have done the same sort of thing as his new housemate was getting acclimatised to super-speed travel – flying high meant it was more likely Julie would start struggling, slip and, of course, the higher the start point, the louder the splat at the end of the fall.

The silence, therefore, was only ended when Julie, realising eventually that she was quite safe in the bat's arms, summoned the courage to look up properly and speak in a firm but not totally convincing voice,

"Guess I was wrong", she gave chuckle as Rouge glanced down to look her in the eye quizzically, "you really are stronger than you look; how'd you get that strong with that figure?"

"Far too much work than was good for me", the bat owned up without a second thought, shaking her head at the now virtually unbelievable fitness sessions she had inflicted upon herself whilst she'd been a government employee, "trust me, as long as you eat right and exercise a little, you won't go far wrong; I was stupid when I was younger, tried to get the perfect body and damn near ran myself into the ground doing it. Now though, I'm a lot happier than I was even if I'm perhaps not quite in the same sort of shape".

"They always said the perfect figure was a myth", Julie spoke ruefully; _not like that's stopped me going after it_; "but I guess nature helps; I noticed that a lot down in Station Square". In this instance, even Rouge's normally sharp mind was blunted a little and she had to resort to asking,

"Noticed what?"

"There's a lot of different shapes down there", if she'd been able to, Julie would have shrugged, "all those different species – before I left the Legion I'd have never imagined a species like a bat, someone like you who could fly without anything like a propulsion unit. But then again, I'd have never even thought about mice, or cats, or anything like that", she gave a gruff chuckle, "up here really is a small world".

"Tell me about it; don't knock it too much though – Angel Island's got its advantages. I mean, could you compare Station Square to Echidnopolis – which did you prefer?" Julie's answer was instantaneous,

"Echidnopolis, by a mile", she relived the fear of nearly being hit by a car on virtually her first street in the city down below and shuddered, "so much less noise and next to no traffic, so much more peaceful, do you agree?"

"You bet I do; I love it up here" Rouge filled her in, smiling gently as Julie risked a peek downwards; _she's getting braver, a lot quicker than Knucks ever did, or Shadow for that matter_.

"Anyway", her train of thought was broken by the question from her passenger, "what are you taking me to see exactly?"

"Ah, ah, ah", Rouge gave a shifty smile, exposing her pointed fangs as Julie narrowed her eyes playfully, "that'd ruin the surprise – it's nothing nasty or anything like that, but it's something we think you should see".

"You and Knuckles?"

"You bet; we had a bit of a chinwag last night and decided it was for the best – had a word with Shads this morning and he agreed as well. Not all that gracefully mind", the memories of the black hedgehog declaring this would make his life worse than purgatory and pleading for something else to happen would warm her heart and tickle her funny bone for months to come, "but we ground him down eventually".

"Now that takes some doing", Julie joked before turning more serious, "listen, I appreciate what you've done, all of you, and I have to apologise…"

"Don't" the cut off wasn't a harsh demand, more of an awaited refusal; as Julie raised her eyes she was able to see the bat give her a supportive wink, "you don't need to say sorry for anything; Knucks told me what happened that night and I won't ever blame you for anything – in fact, if anything I've gotta give you credit for having the guts to go through with what you did".

"What, make a complete prat of myself?"

"No, I usually have Sonic to congratulate for that", the quip brought she smile she'd been hoping for; _time to bury this once and for all_; "but you took your future in your hands and went for it – takes a lot of bottle to even try, and even more to bounce back like you have after not quite making it. And, just between you and me", Julie raised an eyebrow as Rouge's words grew slightly more suggestive, "I have to say you've picked a real winner in terms of housemates".

"What, Shadow? How well did you say you knew him?"

"Enough to know he's as genuine guy as there is", the bat dipped slightly to ease the slight strain now registering in her wings, letting Julie's toecaps skim the canopy of trees below them before pulling up again, "after all, think what would have happened if you'd have needed up shacking up with Sonic?"

"I'm trying not to, but besides that", it was Rouge's turn to raise an eyebrow, "that little suggestion said hedgehog made – you wouldn't…?" Even before she could finish the question, Rouge had started laughing,

"Jules, that is just so never going to happen it's a great joke on its own", shaking her head, Rouge altered course slightly to line up with the next marker she used to plot her way home, "I love Sonic, but I love him because we've been through so much together it's impossible for me not to love any one of the Mobians you all met and were introduced to; it's like we're all family now".

"I see, and I understand that; it was similar in the Legion – you had to treat your squad like family or you'd never survive", Julie owned up to that before putting a bit of lightness in her next words, "so, in relation to you, Sonic's the annoying cousin who's always there when you don't want him".

"Either that or he's the crazy relation we've got stashed in the attic and feed on fish heads every so often; it's a toss-up between him and Charmy", the two girls sniggered for a minute before Rouge shook her head, "nah, seriously, if I knew he was in trouble, I'd be the first one there and I'd guess that would work in reverse".

"He said he'd put his life on the line for all of you; you're a lucky bunch".

"I know", the bat replied solemnly, turning again towards the sun that was just beginning to set, "and there's not a day in my life when neither Knuckles or I aren't grateful for that"; _and unless I'm grossly overestimating this_; she thought hard but genuinely as she snuck one last glance down; _I reckon soon enough you'll know what that's like as well Julie-Su_.

XXX

Getting her feet underneath her once more, steady again as she took a few experimental steps, Julie looked around at where her former pilot was rolling her shoulders and stretching off her arms,

"You know those exercises you used to do?" Looking up, Rouge caught the echidna's eye and nodded,

"Yeah?"

"Got any old tapes by any chance?" The bat chuckled and shook her head,

"Nah, 'fraid not, they were burnt to cinders the second I quit the department, with me singing and dancing around the fire carrying a pack of firecrackers", the bat suppressed a shudder, "one of the things I was very grateful to leave behind let me tell you". _Now that I can relate to_;

"I can imagine; if I had the chance I'd have had every drill sergeant the Legion had to offer buried in the rubble of his parade ground; drills, drills, drills, hours at a time – the boredom was the killer, not so much the actually marching, just the same thing over and over", Julie shook her head as Rouge smiled in shared comradeship,

"Still, the training was good for one thing; kept me light on my feet and on the wing, and put your muscles on you; I can pretty much grantee you could walk a hundred miles from the spot I keeled over".

"You'd walk it?"

"My point exactly", Rouge silently congratulated the echidna as she made the connection, "nature built bats to fly and echidnas to dig underground…" Julie saw a fair comment and couldn't help but make it,

"And hedgehogs to make smart-arsed comments and then get away afterwards"; Rouge gave a short laugh before pointing to the door,

"You don't know how right you are; anyway, come on in rather than standing on the doorstep all day, it's inside". Interest more than piqued by this mysterious thing she was supposed to be viewing, Julie slipped past the bat as she held the door open for her; as Rouge pulled the door open, Julie blinked and took a good look around the home of the guardians.

_What the Legion wouldn't give…_; Julie had been smart enough to know that the guardian, and by extension the Mobian who had become his wife, wouldn't be so stupid as to broadcast their position to their enemies by having a home that stood out from its surroundings, the small log building she was now stood within still came as something of a surprise. It smacked of two Mobians living a simple life; there were a pair of chairs, one, the echidna noticed, newer than the other, set around a small table and a few other odds and ends, the books that rested atop one of the shelves the only real sight of civilisation she could see at a glance.

"Neat digs", Julie commented as she looked around, "sure beats the barracks any day of the week".

"yeah, it's small but it does for us", Rouge answered as she moved forwards, towards the only other door in this building, "as you'll see later, Knucks knows the quickest ways to Echidnopolis so we can get anything we desperately need from there; most of the time though we can get by on the land. Well, Knuckles can at least; I'm getting better but I've still got a lot to learn in that respect".

"I can imagine; he's lived out here all his life; we're both new at living a new sort of life", the echidna spoke philosophically as Rouge, after a second, nodded in ascent to her comment,

"True enough, but anyway, through here; I'm saying nothing more, it speaks better than I ever could". Quizzical, Julie tried to make sense of that comment but, unusually, she was thwarted as she tried to read a clue from Rouge's face; her instinct for reading someone matched by a smooth, inscrutable poker face. Now more curious than ever, the echidna nosed open the door and, at Rouge's insinuating nod, pushed it open the full way; as she stepped forwards, she managed to deduce that she was standing in a bedroom before something didn't so much catch her eye, but reached out, seized her gaze by the scruff of its neck and refused to let go.

XXX

Any last lingering traces of bitterness that might have remained in the very core of her heart at losing Knuckles, the last few slivers of jealousy and dislike for the guardian's bride, half-written ravings about how unfair the world was that she hadn't got there first; all were forgotten, destroyed utterly and forever in the split-second when The End of the Hunt transported her to another world, a page from someone else's memory book. Julie gazed on, mute, uncaring of anything save the majesty of the scene she was stood before; even if she knew there was no way it could be real, all of her senses were bewitched into believing it was happening, was taking place before her eyes. The warmth, the eternal, enduring love in their eyes; _they belong to each other, gave themselves to each other body and soul_; the view of the altar fractured and she blinked away the moisture, swallowing the lump in her throat as she fought her own battle; she would not cry, dared not desecrate the sanctity of this perfect haven with her tears. She had wanted Knuckles for herself, but, no, there was no way she could have known about this; finally now, it all rang true – no-one would blame her for her mistake, because they had all known she would have been the one turned away, snubbed by the object of her affections, because they knew about this, had been present at this act of most holy matrimony. _I knew he wouldn't be tempted_; now, now at last she could smile about the past, treat it like the joke everyone else must have thought it was but was too polite to point out; _and know I understand why – you two really did go through hell to get where you are now, and it's all yours to have now. All I can do, is thank you for letting me share it_.

She could not look forever, no matter that she wanted to; for now, she could be sated by the knowledge that there was love and light in the world, and by the fact that, if she needed to, she could reassure herself of that fact any time she felt like it. With a sigh of mingled relief and acceptance that, forever, Knuckles was bound intrinsically with Rouge, Julie finally lowered her eyes and drew a deep breath, mentally exhausted by trying to take in as much of that painting as she could.

"That, that is…is…"

"The End of the Hunt", Julie span around, shocked to see Knuckles standing at the entrance to his bedroom, an arm around his wife's shoulders as he broke off eye contact with the painting and smiled at her, "I know, time flies".

"I'm not surprised", Julie pointed at the picture behind her, not daring to look at it again for fear of being beautifully captured once more, "that is the closest thing to a miracle I have ever seen in my life".

"You're not alone", Rouge chuckled for a moment before wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, "there's not a day goes by when I don't see it, and remember everything that happened, what it took to get there, and how it was all so worth it in the end. That painting, was a wedding present"; _that must have cost millions_; even as she tried to stick a price tag to it Julie knew she was missing the point; there was no money in the world that could even come close to what this combination of oils and canvas was worth to the two guardians, "someone on the world below; you never got to meet him but you will; he's an artistic genius, and he painted this for us, because he thought it was the right thing to do. I've never been more grateful".

"Or more humbled", Knuckles finished for her, shaking his head as he could remember unwrapping the paper parcel that had delivered this slice of history to his mother's home, smiling as he carried on, "he named it The End of the Hunt, because it made perfect sense to him; in that moment, the second he's given us, we found what we'd been looking for without ever realising we were searching; the greatest find of our lives".

"In that case", Julie managed a smile, heartfelt, relieved in the light of the truth and with no sense of strained politeness, "don't ever let each other go".

XXX

Despite the great truth unveiled before her eyes that moment, Julie was still able to come back to herself in time for a question to tap her conscious; just before she was led to the front door, ready to depart to Station Square, she shook herself and, after double checking with her memories, she asked casually,

"Um, I might be wrong but didn't you say there were two things you wanted to show Rouge?" For a second she thought she must have got that bit wrong as Knuckles groaned and gently lowered his head to rest on his fist; his wife on the other hand chuckled, a playful snicker on her lips as she swatted the guardian on the shoulder,

"You kept that one quiet Knuxie; you do the talking, I'll go and get it and don't try and worm your way out of this", she raised a warning finger as Knuckles attempted to begin a plea of some sort, "you tell her or I'll do it, okay?" _Not like I have a choice here really_;

"Fine, just, give me a few minutes to try and explain this properly"; despite the curiosity welling up within her, Julie held her tongue and cheek in check as Knuckles slowly turned to face her again; just from the look on his face it was obvious that this was something he could laugh about now, albeit reluctantly,

"Okay, er, now how can I put this delicately?" Despite her normally iron will, Julie couldn't help but smile at the sight before her now,

"Judging by your face, I'd say with a great deal of difficulty". To his chagrin, Knuckles found he could do nothing but agree,

"That's about right; okay, The End of the Hunt, that was a picture of my wedding; what should happen before the big day?"

"The proposal; hang on, didn't Rouge propose to you?"

"Yeah, she did; caught me a bit on the fly – I said yes without thinking and locked myself into the marriage contract without realising it", he risked a glance over his shoulder, back through the bedroom door where Rouge had disappeared to with a faintly worried expression as Julie smiled, "but no, I was thinking, ah, a bit further on than that, you follow?"

This was a bit of a puzzle; Julie cocked her head, deep in thought as she tried to get her head around his words; _after the proposal but before the wedding day – no idea…_; for some reason, a vision of a zombified Shadow chose this second to flit across her mind and, with a broadening smile, she suddenly had the answer,

"You", she pointed shakily at the guardian at the same time she tried to bottle up her impending chuckles, "you had a stag night?" Knuckles held a look of pained regret on his features, forcing her to double over as she tried to envision this Mobian, of all Mobians, out on the town,

"Yeah, I did, and I dragged Sonic and Shadow along for the ride; anyway, long story short, we all ended up completely hammered out of our tiny minds and crashed at my mums – Tails had gone along to warn her we were coming before we got, ah, side-tracked, so they slung us into the spare room to sober up and get ready for the grilling mum put us through the next morning".

"Being shouted at whilst under the influence huh?" Knuckles nodded and massaged his temples as even the memory of his first hangover was enough to give him a headache,

"Yeah, that was bad enough, but the worst was to come; after the event, at the reception, well, earlier in the day I'd embarrassed Tails with something or other; I pleaded stress was doing bad things to me but ticking off someone with his sort of IQ is a mistake any day of the week. Anyway, I don't know how he did it, but somehow he'd got hold of a load of old photos of me and made this sort of portfolio, he beamed it up on the back wall of the hall we were in like a slideshow".

"And this was the last slide", Rouge finished for him, smirking wickedly as she had a finger in the page of what looked like a photo album and Knuckles started to feel his face singe, "Tails called it a warning for me; don't mix Knuckleheads with alcohol or else…" She pushed the book towards Julie-Su and let the book fall open; a split-second later, the inside of the house rang with deep, unstoppable laughter.

XXX

"I could leave you out here you know?" Knuckles snarled irritably over his shoulder as her giggling again made his hair stand on end. Almost biting her tongue to stop the laughter, even if most of it wasn't actually directed at the guardian but one of his bed mates; _oh I could make his life so miserable with that_; Julie tried to put some seriousness into her tone,

"Sorry Knuckles, but that's, oh that is a genius idea of a revenge scheme; can I have a copy, please?"

"No", he squashed that idea at once; bad enough there was one copy of this photo in existence in the first place; the thought of other copies being available sent his flesh crawling every which way but loose, "Shadow would crucify me for a start and I really don't want to think what Hawk would do if he found out".

"How is he anyway? Is he about much?"

"Nah, he keeps to himself mostly"; _smart move batgirl_; even as he kept up the agreed pretence that Thunderhawk was actually a friend rather than one of his distant relations, Knuckles complimented his wife's quick thinking on that count, "haven't seen him for a while now; better get in touch now I think about it; anyway, Echidnopolis, and, I might add, several minutes ahead of schedule". His partner in this journey gave a low whistle as she checked the time, the light of the setting sun glinting from the flashing surface of the silver sea; _not bad for just under forty minutes of walking_;

"Sweet, don't worry about going further; I'll find my way home from here"; Knuckles regarded her with a concerned but not exactly caring eye, trying to gauge if she actually could cope,

"Sure?" Her answer brimmed with confidence and hope,

"You bet I am"; after an almost tense second, Knuckles relented and stepped back and to the side, out of her path as she stepped forwards,

"Okay, I'll leave you here then", he extended his hand almost tentatively, as if afraid of upsetting her somehow; Julie knew she couldn't let him think that any more, not after what she'd just seen; she gripped his larger paw with vigour, shaking with a smile before letting go.

"First off, I thought your wife must have been the luckiest Mobian alive", she spoke sincerely as Knuckles listened, paying rapt attention to her words, "now I guess you were both lucky to find each other". Knuckles nodded, chortling as he took the observations in,

"There's not a day goes by that we're not thankful for being that fluky, but", suddenly his eyes hardened, becoming more piercing as Julie tried to think what she'd said, "if I were you, I'd be counting my blessings pretty closely as well".

"What, I…?"

"You know what I mean; anyway, gotta get going – see you later Julie, we'll be in touch"; with that, and before she could think of how to phrase one of the myriad questions on her lips, the guardian was gone, slipping back into the wild foliage of his home with well-practised ease. Left frustrated and unable to do anything about it, Julie scuffed the ground before spinning around, heading back towards Echidnopolis and the home she now jointly shared, a half-hidden smile on her face as she continually courted the other echidna's phrase and, slowly, began to tease out what she thought the meaning behind it was.

XXX

Shadow heard the key in the lock,

"Nice timing, kettle's just boiled". He heard the door open then slam shut, Julie's voice answering as she kicked off her shoes,

"Excellent; the training must finally be getting through that skull of yours; give me a shot of that Marching Coffee, let's see if it's as strong as you were saying".

"Believe me it is", the hedgehog was keen to stress that fact as he added a heap spoon to his own cup and, after prising the lid off the virgin tin, carefully placed a level amount into the cup that would have held Julie's drink. He heard the kitchen door open behind him and looked over his shoulder,

"Hi Jules; have fun with the guardians? What did they show you in the end – that picture?"

"Oh yeah, that painting", for a second her eyes misted as she could pick out every detail, see the full splendour of such a scene before her once more; aware of Shadow's look, she shook her head and dragged herself reluctantly back to the present, "it's amazing, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is", Shadow agreed with nothing less than utter sincerity before giving a slight chuckle, "with a bit of luck, you'll meet someone close to the guy who painted it soon". It was only when his housemate didn't laugh in reply that he realised something was amiss; concerned, Shadow glanced up, only to suddenly feel his mouth run dry and the blood start to pound through his temples.

Julie was nearly staring at him, such was the intensity in her eyes, holding him rigidly to the floor, unable to react as she moved forwards slowly, speaking as she came,

"Shadow, that trip, you taking me down to see everyone, that was the best time I have ever had outside of the Legion", he would have said something but, for some reason, connections between his tongue and his brain seemed to have been short-circuited, "and you made it happen, you and the others allowed, no, in fact you didn't allow me to, you invited me to make a splash down in your world, and you organised it all". At the centre of such a storm of compliments, Shadow began to feel uncomfortably hot as the echidna's advance brought her to squarely in front of him, with a smile she brought her arm up and placed it gently on his shoulder.

"It, er, it was nothing", me managed to mumble in answer, barely able to meet her gaze as she chortled once, then slowly stepped in once more; before he'd completely registered she'd moved, he was being hugged softly around his front by the echidna and, after a second of soft swallowing, he gingerly reciprocated, holding her gently in turn, speaking almost without realising he was doing so,

"Hey, I told you; no-one was going to judge you like they do up here; the Legion's virtually unknown there. Just thought it'd make a change for you to get out among people other than your workmates, and me". He felt, rather than heard, her answering laugh, rolled his eyes down to see her looking up at him,

"You were right Shads; that was…" she couldn't think of the word so used the first one that came vaguely close, "fantastic, just such a difference. Just one thing though"; he quipped her off,

"Just the one?"

"Ha ha", she snorted derisively before carrying out the next step of her plot, "yeah, tell me, please, what did you swap the toothpaste for? I promise I won't get angry, or hurt you, or anything silly like that, I just want to know".

XXX

_Well, what harm can it do?_; right now of all times, Shadow didn't want any ill-feelings between them and, he knew she could take a joke. With this in mind, the black hedgehog lowered his head slightly and whispered a few words into her nearest ear; nothing happened for a few seconds and he knew it wouldn't; she'd said that…

"Shadow?"

"Yeah"; even as he said that, he suddenly found himself gasping for air as Julie's arms changed their hold from a gentle hug to a constricting death squeeze; rolling his eyes down, trying to muster the air to protest, he saw her mocking scowl and snarled explanation,

"I had my fingers crossed!" _Oh dear…_

XXX

_It was a good trick_; she couldn't deny a quiet laugh as she walked into town to get a new toothbrush; she couldn't even look at her old one now after Shadow's confession had been literally wrung out of him. Having let him off with the offer that if he did all the clearing up, washing and drying, for the coming week she'd allow him to breath again, she'd made this last trip in disgust and well-concealed, grudging respect; _but there are limits to toothbrush tricks_; she grimaced once more, remembering the taste on her tongue and gagging because of it; _and haemorrhoid cream is just wrong!_

A/N: Wahoo, that was a big chapter – hopefully that'll give me some time to get the next one started; Julie meets the Chaotix, what's going to happen there I ask unto myself?


	13. Chapter 13 Rituals, Rumbles and Reunions

Chapter 13 – Rituals, Rumbles and a Reunion.

A/N: The next chapter, and what a long one it is. Hopefully it'll give you all something to chew over whilst I frantically scribe the next one – you're reviews are certainly food for thought:

RGN – Thanks a lot of the offer; I take your point that getting reviews are nice, but the thing that's most important to me is knowing that the same people are still reading the series and it's keeping their attention well. If I know this is happening I can be reasonably certain that, once I take up writing professionally, if I write a series it'll hold the attention of my audience right through to the very end.

HHH – Owwie, busted foot; a point you might want to consider is if you have a hefty life insurance policy no-one ever told you about – that may explain why everything going seems to want to do you in. Anyway, hope you complete that picture soon – my comp needs a new strip of wallpaper!

DH – I take your point with Cream; she's growing up, but she shouldn't just change overnight – don't want to let her do a Kevin, but don't worry, she really pulls of a cute act this chapter. Oh, and regarding your other point, I swear I will explain Espio's deal later in the series (read the chapter and this should make more sense).

TG – I fully take your point; Sonic is one of the harder characters to write about and the reason for this is that fact that he has no real sort of back story. Think about it; who are the characters in the Sonic universe that are generally well pulled off; in my opinion it's Shadow, Knuckles and the SatAM Sonic – all of which have a well documented official history. Conversely, Charmy, Big and other characters without a well established history are more often got wrong; that's because it's harder to come up with a believable, creative character than use, or at least work from, an established blue-print. I'm trying to make my characters believable but at the same time not make them stupid; to give them the 'spark of life' they need to have quirks like everyone else; Sonic and Rouge, for instance, just can't behave themselves when they get together, just like people in the real world sometimes can't. Vector looks slovenly but is actually quite sharp, Big is beginning to accept his 'abnormality' and Mighty's helping that process, just like you would if your friend was suffering; a good rule of thumb is, when I think of scene in my head, I take a step back and think 'would that happen between people I know?' If the answer's yes, I write it, if not I modify it slightly until I think it would. Different authors scribe in different ways, but that's a decent rule of thumb I've come up with and it seems to have set me on the right track so far! (It happens in this chapter as an example – if your mate said 'here's a celebration my family celebrated, will you join me?' would you say yes?) Hope you're still enjoying this fic – have you read them all (apologies for AODAI not being as clear as later fics; it was a first attempt).

BTW, did you find out what haemorrhoid cream was:-)

Typically, just after he'd started drying himself out following his shower, Shadow heard the phone ring and, knowing Julie had nipped out to replace their dwindled milk reserves, he had to rapidly towel away most of the surface water and then squish down the hallway, hitting the receive button just on the seventh chime and immediately confronted by the face of Tails,

"Hi bud; sorry for the timing", he said half-seriously, pointing out unnecessarily where the water was dribbling out of Shadow's fur; trying to palm away most of the worst of it, the hedgehog smiled back awkwardly,

"Well stop being sorry and make more speed; it's freezing out here".

"Okay, right; just got the call from Knuckles and the rest of the Chaotix, the weekend's a go, Mighty's not due down here for a little while yet so yeah, time it right and before you know it you'll have Vector crashing at your place and Espio jumping out the shoe cupboard every other day". Shadow started to laugh, until he saw the look in the young fox's eye; _no, he's got to be joking – he's just training his poker face, isn't he?_

"No, I'm perfectly serious; ask Lara about the time she and Wyn woke up to find a piece of paper with the words 'you were assassinated in your sleep' on their pillow; Knuckles was in a fine old temper but, you know Espio?"

"Just practising right?" Shadow shook his head, the chill of his dampened fur suddenly forgotten at the thought of the everlasting funeral that seemed to parade around that reptile's frigid heart, "there's something seriously wrong there".

"I reckon it's 'cause he's never had a girlfriend" Tails suggested conversationally; Shadow's riposte was razor sharp,

"Oh, and you have, have you foxboy?"

"No, no I meant, that was hypothetical…" Shadow knew he couldn't do a convincing cute face, not the same way Amy or Vanilla could, but he gave it his best shot anyway,

"Aww, did Cream blush when you owned up to fancying her? Did you? You are now" he added evilly, smirking as the fox's face seemed to be undergoing some sort of spontaneous combustion event; Tails seemed to snap out of it, however, and without another word, leant forwards – as the screen suddenly blanked completely, the connection cut, Shadow was left to retreat to the warmth of his shower and snigger about how true Tails' claims of linked genes with his older brother sometimes rang.

XXX

"Alright Honey, hey Micah", the two echidnas waved at the source of the shout, Shadow emerging into a path of street lamp light, allowing his black fur to be picked out from the gloom of the early evening, "ready for another shot of fancy footwork?"

"As long as I don't have this lump trampling all over my spine", Honey admitted, her boyfriend giving her a dangerous smile out the corner of his eye, "this won't hurt a bit – famous last words".

"You're all right though; you barely weigh anything compared to the rest of us", Micah commented as the hedgehog drew level, the now threesome heading for their bi-weekly class at a sedate pace, "I doubt you even need the bars half the time, except when you're really going for the bony bits".

"True", Shadow commented, giving a slight skip to emphasise the lightness of his feet, "mind you, it was time I had a break in this; using the hands was a pain – I never saw anyone else having to press down to make an impression". Just from the look in the darker furred echidna's eye, Shadow could take a pretty well educated guess what was coming next,

"From what Honey said you normally make impressions by running away rather than pushing down", the blonde Mobian gave the hedgehog a carefree wink as he shook his head; _am I ever going to live that down – I doubt it_; "anyway, the rate we're going it'll be a few more weeks learning the back muscle tap-dance, then we'll be moving up to the head massages; that's what I'm really after".

"Why's that?" With a flick, the echidna send his dreadlocks whirling, Honey ducking slightly as the cords of fur travelled over her head and Micah answered,

"Take it from me, there's nothing in this world like having your dread roots stroked; that is just…ohh, you can't describe it". _Hmm, that could be useful…_;

"I'll remember that", Shadow stored that snippet of information away in his memory bank as a potential tool in the future; "Julie never mentioned it". At the mention of the name, Honey slowed up a touch and glanced sideways to ask,

"How is she anyway? Getting on all right?"

"Yeah, she's settled in fine; the EST's starting to slacken off her D.O now she's been clean for so long", Shadow answered casually, happy that someone neutral was taking an interest in Julie's life even if the two women had never actually met, "she hopes to be out of it completely by the winter".

"All she's got to do is keep going; sounds like a right tough nut they way you've been describing her though"; Shadow chortled at the comment from Micah before replying,

"Believe me you have no idea; mind like a tank and body to match – one clean punch from her would probably break me in half".

"Shadow, one clean punch from me would probably break you in half; I could hide you behind my thumb", Honey snickered at the hedgehog wrinkled his nose at her comment,

"Maybe, but you'd have to actually hit me first; I'd have you on the deck before you got your fist back to throw". Honey stopped entirely and turned to face her hedgehog, the smile on her face dark and simply brimming with challenge,

"Is that so?" Flicking his eyes up to see Micah give a slight nod, Shadow met her gaze head on,

"You bet it is"; for a second, neither of them moved, then, quick as she could, the smaller Mobian whipped her fist backwards, hoping to gain the second she needed with surprise. Honey lunged forwards, eyes closed as she waited for the impact that was coming, coming, coming…it was only when she was on the point of tipping over that she realised Shadow was no longer in front of her and she scrambled for her balance, just about managing to avoid falling flat on her face as there was a laugh from behind her; Shadow was stood shoulder to shoulder with her boyfriend, shrugging casually,

"Oh well, better luck next time blondie"; _and what are you laughing about exactly?_; though she hadn't managed to tap the black hedgehog as she'd imagined she would Honey took some solace in the fact that at least she was still on her feet,

"And you; in case you hadn't noticed, I'm still upright"; somehow, the sight of Shadow's malicious grin didn't reassure her all that much, a fact not helped when she finally registered the very slight twinge of pain from the back of her scalp. It was only when the black hedgehog brought up his hand and the faint light from above them caught on something thin and brightly coloured that panic galvanised her; with a shout of indignant disbelief, Honey snapped her hands behind her back even if she could feel her plait starting to disintegrate without the bobble holding it together.

"You, you git", realising it was a hopeless battle, Honey shook her head angrily, freeing all her hair to fan out down her back, "do you have any idea how long it takes to get this lot presentable in the morning?" Both the boys shared a glance before Micah stepped forwards, snagging the bobble from Shadow's fingers and presenting it towards her,

"Ah, you always look better with you hair down Henu, I've always said that. Besides, look on this as a new start; now you can try out a different style". Mollified somewhat by her boyfriend's words, the other echidna took her bobble and slipped it into one of her coat pockets, sighing as she shook her head again in a resigned fashion,

"Well, I'll have to lump it now – too late to do anything about it, but you owe me a canteen special tomorrow Shads". Seeing the barrel of her lethal finger homing in squarely right between his eyes, the hedgehog held up his hands,

"Right, you got a deal, now come on or we'll be late"; checking their respective watches and realising Shadow was correct in this assumption, all three Mobians sped up as so not to miss the start of their class.

XXX

"Hi Shadow, Tails rang while you were out", as he shut the door, Shadow pricked his ears as he rapidly worked out why, "you really are dreadful to him sometimes".

"I know he'd do the same if it was the other way around; hell, if he didn't I'd know something was drastically wrong" the hedgehog countered, heading towards the lounge where Julie's voice was originating from, "did he tell you about the weekend?"

"Yeah, he let me know – is Espio really as creepy as he was making out?"

"Oh you bet he is", he paused to nod in greeting as Julie looked up from the programme she'd been watching and smiled at him, "he's one of those people you have to meet to understand; just don't be too surprised if he tries to rattle you by some method or other". One chameleonic eyebrow rose, questing for a more through explanation,

"Such as?"

"Well he did try to garrotte me with a liquorice string once", he had to wait for her sniggers to die down before he could convince her he was being genuine; only when he saw that shock in her eyes did he carry on, "he's a useful guy to know, but he's cold, doesn't like people if you catch my drift, don't ask me why; he lives with Vector and Charmy and if they can't break through to him I doubt anything can". As she normally did, after a few seconds of dissecting his words, the echidna shrugged,

"To each his own I guess".

"Fair enough, anyway", Shadow made to unpick a question that had niggled at him for most of the night, "I was going to let you know about the meet this weekend but you weren't around; where'd you go after you went shopping? And did they have any milk left?"

"Yeah, I got enough for a couple more days, but I just needed to pick up…a few other things while I was out"; _what 'other things'?_; her pause made Shadow slightly suspicious – he had the distinct impression Julie wasn't being completely straight with him here, though he had to give her credit that she was hiding it well, "and they weren't easy to find in the locals; I had to go a bit further afield".

"Oh right"; _still not sure what you're up to_; as he tried to silently read her, she tried equally as hard not to give any of her apprehension away, "did you get it?" Summoning the remainder of her courage, Julie looked up and locked eyes with her housemate,

"Well, that sort of depends on you Shadow".

The statement put a serious spanner in his works; though he wasn't sure what was going on exactly, his imagination was suddenly taking liberties with a few points of artistic license and he was having to exert more of a struggle than he would have liked to curb the worst of it from sending the blood to his face. He would have liked to think his answering voice was firm and casual, but even to his own ears there was a distinct quaver to it,

"In, er, in what way?"

"Well", Julie squirmed a little on the settee, still not sure after the better part of three days thinking about how and where she should make this request, "I know I'm not affiliated anymore, but, in a couple of days, it would be a bit of an event in the Dark Legion's calendar; the Eve of Reaffirmation", she couldn't keep her gaze on his face, unable to see how he was reacting to this information as she scrutinised her lap, the next words contrite as she stumbled to continue, "I always liked this ceremony, the meaning behind it and, I was wondering if, well, you'd join me. You don't have to or anything"; _gotta make that clear_; she knew she needed to present him with a get-out clause and blurted it out immediately, "it's just, I think it's better to go through with it with a bit of company. Your choice" she added at the end; _well, it's out in the open now – he can only say no_.

_I can't really say no to this_; though anything to do with the Dark Legion made him uneasy, the exception to this rule sitting before him, the fact that Julie had asked him to undertake part of this ceremony, and the fact that it would be a glimpse into an uncharted world for him, was enough to get him to take a second look at this possibility. In order to buy himself a little more time, the hedgehog sank into one of the other seats in their shared living room and, taking a few seconds to phrase his question right, spoke up,

"This, ah, this ritual, what's it all about then?" Julie chuckled and raised her head slightly, not quite enough to meet his eyes but at least a step in the right direction,

"It's easier to explain once you've actually done it – it doesn't hurt"; _well, that might be a bit of a lie – not much anyway_; to hide that little fib she let her grin grow and sat back, "there's no carnal lust around a ceremonial fire or anything like that". As she'd expected, Shadow laughed even as he feigned disappointment,

"Aww, can't have a proper ceremony without a bit of chanting in the background and a couple of virgin sacrifices, or do you do things differently in the Legion?"

"We do things a lot differently in the Legion, besides", Julie had to have the last laugh as she rose to make herself a drink, "do you have any idea how hard it would be to find a couple of virgins in our lot?" Shadow grimaced,

"Too much information, too much information – man, strip poker and now this; did anyone actually do any work where you came from?"

"Only when they had an officer bellowing at them to do it, and most of them were the worst slackers of the lot", despite herself, Julie had to remember the time officer Rykor had come walking into one of her squad's illicit poker games and, after a couple of terse, tense moments, pulled up a stool and dealt himself in; _that was before he started going serious – always wondered why he changed like that_; shaking her head to dispel the illusionary memory, Julie put all her metaphorical cards on the table,

"So, you in?" After a couple more seconds umming and ahhing, Shadow finally made up his mind,

"Okay then, I'll try anything once; when is this night of yours supposed to be?"

"This Friday; day before I get to meet this other crew you mentioned; the Chaotix – where did they get a name like that?"

"Not sure; something to do with Charmy not being able to spell right when he was younger", no matter how hard he rattled his brains Shadow could never remember the exact words Vector had used when explaining how the then two reptiles and single insect had named themselves, "anyway, never mind them; Friday night then", he leant back in his seat to pat the back of Julie's hand as she walked past, "it's a date".

Though she didn't give any signs outwardly, Julie certainly felt Shadow's fingers linger a second longer than was strictly necessary as they caressed the back of her paw, and she didn't pull away from such attention either. _Yeah, a date_; she let out a breath, heavily charged with anticipation and nervous energy, as she walked back into the kitchen, making herself something to drink even as a faint spot of colour appeared in either of her cheeks; _first one I've had in too long – I owe you one Shadow_.

XXX

Aside from the first couple of minutes next day, where he had given Honey a casual wolf-whistle as she paraded her new hairstyle through the office, this time with two identical but smaller plaits swaying in tandem as she walked along, a lot of Shadow's thinking time was caught up imagining what was going to happen at the very end of the working week. _The Eve of Reaffirmation_; the very name itself was a mystery – though he was smart enough to work out this must be something to do with the Legionnaires repledging their allegiance to the Dark Legion itself, Shadow couldn't even begin to think how they would do this, what structure the ceremony would take, or even how long it would be. Now though, as he slipped his front door keys from his pocket and twisted the lock open, the ebon hedgehog realised there was only one way to find out, and it was the way he was taking now.

"Hey Jules", trying to keep things as normal as possible until she said otherwise, Shadow sounded out his customary greeting, "anything going on?"

"Not yet", her voice echoed back to him from the recesses of the apartment's kitchen, "give me about fifteen minutes; I'll call you when we're ready". The deadline was unexpected but not altogether unwelcome; up until now Shadow had harboured a niggling suspicion that this ritual would have been performed at midnight, or when there was no moon in the sky or under some equally ominous omen – somehow the knowledge that there would be some sunlight still in the sky when this celebration began lifted a little weight off his mind. _Well, fifteen minutes_; he toyed with the idea of showering but, no, there wasn't really enough time for that – he really needed to look his best for tomorrow to help Julie give a good impression more than anything else – okay, the Chaotix, despite the generally affable nature they jointly shared, didn't quite class as the cream of society but every little helped. With that thought in mind, the hedgehog headed for the bedroom, casually slinging his bag into the room ahead of him as he entered. Knowing full well that concentrating on anything else would be a wasted effort, Shadow flopped backwards onto the bed and tried, focussing every scrap of intellect and imagination he could muster, to wonder what he was about to partake in and, with a sudden palpitation around his chest area, why he had agreed to go through with it.

XXX

Though she couldn't be exactly sure, not having prepared this meal since she'd joined the Legion proper and left the catering corps forever and with few regrets, Julie was almost certain that was as close to the proper recipe as she could get it. Carefully, the echidna scooped up the two small plates and placed them carefully on the table, reaching into her pocket as soon as she'd deposited the plates; _I know they should be lit with a stick of incense_; she made peace with her memories of this event as she clicked the lighter on and began to set the first of the candles alight; _but needs must when the bank funds are tighter than I'd want them to be_. Breathing slightly quicker now, hoping against hope that this would go as well as she could remember it going, Julie pushed herself back from the table, took a long last look at her creation and then crossed to the doorway, poking her head around it even as she clicked out the kitchen light,

"Okay, ready as we'll ever be".

XXX

The call came faster than he'd expected and for that he was grateful; he wasn't sure if it was worse to be kept in the dark about what this ceremony entailed or actually being subjected to it. _Well_; a certain fatalism afflicted his tone as he heaved himself upright and slapped his knees; _at least from her on in I've got a slight hand in the proceedings – and she did promise it wouldn't hurt. Mind you…_; the slight twinge in the small of his back reminded the hedgehog precisely what had happened last time she'd said that; _damn, and I didn't see if she had her fingers crossed this time_. Slightly put out by this new angle of thinking, Shadow nervously reached out for the bedroom door handle and twisted, allowing him to view the entire corridor that ran right the way to the front door.

As there was no sight of a tall effigy made out of twisted strips of wood and no-one jumped on him with a ritualistic dagger screaming profane prayers at the top of their lungs, it was a step up from his most pessimistic predictions; in fact, the only thing out of the ordinary was the fact that, aside from the soft yellow glow that seemed to be peeping out from the crack in the kitchen door, there was no light in the short stretch of corridor. For a second he considered hitting the switch to the hall light but, stilled by a closer examination of the light he could see, he realised that this darkness had to be something to do with this Eve of Reaffirmation; apparently, he had to walk towards the light. After a second of squinting down the corridor to try and see any obstacles that may have been laid out in his path and assuring himself that there were none, Shadow set off down the corridor, his nose picking out the slight scent of melting wax and realising the light was coming from candles rather than an electric bulb. Slowly drawing level with the door, he felt a slight tide of excitement rise; here he was plunging headlong into a world as alien to him as Station Square had been to Julie; _and it's up to me to face it down like she did_; setting his shoulders, Shadow knocked quietly on the door as a precaution.

"Come in Shadow; take a seat"; _at least we'll be comfortable while we're doing this then_; the thought made him smile as he obeyed the echidna's command and let himself in.

His eyes darted all over the room even before the door was fully open; as far as he could tell, nothing much was different from a normal Friday night; there were a pair of plates on the table with, he raised an eyebrow at the unusual looking dish and how little of it there seemed to be present for each of them, one directly across from the other, coupled with a small shot glass to go with each plate, filled with what looked like water. Seven candles were lit on the table itself, three at each unoccupied side of the rectangle and one in the centre, burning brightly to illuminate a scene that some may well have called romantic, the small notepad and pen sat next to the seventh candle not detracting much from the ambiance as the hedgehog took in the last major piece of this puzzle; looking up, Julie gestured to the seat opposite her that she'd pulled out, ready for him.

"Sit down, this won't take long. Just do what I do, oh, but do not swallow this", she indicated the small tumbler of drink next to her plate, Shadow nodding at that snippet of information and immediately filling it away in the 'very important' section of his memory banks, "I'll, or you'll see why later". With a last sigh and slight smile, Shadow strode over to take his place; as he settled down, Julie looked over at him and winked, picking up her knife and fork before looking down at her plate suggestively,

"Right then", as he'd been advised, Shadow followed her example, "get stuck in". _Like there's a lot to get stuck into_; he hesitated for the merest second before, seeing the echidna carefully take her first mouthful, Shadow probed the mixture on his plate before, following a closer examination of the morsel he'd speared with a fork and hoisted to eye level, he licked his lips, bit the bullet and ate the first bite.

The taste was more charcoal than anything else; smoky and fairly indistinct but certainly not unpleasant as he rolled the mouthful around his tongue, sucking out all the juices present before swallowing and taking the next bite from the tiny portion he'd been provided with. Two, three, four more scoops he took; it was as the fifth and possibly last forkful was on it's way up that he looked across the table again; as if the sight of Julie with sweat on her brow, face screwed up as though something was causing her awful pain, set off some kind of a chain reaction, Shadow suddenly felt a sensation sweep right through him that brought a whole new meaning to the phrase 'fire in the hole'.

Compared to this the Tabasco sauce was like sipping lukewarm coffee; the black hedgehog had the impression that someone had accidentally set off a distress flare and was now attempting to stub out the resultant blaze on his tongue. The heat went so far beyond heat it was actually a searing coldness; perspiration erupted from every pore on his face, evaporated blood swam to the surface of every area of his body as he gagged, all his strength gone as he tried desperately to swallow, to stand up, to do something, anything, that could relieve the ungodly pain that was at the moment melting its way through his teeth. He choked as he was unable to breathe; any air he tried to draw in was instantly combusted to useless carbon dioxide, in another few seconds he was sure he'd faint and oh, he welcomed that, anything other than this sort of unimagined agony. His teary vision swam, but as he swayed, teetering on the brink of merciful unconsciousness, he saw a hundred Julie-Su's, each one knocking back the liquid in the little beaker that was close to the side of the dish. _Water!_; that would at least abate this blaze slightly – reacting on primal instinct, screaming at him to do something to stop this torture, Shadow seized the beaker so hard the glass creaked; he couldn't have cared less as he threw his head back and, as a result, most of the clear water inside made it into his mouth.

The result was completely unexpected and at the same time welcome and worrying; everything this strange substance touched instantly blanked out; as Shadow quickly gargled, he became aware that, while his mouth no longer felt like Hell's kitchen, it also no longer felt anything like his mouth. Dimly recalling something about not swallowing this concoction, Shadow glanced over to see Julie spit back into the tumbler; trying to follow suit, the hedgehog spattered the tumbler, the table and his hand with droplets of the numbing solution as he tried to evacuate the area between his lifeless lips of anything that wasn't atmosphere. Coughing and choking, anger at such callous violation seized his emotions and he made no effort to stop getting his point across; unfortunately, as he quickly found out, trying to shout was a bit of a wasted effort; what emerged from his vocal chords was something akin to a love-child between a high pitched yodel and a sneeze. _What the…?_; as he sat back, realising with a creeping sense of horror how he could no longer most of the front of his muzzle, Julie seemed to snort with laugher at his attempted scream; he glanced over as she waved a hand frantically back and forth as through warding something away. _What does she want?_; as he realised he couldn't talk coherently, Shadow had to find another way to communicate his lack of understanding and thus shook his head. It was only when she pointed at he notepad that he understood; before she could react, he snatched it up and popped the top off the pen, scribbling frantically, the words charged with venom and hurt as he vented his spleen at how she'd tricked him; tearing off the top strip of the notebook, he thrust both paper and pen towards the echidna, narrowly avoiding singing the fur on his arm with the flame from the central candle:

_So much for it wouldn't hurt – that was low Julie, I trusted you this time._

_Yeah_; he sneered as her face fell from reading the note, unable to do anything but gloat as she must have seen just how deep the knife had gone in this time; _I hope you feel like Hell for that one_. His expression didn't change, not even when she picked up the paper and began to write something of her own, much more calmly and with greater clarity than the hedgehog had. Shadow tracked her intently with his eyes, watching on as he tried to think what excuse she could possibly use this time; the answer 'absolutely none' about the only one he could come up with. It was only when she put the pen down and handed the sheet of paper back, face open and, if not exactly abashed, at least hinting at feeling a little guilt, that he dropped his bale gaze for a second to see what she'd written:

_Would you rather feel the pain, or feel nothing at all?_

XXX

The question was so unexpected, so out of the blue, that his anger was replaced immediately by confusion; it was obvious there was meant to be a meaning to this question, but for the life of him he couldn't see it. Julie must have deduced this by his blank-eyed look and the way he was shaking his head; the sound of a scratching pen jerked his eyes up and he watched intently as she literally spelt out the answer for him. It took some time as she occasionally broke off, looking into space as she apparently tried to think of the best way to word a few of her sentences, but as he accepted the paper she eventually handed him, the result was so thought provoking, it was well worth waiting for:

_That's what the Dark Legion is all about; there's nothing worse than death, not being able to feel anything any more. This ceremony used to be called the Eve of Enlightenment by Dimitri, but Eenerjak, his replacement, changed the title; this was the day the first grandmaster received his enlightenment that death could be and should be fought against and beaten. That meal you just ate, it caused you pain eating it but that's like life; some things in life are painful, but it's better to feel that pain that not be able to feel anything, like our mouths can't now, by being dead; the point of this ceremony is to remind us that life can be a bitch sometimes, but it's worth living for, worth preserving, in the end. So we understand that the goal of the Legion really is worth everything, every sacrifice; we rededicate ourselves to the struggle against death._

For a long time, Shadow could do nothing but read those words over and over again, each time seeing a new meaning in them and, as he relieved the very recent memories of the his fire-eating act, he thought he could gradually begin to see where the Legion was coming from, especially poignant in his case as he could relate to life being unfair and nasty more than most. _But would I change it? No, of I course I wouldn't – I certainly don't want to die. Man_; he swallowed a sudden lump in his unfeeling throat, shaking slightly as he managed to give Julie a weak smile, disguising his outbreak of insecurity; _is Enerjak right about death after all?_ He tried to quickly but carefully sum up his reactions to this new information, this alien but alluring way of thinking; snapping his fingers and pointing for the pen, he was about to start writing when, as he screwed up his eyes to focus better in the dim light, he suddenly realised something. Counting to make doubly sure and remembering the history the guardians had told him about the first grandmaster of the Dark Legion, Shadow's hand blurred across the paper, excitement coursing through him as he understood, or thought he understood, the significance of the seven candles that glowed in the room with them:

_The candles, do they represent the Chaos Emeralds?_

XXX

_He's got a sharp mind, have to give him that_; as she read the question, Julie would have smiled had her lips been able to do so. Asking for the pen with her fingers and taking it as Shadow eagerly anticipated his answer, she lowered her head once more to scribe her answering words:

_Yes; they were the light that opened Dimitri's eyes to the way to cheat death forever – the seven candles represent both the seven emeralds letting us see the way to living forever, and our own limited understanding compared to Dimitri's – after all, can you compare a candle to a Chaos emerald?_

She pushed the paper, sending it fluttering towards where Shadow sat awaiting it eagerly; she saw him scanning the pages, virtually eating up the words she'd written as he read them. She saw his eyes crackle merrily as she assumed he'd read the last sentence; the hedgehog turned the paper over, finger underneath the last sentence and shaking his head. Julie gave a thumbs-up, beginning to reach for the paper again, only to stall the motion as Shadow retracted his own arm, face suddenly thoughtful as he lowered the paper back to the table and started writing once more, no longer hurried as he seemed to take more deliberation with these written words. Captivated by the deep thought she could see going into these words, the echidna remained silent as shadow wrote on, moving once more only when he set the pen down and slid the paper towards her, allowing her to see his views on the subject:

_I never knew the Legion was so involved; before this I, like most of Echidnopolis, imagined they were just a bunch of 'techno-freaks' trying to take over Angel Island – I never thought about it like this. Dimitri never explained much during the little time I knew him but I could tell this aim, the aim of the Legion, was his heart and soul, but I never knew this side of the coin, that normal troopers got involved in this side of things too. I can understand why you'd not want to let go of dates like these, especially if you were raised with them; if there are other dates on your calendar, let me know about them._

The last five words, more than any of the others, were what gripped her attention; she knew, or at least she hoped she knew, why Shadow was interested in these dates, but she needed to be sure; holding up the page and pointing, she raised an eyebrow, a questioning look on her face. In response, the black hedgehog gave what might have counted as a lop-sided grin and settled back in his chair, indicating the pair of them, then the room at large, ending in a carefree shrug; _if that means what I think it means_; Julie felt relief wash into her like liquid honey; _I really am so lucky it's not true_. That Shadow would willingly, no, more than that, actively want to take part in understanding more about the world she had left behind, do it so she wouldn't feel so strange and out of place in this new city at the same time as broaden his own horizons; she reckoned she could count on one finger the number of echidnas who'd do the same, even among her workmates. She hastily disguised the sudden excess moisture in front of one eye with a cheeky wink, giving another thumbs-up as Shadow snorted with laughter at her attempting to mouth the word 'thanks' with virtually no control over her lip muscles. As he tapped the table, however, eyes flicking up and to the right, she followed his gaze and guessed from the pleading, perplexed look on his face what he was after this time. Pointing at the clock, she rotated one finger in a complete circle twice; Shadow's face fell flat, the he suddenly flumped back in his seat, arms crossed as he shook his head; Julie had to struggle not to laugh again as she made to stand up.

Even as she switched on the overhead kitchen light, she heard some puffing noises from behind her and, to her not-so-great surprise, by the time she turned around again, all the candles were extinguished and Shadow was already leaning over the table to collect her plate and add it to his own. _Knuckles, those blessings you were mentioning_; the echidna recalled her recent private chat with the guardian and, to her surprise, began to see more and more where he was coming from; _they just increased by one_.

XXX

Just before she got ready to sleep for the night, Julie ducked into the lounge, listening as Shadow caught up on the late-night sky-ball results; though the hedgehog knew he'd never make much of a player due to his lightweight build and the heavy tackles involved in the game, he was something of a supporter. As she opened the door and took a silent step into the room,

"You're team winning?" Shadow glanced around, shaking his head as he thumbed the remote to switch the set to standby,

"Thrashed four-one, diabolical performanth", Julie had to choke back a snigger as Shadow screwed up his face, whipping his tongue in and out of his lips as the last traces of the potent muscle relaxant he'd taken still lingered in his distorted punctuation,

"Sorry, come again?" An ebony eyebrow raised in distain as Shadow pointed at his mouth, emphasising the point as he answered,

"Feels like I've had a tongue thanthplant", he complained, still mangling his speech as he was unable to separate his words coherently, "thith one doethn't phit!" Even through her hand, Julie had to break down slightly, chuckling at the slurred words as Shadow was forced to wipe a fleck of spittle from his lips; after a few seconds, however, Julie managed to regain some control and walk forwards,

"Don't panic, it'll wear off by tomorrow; must affect hedgehogs worse than echidnas".

"Thtory of my life, and Thonith's; anything that'd lay uth out for a week juth bounces off Knuckles". Shaking her head the former Legionnaire came forwards to stand by the arm of the couch nearest the hedgehog, placing a hand gently on his shoulder as he glanced up,

"On the bright side, tomorrow you can bet your last crest if one of us is going to make a fool of themselves it's going to be me – you know these people after all, for me it's uncharted territory".

"Don't worry, at worst it'll be like Th…", Shadow closed his eyes for a second, apparently not trusting his lips enough to name his home city, "the place I came from; you already know Knuckles and Rouge".

"True enough, and thanks again", she gave the shoulder her hand was resting on a slightly firmer grip than before, feeling warmth on the top of her hand again as Shadow must have covered it with his own, "it's always better to go through that with someone else".

"I meant what I thaid Jules", Shadow's voice was reassuring, helping to wear away her sense of isolation and, even deeper and more malevolent than that, the thoughts of treachery, both to the Legion and to her new city that she still had a connection, however slight, to her life in the Legion and couldn't fully relinquish it, "anything else like that, let me know; if anything it'th interesting to know".

"I bet; anyway, I'm turning in – you?"

"Juth catch the news firtht, then into the bag for the night", Shadow informer her as he flicked the television back on, "a lot can happen in a day, and I'll guarantee more will be happening tomorrow". The echidna to the side of him laughed, pulling her hand free from his own covering one and running it quickly through the quills on his head, messing them up affectionately even as he tried to stop its progress.

"I'll take you up on that one Shads", stepping away, Julie made to say her last goodnights, "anyway, see you in the morning; early start?"

"Not too early; come on, I need you to be presentable and that doesn't happen until at least ten o'clock". The echidna stopped dead in the doorway, mock-outrage radiating from her as she thrust her hands to her hips,

"And what did you mean by that; I look great no matter what time of day it is".

"That's because you're desensitised to your own reflection", his comeback was as sharp as she'd expected it to be, "the rest of us could lose retinal cells after such a shock first thing in the morning and I'm pretty certain you won't endear yourself to the Chaotix by striking them blind". _Okay, so you wanna play dirty then Shadow?_;

"And how come you're immune; oh yeah, I forgot", her turn of speed caught him out, "you've got a better way of blinding yourself during the night…"

"Get out of here!" Shadow span to his feet, jabbing at a course parallel to the hallway, "thometimes you're thertifiable, you know that?"

"Yeah, and I'm proud of it", Julie gave a self-satisfied smile as she indicated the sleeping bag that was rolled up at one end of the couch, "just try and keep it down will you; it's hard to get to sleep over the sofa squeaking…"

"Get to bed before I put you there mythelf!" She couldn't help herself; some devil of mischief had seized control and was now taking every opportunity to embarrass the hedgehog,

"Wow Shadow, I knew you were a fast mover but…"; _oh, okay then_; the little imp was exercised, as was she, at the sudden hardening of Shadow's expression and the way his finger shook, the blush that she thought she could almost see not detracting from the picture of a Mobian who's patience is at an end. Just before he could start moving though, Julie dashed down the hallway, well aware by dint of association that Shadow had an uncanny knack for living up to his promises, however seemingly far-fetched. Luckily, just this once, she was fast enough to get out the way – she slammed the bedroom door just as the first hint of ebon fur began to streak out of the lounge, holding in her mirth until she was sure that, after a second disgusted snort, Shadow had retreated to the safety of his own nightly quarters. _Maybe that was a bit much_; she chided herself for a second only to laugh once more as she slipped into her nightclothes; _but the look on his face makes it worth it every time!_

XXX

Unsurprisingly next day, relations at the breakfast table were ever so slightly strained; Shadow could barely bring himself to look the echidna opposite him in the face and she didn't dare sneak a glance across the table for fear of the demon taking over again and landing her in hotter water than ever. Gradually, however, the tension seeped away; by the time the last dish was put away, there were occasional snippets of conversation generated between the two and, as the clock chimed for eleven, Shadow was feeling generous enough to promise he wouldn't give Julie a 'thrill-ride', though this might have had something to do with the vision of a pair of crushed nuts that flickered across his eyes as the echidna sank her weight onto her back foot and gave a cool, level stare from her post at the kitchen door. As she felt her feet leave the floor and she supported herself in Shadow's arms, the former Legionnaire glanced up one last time,

"So, next stop this Chaotix crew then?"

"You bet", she was treated to a close-up of Shadow's slight smile, feeling his chest flutter as he chuckled at some joke she couldn't see, "and if you thought the rabble at Station Square were a laugh, you ain't seen nothing yet".

"And that's supposed to reassure me hooooowwww!" The last word of her question was stretched away into the distance as Shadow took off, the air whipping her few syllables and sending them echoing around the apartment complex the two Mobians shared their flat in.

XXX

"Incoming"; warned by the cheery shout from on high, Mighty closed the letter she'd been reading and tucked it away safely into the front pocket of her small bag and simultaneously kicked out softly with her foot; as Vector opened one slightly reproachful eye, the armadillo drew the edge of one hand quickly across her throat. The eye quickly lost its sense of unfairness; that emotion was swallowed by shock as the unofficial head of the Chaotix killed the power to his headphones and glanced at his watch in the same movement,

"That time already; just in the middle of my fave track as well". Mighty sighed in exasperation, her hang-dog look catching Vector full in the face as he stood up and stretched, the sunlight glinting slightly off his scales as he soaked up some extra power from the sun,

"You must be word-perfect by now; how can you hear anything after the torments you inflict on your eardrums?" Stung by the slur, the crocodile bent his formidable head down to scowl at his work colleague,

"Iron Maiden is not a torment – if you want something t'go deaf to, you should try Slipknot". In the face of his mock-injured pride, Mighty couldn't help but smile and yield,

"I think I'll pass; I've only got half a sense of touch, I can't afford to lose any others". _Why's he smiling so suddenly?_; the sight of Vector apparently doubling over in laughter for no apparent reason set the armadillo's guard up; she turned from side to side in case Charmy was up to one of his normal tricks; it was only at a sudden drum roll and a giggle from above her that she sighed and suddenly grabbed upwards, netting the bee that was dancing on the shell covering her head. As she brought them eye to eye and Charmy came right to eye-level with her suddenly volcanic glare, the bee found succour in his humour,

"Well, not quite the light fantastic, but a step in the right direction"; coupled with his winningly cheesy smile, Mighty's annoyance seeped away and she had no choice but to drop her effervescent team mate with little more than a warning she knew he'd ignore,

"Guilty feet ain't got no rhythm, they say", she casually cracked her knuckles menacingly as Charmy did his best to look abashed, "neither do broken ones, catch my drift?"

"Every word"; was all the bee managed to say in response before Mighty noticed his attention shift; he was now looking around her than at her; looking over her shoulder, she quickly realised why and, fighting down a stab of panic as metal shone in the weak sunlight, span on her heel to greet the two new arrivals to this clearing in the wilds outside Echidnopolis.

XXX

_Okay then_; as she looked down and frantically combed her fingers through the windswept remains of what had once been her hairstyle, Julie ran the same mental plan she had used only a few scant weeks ago through her head once more; _same as before – just say hi and take it from there_. Sorting out both that plan and the worst of her hair, the echidna blinked and then looked up; she then blinked and looked again as something about the scene before her stuck out like a sore thumb,

"Now you I recognise"; the strange, almost frightening tall Mobian before her chuckled, the lips peeling back to reveal those teeth she remembered all so well from the first, last and only other time she'd had a ringside seat to them; as before, she didn't realise this beast was smiling until she actually heard him speak, a grating, low voice but, she estimated, his jaws probably didn't allow for much more than that,

"Yeah, I have that effect on people; name's Vector", as he strode forwards, smile a little less threatening now she could see it as less of a threat and more of a greeting, Julie stood her ground and, when the hand was offered, was able to shake it without seeing her fingers tremble, "aside from Knucks and his missus, I'm the head honcho of this outfit". Looking past the larger Mobian, Julie saw the other two figures hurrying over; for a second she mistook the one in the lead for another echidna until she noticed the conspicuous absence of a hairstyle on the top of her head; _now that's the sort of armour the Legion should be interested in_. Just about holding in a whistle as Vector stepped back and she got a good look at the second character present, Julie was able to put two and two together and come up with four,

"If I were to hazard a guess", she probed even if she knew from the other lady's face that she was right in this assumption, "I'd say you were Mighty?"

"And you'd be absolutely correct"; as she shook, feeling both the warmth and strength in the armadillo's paw, Julie gave a cheerful laugh as Mighty continued, "technically it's Michelle but…"

"I can guess", Julie forestalled the explanations as she saw the green eyes flick upwards and followed them, seeing the virtual shadow they disappeared into as the impenetrable shell overhead blocked out the sun's rays, "technically it's Julie-Su for me, but hey, I prefer Jules".

"In that case then, Jules", the echidna looked around as Charmy appeared to slide out from behind Mighty's back without moving his feet, "you can call me", he ran a hand through his antennae, expression calculatingly suave, "the Charmer; interested?"

Despite the fact she'd known this was coming, Shadow having been especially keen to point out how much of a natural comedian the youngest and smallest of the Chaotix was, Julie was still broken down slightly by this deliberate overacting; as she smothered her sniggers behind one of her gloves, she tried to play the bee at his own game,

"Nice try, but", she glanced insinuatingly to her left, hoping to throw Charmy off the scent as his eyes found Shadow and widened accordingly, "I've been warned about your womanising tendencies by my house mate". She saw the doubt flicker in his face for just an instant before, almost seamlessly integrating it into his rhythm, the bee reacted to her surprise pre-emptive strike,

"There may have been some exaggeration there", he still didn't let up with his playboy act, "but I doubt it"; Julie had to stifle her sniggers again as something about Charmy's mannerism and perfect timing wormed its way through her normally steadfast mental defences and got to work on her funny bone, "you better catch me while you can – I've had other offehheerrrrss".

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on who you were at the time, something else at that moment quite literally descended to cut off the wordplay; even an actor as accomplished as Charmy couldn't keep up his seductive act while being hauled upwards by one of his antennae,

"Charm", Vector spoke in a stern tone at the same time as give a tiny shake to make sure he had the captive bee's full and undivided attention, "be nice; sorry for any offence", the crocodile twisted his head to give Julie an apologetic but not altogether abashed smile, "he's at that age". Unable to do anything else, the echidna shook her head and raised a hand; _I don't think it's possible to take offence from this guy_;

"Don't knock it", as Vector dropped his hold and the bee sorted out his head quickly, Julie took a step forwards and winked, "you're only young once".

"Yeah, too young" the crocodile muttered as the Mobian he'd come to see as something very like a younger cousin threw off his discomfort and gave thumbs-up, relieved to see that he appeared to have a new ally against the repeated calls for him to grow up too fast. It was at this point that Shadow, having greeted the Chaotix from afar just before Julie began making her introductions, took a quick head-count and realised what, or more prominently who, was missing from this gathering,

"Wait, where's Espio?"

"Here".

Instincts snapped into play as the unseen voice hissed into Julie's ear at a range of no further than a foot; the former Legionnaire's years of training couldn't be denied by a mere few months out of active service. Spinning on the heel of her foot, Julie picked out the most likely origination point of the hiss and one of her augmented arms snapped out; she felt contact but it was glancing only; _deflection_; her other arm was up in a guard as she registered the pressure on the back of her hand, redirecting the force of her blow and making it miss the point she'd aimed at; _at least I was in the right place_. She heard a set of rustling footsteps receding slightly – her eyes widened as she saw grass being squashed flat even where she could see no-one; as a sudden rush of purple filled her vision she was suddenly the one backing up, trying to take in this Mobian appearing where before there had been none,

"So, you must be Julie-Su", at his tone, the words like poisoned honey as he looked her up and down, frigid eyes seeming to scan over her, searching for weakness as he continued, "I am Espio". _Espio – everyone said he was creepy – don't give him another inch_; armed with her foreknowledge, Julie refused to go backwards any further, instead standing tall and putting her hands on her hips she faced him down,

"So I gathered; they said you could appear out of thin air", seeing his casual sneer and prangled by it, she pressed forwards to land her criticising blow, "but I thought you'd know better than to give away your position by gloating like that". She at first thought his snort was one of disappointment; it was only when he looked up and she saw the smirk on his lips that she realised she was wrong in that regard,

"Believe me", the chameleon's icy smile didn't make it to his eyes; there was no humour here, he was merely stating a fact, "if I'd wanted you dead your blood would be watering the grass over there by now", he pointed to a patch some three or four feet away before reaching up to tap a spot on his neck, "knife to the carotid artery; very quick, if slightly messy".

"You're a real laugh a minute, you know that? God I'm glad I don't have to shack up with you like these poor sods"; in that second Espio had earnt Julie's undying contempt and, however, grudgingly, a slight sliver of respect as well – she jerked a thumb over towards where the rest of the Chaotix stood, not seeing their expressions as she tried to imagine what it must be like to actually live, not just work, with someone like this. The chameleon spared them a glance before looking back at the echidna, his eyes never leaving hers even as the rest of his body began to meld with the surrounding environment, making him fade out before her eyes,

"I never asked to be popular, I just asked to be efficient", just before he turned away, she saw his eyes narrow, lips pulled back into a feral smile, "and take it from me, I am very good at what I do. I'll see you at home, some of us have to earn a living and don't take time off at weekends". With a jerk of where his head had been, the misanthropic Mobian completed his disappearing act, the only indication of his presence the slight rustling where bushes parted before him, and soon even that was lost in the distance.

_Brilliant Esp_; as soon as he'd seen his oldest friend appear, Vector had been grinding every single one of his considerable number of teeth in frustration; _it was going fine until you show up and ruin the party_; all he could do was pick up the pieces and offer to try and make amends,

"Ah, Jules", he saw her flinch away from where she had been watching over the track Espio had taken, breaking eye contact after assuring herself he'd gone, "I can only say sorry fer that; Esp's…"

"I know, I've been told", with a last shiver, as though the chameleon's departure had removed some aura of frost at the same time, leaving her to feel the kiss of the sun's heat once more, Julie cut off the crocodile's contrite speech, "I meant what I said – I really do pity you having to put up with that every day".

"It gets easier the more you do it", Mighty chipped in, seeing where Espio had vanished from and reliving her own first few days as a Chaotix, how the chameleon had been forever snidely sniping away at her defences until she'd finally lost her temper and told him where to go; _from then on it got better – he really just doesn't trust anyone_; "it might sound corny, but it really does take some time to get on with him". As Julie raised an eyebrow at the armadillo's resignedly forlorn expression, Charmy took his chance to bury the matter with a minimum of pain and fuss,

"He's been like that for as long as I've known him – we've all tried to figure out why but getting anything other than silence and sarcasm from him is like trying to get blood from a stone".

"Some people are natural loners", with a last dismissive shrug and snort, the echidna turned away from the chameleon's departing path, "and as far as I'm concerned they're welcome to it; they want to get by without connecting to anyone I say let them get on with it". _That's a relief_; Vector let a very relieved breath whistle out from between his teeth; _she's got a straight head on her shoulders – too collected to freak out from the wall-crawler's attitude problem_.

"Well then Jules, congratulations, you've met the Chaotix", the crocodile smiled as he sat down, gesturing that everyone else should make themselves comfortable as well, "now if you'll just sit tight fer'a sec while the guardians get here, we can get started".

"Started?" Shadow's interest had been piqued as he leant against a nearby tree, wondering what the crocodile meant by that, "what did we sign ourselves up for this time?"

"Sports day of course", Charmy rubbed his hands together gleefully as he did every time one of these dates rolled around, "we all just get together and have a bit of a practise of whatever we feel like; helps keep us sharp and get a bit of team bonding going. You ever do anything like that Jules?" _Well, not exactly, but close enough_; after fingering her chin for a few seconds the echidna nodded,

"Yeah, there were opportunities to kick back and relax in the Legion, get to buddy up with your squad mates when you had a bit of down time but sports wasn't usually top of everyone's to do list; it was mostly movies or easy-survival camps, that sort of thing? But anyway", the Chaotix saw her indeterminably coloured eyes crystallise slightly as she regarded her housemate, "if we have to split up into teams I'm not going with him or Knuckles". As she'd expected, Shadow couldn't help but react to that criticism; _and in doing so you've just dug your own hole_;

"And why not", the black speedster put his hands on his hips, looking at the former Legionnaire disdainfully, "you of all people should know I am going to own the track events".

"True enough", she conceded that before striking back, "but I saw a picture of what happened the last time you went on a 'bonding exercise' and", she shuddered theatrically even if the mental memory of said picture still made her smile even now, "from what I saw it wasn't pretty". For a second Shadow stood immobile, absorbing the words as she spoke them, then with a slow closing of his crimson eyes, as the Chaotix realised what Julie was on about and all three of them sniggered at the same picture, he let his head fall into his hands; _and I'll be hearing about this for how long? The remainder of my natural life if I'm lucky?_

XXX

"I got a bone to pick with you"; even at this range, Shadow could tell by the way Knuckles shrugged in shared camaraderie and Rouge looked away slightly to disguise her grin that both could tell why he was indicating Julie-Su pointedly. One of them, however, held up his hands to try and make the first few steps towards reparations,

"Sorry Shads, I was forced into it – partly of the punishment for what happened downstairs"; _oh well, at least she didn't rub my face in it too much_; actually, the more Shadow thought about that as everyone waved the pair of guardians in, the less sense it made – Julie had been holding onto a cast-iron ridicule rod and yet hadn't used it until now; where was the sense in that? Filing the question away to be dealt with later, the black hedgehog pulled himself back to reality in time to greet Rouge as she came in for a landing.

"Nice to see you looking so well batgirl", she glared at him evilly even as she returned his handshake,

"Likewise for now – too many comments in that vein though and you'll not be too well in the future spike-ball; ah, hi Jules – don't panic, the cold has completely gone now, vanquished ready for next year". The echidna laughed as the came a little closer; _yeah_; seeing the bat from this range hammered home the point that Rouge did look a lot better than a week or so ago; _she looks like she's back to her best_;

"Bet you can't wait for that huh?"

"Tell me about it; anyway, enough of this, the gang's all here", the bat brought her hands together sharply, the loudness of the clap dulling all other conversation as Rouge raised her voice to shout, "so then, let's get down to business; what'll we do first?"

XXX

"Okay, Vec, you best go first; this is a game that has to be seen rather than explained"; as Mighty patted the ground next to her, reserving a little space for Julie to sit down as everyone save the named reptile and Rouge took their seats, Knuckles smiled slyly and called over,

"I've been practising Vec – that record won't last much longer".

"I know", the gruffer tones of the crocodile answered the guardian with easy familiarity that allowed Julie to hazard a guess that this sort of banter was common between the two of them, "I'm feelin' up to breaking it right now; ready when you are dame". Julie leant forwards, trying to guess what was coming next as, having shook her head at Vector's compliment, Rouge looked like she was getting ready to break into a sprint; the echidna's eyes widened when she actually did just that, taking off from a standing start; _she's gonna crash right into…whoa_! The sight of the bat suddenly catapulted upwards from Vector's explosive throwing motion made Julie's jaw hang loose; the idea of this as a sport simultaneously made her quiver in anticipation and dread; _it'll be cool when I'm throwing, but what happens when it's my turn to be thrown?_

"So", her melancholy train of thought was broken by Charmy's voice, the bee apparently oblivious to her twinge of indecision as he watched the bat circle overhead, "what do you think to throw Rouge then?"

"Throw Rouge?" The echidna parroted in disbelief until something cleared up for her and she chuckled, "seems alright, but how does Rouge actually play?"

"She gets to sling me about", the bee answered in a carefree manner, breaking off to applaud as Rouge set hr feet to land in the soft grass, having finished her glide to earth from the height she'd been thrown to, "nice try Vec". There was a laugh from across the way; leaning forwards, Julie saw past Mighty to where Knuckles was standing up, eyes fixed as Vector moved back to the seating area,

"Nice try", the guardian stretched upright, loosening himself off quickly before striding forwards, "now watch what happens when someone actually succeeds".

"I'm just gettin' warmed up furry"; as the two Mobians crossed on their journeys, each swatted the other in a competitive but still playful gesture; Julie motioned over to where Vector eventually sat down,

"You guys do this a lot then?"

"When there's nuthin' too pressing on", he shrugged before rolling back to lay prone on the grass, maximising his exposure to the sun, "just helps us keep in trim, and it's better than sittin' at home gettin' bored watching trash on the box. Anyway, heads up", the echidna looked over her shoulder as Vector's glance went over her head, "you're up, an' if that's the best you can do I should be gettin' the same handicap as Mighty".

"Just a fraction lower than you; nothing I won't improve on next round"; as she came to her feet, Julie gave a dark smile, striding forwards and brushing past the other echidna before calling over her shoulder,

"Sorry boys, but you're about to get beat by a girl; ready Rouge?"

"Just say when"; as she sank into the position she'd seen Knuckles and Vector both use, Julie put her faith in the technology of her arms and winked over to the guardian,

"Let's do this; go for it!" The second after she returned the wink Rouge took off, racing right for the echidna and leaping up at the right second; Julie felt a sudden pressure on her cupped hands and, with a loud shout, flung her body upwards to unleash all the tension and strength in her back, arms and hands.

As everyone present saw Rouge propelled skywards, Charmy was the first to find his voice with a low whistle of appreciation,

"Whoa, now that's a new record easy".

"Told you", all present looked over to see Shadow nod upwards at Rouge's now gliding form, "she's about as strong as three of me, guess that just proves it". Vector nodded in dumbstruck awe,

"And then some", the crocodile gave a gruff laugh before tapping Mighty's shoulder, "reckon she could give you a run for ya money if she trains up a bit". The armadillo's smile was answer enough when coupled with the raised eyebrow that went with it,

"Just as well; it'll be nice to have a bit of competition at last"; Charmy drew in a sharp breath as Vector scowled disgustedly at his team mate for a second before applauding the triumphant Julie as she returned to take her seat,

"Nice throwin' arm you got there babe, but it must be a pain getting through customs".

"Oh you got that right", the former Legionnaire laughed as she realised this joke had no strings attached; it was just truly meant to poke a bit of harmless fun at her metallic augmentations, "I just have to feed myself through the metal detector one piece at a time before they'll let me board a plane; I'm just counting myself lucky that Tails isn't that paranoid".

"Yet; give us a few more weeks though", Shadow added as he rubbed his hands together evilly, Mighty and Knuckles smiling in a similar vein, "he's still not figured out how we know about the plans he's got to modify the Cyclone; I swear he thinks I've bugged his phone or something"; _sometimes I think that tub of triple strength rum and raisin was the best bargain I ever brought – one look and Cream was ready to jump through hoops to get at it – just give tails a few more days then tell him how we were second-guessing him all the time_. Julie held in her laughter, though there was no denying the way her shoulders shook as she exclaimed,

"You lot really are the worst when it comes to that kid; what did he ever do to you?" Mighty's eyes shot wide open,

"How long a list do you want?" Before Julie could even consider an answer the armadillo had gone on, "he embarrassed Sonic by publicly shouting out his middle name, took that picture of Shadow, Knuckles, Sonic and Thunderhawk getting their proverbial freak-on…"

"That was very funny though", Charmy piped up in the fox's defence before a harsh glare from both present offending parties cowed him into submission and allowed the armadillo to continue after a second of screwing up her courage,

"..and, to top it all off, well, Big sent me a less-than-flattering drawing and he opened it for me, then passed it around all of this horrible shower", Julie noticed everyone save Shadow concealing smiles by this point as Mighty finished, "so yeah, for a while he wasn't in my good books either – in fact the only reason I let him live was because he promised he'd ship me to see said cat every so often free of charge". Julie's smirk was evident even before Mighty finished speaking, but she had to try and offer some evidence that Tails, despite the trouble he occasionally caused, was no better or worse than any other member of the gang,

"Okay he's not perfect, but he does have some good points", Julie was about to elaborate before, with a very loud mental click, two fragments of speech, one recent one not so much, came together to make a very good piece of sense; flicking her eyes sideways, she saw Shadow give the tiniest of confirmatory nods and from that homed in, "wait, Big? Isn't that the guy who painted…?"

She didn't finished her question, but then again, as she saw the armadillo's face soften completely, eyes drifting as they were enraptured by memories, Julie knew she didn't need to; that look would have been enough to convince anyone this was the case,

"Yeah, he's the one", the armadillo breathed dreamily before shaking herself slightly, dragging her concentration back to the present as she finished her answer, "Big's the artist who did that, and a lot of other works besides; he's also my, er", Mighty's brow knitted for a second as she finished carefully, "significant other – is that the politically correct term these days?"

"Something stupid like that"; everyone glanced up as Rouge landed softly close by, the bat having been concentrating on her gliding thus far and therefore only joining in the conversation now, "but it doesn't matter here; all we need to know is that he's got his claws in you good and proper". The armadillo glanced up at her friend with a smile tinged in humour,

"And sometimes quite literally at that; mind you if I could get a mould for them and start producing them whole-sale, it'd be the biggest thing in armadillo hygiene since floor wax was invented; gives the shell a lovely sheen if you use it right" she explained to the numerous baffled looks that accompanied her last boast. Unfortunately, however, Julie still couldn't quite get her head around what the armadillo was saying,

"Wait a minute, this guy actually claws you occasionally? What are you, some kind of scratching post for him?"

"No, no, no, you don't understand", Mighty waved those ideas away; _should have seen this coming – oh well, everyone else is cool with it_; "you see this shell on my back?" Julie folded her arms with a calculating smile,

"Not like I could miss it"; _she's got some nerve being sarky like that_; Mighty rolled the answer around in her head for a minute before smiling mentally and continuing; _good_.

"Right, well little bits of dust and fluff are always getting caught underneath it and I certainly can't reach under there; someone else has to go in and get them out for me. Most of the time I have to raise the plates of my shell up to do this but Big", she hooked three of her fingers to mimic claw curves, "he's a cat. He can just slide his claws under the shell, scrape out anything that's under there that shouldn't be – job done, so long. Here", reaching into her pocket, the armadillo opened one of the partitions of her wallet, motioning for Julie to have a look. The echidna peeked over the small photograph present as Mighty explained,

"This is Big; I know, before you ask, that is his real name – long story"; _man he had precognitive parents_; the former Legionnaire took in the difference in height between the pictured armadillo and the mammoth Mobian she could see stood by the side of her, posing for the camera as it snapped them both; _he must be a good foot, foot and a half taller than me if this is anything to go by_.

"Very fitting", the echidna commented as she settled back onto the grass, motioning for Mighty to put the picture back where it belonged, "and from what I've seen of his work so far, very talented as well". Knuckles nodded at this; he was one of the privileged few who had seen not only The End of the Hunt, but also, when Big had summoned the courage to reveal it to them all, the rest of his portfolio as well; every single one of the artworks he had seen there had been imprinted so deeply into his memories that he knew he'd never be able to forget them,

"You don't know how right you are Jules, but", she looked up at the fatal B-word, sensing with a keen ear some kind of a clause coming up in the proceedings, "he's shy with it; doesn't like the public eye"; _right, I see what you need here – if anything I can understand that as well_;

"Fine by me", Julie commented nonchalantly, though there was an unspoken promise in these words that all present could pick up on and respond to; Vector, who had up until this point been fiddling with a loose connection on his headphones, was first to react to the shift in mood from 'slightly serious' to 'just having fun',

"Right then", he asked no-one in particular, "time for round two?"

XXX

As she lowered her fists to the floor, supporting her bodyweight to get back a breath of air, Julie looked up to where the rest of her playmates were in similar state of recovery, recapturing escaped breath following their latest exercise being called to a halt. Even Shadow, used to running far faster and for longer than this, was sat down re-oxygenating both his muscles and his mind; in a game of tag like this, you had to keep your wits sharp all the time and that was as tiring if not more so than the actual running. As she slowly brought herself back to full height, the echidna smiled and managed to call over to the nearest Chaotix,

"Hey Mighty", the armadillo looked over from where she was prone and rocking on her shell, trying to get back to her feet, "how often do you guys get together like this?" Sucking down a deep breath, she managed to reply after a minute or two,

"About once or twice a week, depends on what else needs doing if we can get the time".

"In that case", the echidna stood tall, beginning to stretch off as she warmed down, "give me a call for next time; not had a workout that fun for ages". Knuckles looked over with a grin as he helped pull Shadow up to his feet,

"Like I said to Shady here", he slapped the hedgehog on the shoulder as Shadow nodded, indicating he was all right to stand unaided, "more fun than pounding carpet to the beat of the box".

"And you were right".

"But who said it was over?" All heads turned towards the source of the shout in time to see Charmy fling himself to his feet, apparently none the worse for the past forty-five or so minutes of virtually ceaseless running as he planted his feet and raised his fists in a guard, "come on, I'll have you; anyone who's up for it, step up right now!"

_He can not be serious_; Julie was suddenly torn between respecting the bee's heart and doubting his sanity as he made that challenge; _Knuckles, Vector, not to mention Mighty – any one of those would have him for breakfast_. Surprising as that declaration was, however, when the call was answered, the identification of the challenger really threw the former Legionnaire for a loop; with a blaze of flame from his jet skates, Shadow went from stood still to black blur, pulling to a halt just outside Charmy's fist range and giving a small, secretive smile as he raised his own guard,

"The guardians mentioned you'd been training", the hedgehog spoke casually as he seemed to size up his smaller opponent, "let's see if it's paid off yet".

"Aye", Charmy's response was drawled and measured, though he never broke eye contact with the hedgehog as he began to circle, "lets".

"'Ang on", Vector suddenly rose to his feet and approached before things could get too heated, "fer those who've never been here before", by some strange inkling Julie knew this was for her benefit and no-one else's, "the rules; ya win by three knock-downs, tap out, or in your case buzz-boy, by sting. No cheap fightin', keep it all above the belt, and, oh yeah", the crocodile smiled as he seemed to be struck by a sudden idea, "no spittin'. Right, that's my piece over", the scaled reptile scurried backwards, putting some distance between himself and the two combatants, "get going!"

Drawn in by the spectacle, Julie kept her eyes on Shadow for the duration of the fight; she'd never thought of the hedgehog as anything like a fighter due to his overall light build and therefore, she assumed, lack of staying power; despite the advantage his pace offered him she would have guessed that, over the course of fight going the distance, Shadow would have been bested by even an average Legionnaire. Against some of the pros, those who actually made the boxing teams for the inter-squad competitions, well, if he'd have lasted beyond the first punch she'd have been impressed by his resilience. _Still, he'd have an impressive first few flurries and those would be the danger punches_; however, as the hedgehog rocketed backwards and away from Charmy's advance, avoiding the bee's jabs and crosses with ease, Julie found all her preconceptions thrown into the air when the fight truly began.

As he came forwards, looking more like a cannonball than anything else, Julie suddenly saw the spikes that she thought of as little more than ornamentation evolve into pointed, potentially deadly, weapons; though Shadow kept them depressed, as Charmy staggered, half-spun as his attempted dodge didn't quite work and he caught a glancing blow from the hedgehog's attack, Julie realised that, push come to shove, Shadow could have become someone quite dangerous. _Speed plus technique equals power_; the echidna remembered that old chestnut from one of the Legion's combat trainers halfway through basic – applying that sort of formula to Shadow as she was now, the theory given extra credence as said hedgehog, uncurling and on his feet in a flash, took advantage of his opponent being off-balance and rushed in, kicking out low and sweeping the feet out from under the bee, she felt a little worm of unease creep up her spine; _hand-to-hand I'd not have a problem, but if he got anything like a run up…_.

"Nice move", as he stood back up, Charmy commented his opponent even as his eyes remained calm and calculating, "not used to fighting at that sort of pace". Shadow laughed,

"Aside from Sonic, I don't thinks there's anyone fighting at my kind of pace Charm", the hedgehog suddenly snapped back into his ready position, "one-nil to me".

"But not for long"; with a shout, Charmy pushed off into the air, flying high and spinning in the air to avoid Shadow's attempted jump, kicking out with his feet; Julie saw her house mate's course deflected but no more damage than that; Shadow landed in a crouch, springing away already, never letting his opponent get close enough to even throw a shot as he regrouped,

"Nice move"; this time it was Charmy's turn to laugh,

"Thanks"; using his words as cover, the bee dived in; _why did he do that?_; even from her seat on the sidelines Julie could see he was going way too slow to trouble Shadow; as she knew he would, the hedgehog merely darted backwards just at the point Charmy's course was set, when he couldn't pull back up due to his velocity and had to be carried to the ground by his momentum. _Two-nil I think_; Shadow revved up once more, careening towards the grounded bee and looking to hit him square this time; _this is going to hurt_.

XXX

_Go time…now!_; though he had been training hard with both the guardians, Charmy, despite Espio's numerous remarks to the contrary, was smart enough to try out a few new things on his own initiative, and one problem he had thought about, especially in the lieu when Mighty had been recuperating from her battle with Metal Sonic, was how he could get to grips with a speedster like Metal, or, for that matter, the flesh and blood Sonic. He knew he'd never keep up and he could only stay in the air for so long, so he couldn't win that way; he had to use his cunning rather than match power or speed with this kind of foe. As Shadow's attack came steaming in, Charmy waited as long as his nerves would let him, then threw himself to the side; _land it, land it right_; he braced his arms for the impact, seeing with a little hope that Shadow was going to miss him and, yes, he couldn't change course, he was going to do this!

He landed, palms flat to the ground and immediately thrust his arms out, whip-lashing back the way he'd come, legs apart to entangle and grip rather than merely kick this time; he felt pressure and, like a mousetrap, his lower limbs snapped shut, hugging around something. He shut his eyes as he was dragged along, feeling pain as his calves were repeatedly rolled over but blocking it out as his tolerance to fighting had allowed him to do; the pace of his victim was slowing, it was safe now. Bending his knees, the bee shouted,

"Sting!" and pumped his abdomen forwards, feeling fur and flesh underneath him as he kept his most dangerous asset sheathed; the last thing he wanted to do was actually hurt someone he'd grown a little fond of. All movement suddenly ceased and he found himself looking up at the sky, seeing the clouds as he registered and began to deal with the throbs of pain in his legs, feeling Shadow uncurl from his ball and begin to untangle himself from his conqueror at the same time there was a little applause from the sidelines. Charmy remained prone, still soaking the pain and the victory up; a sudden object above him blocked out the light and he squinted up at it, grinning and accepting the hand that was offered to him, pulling himself upright as Shadow nodded his approval,

"Neat trick Charm"; he fell silent as the bee suddenly collapsed against him, legs not quite up to holding him steady yet as he grimaced painfully,

"Sore though; no such thing as a free lunch huh?"

"Tell me about it; anyway, next time, don't try and wrap me up like that", Shadow cautioned, though he wasn't doing down the bee's adroit performance down in the slightest as he offered his advice, "I had my spikes down but in a real fight they'd have left your calves in ribbons. Next time, kick out, sort of like wrestlers do; that sort of impact would flip me over, I'd uncurl on my back and, if you were onto it like you were then, you'd have paralysed me before I could do anything more than wonder what had hit me". Charmy nodded, digesting the information as Vector came to his feet again, clapping his team mate's victory as he spoke over the din of celebration and whistling, the two guardians congratulating their prodigy on his win,

"Nice work buzz-boy; Charmy wins because of the sting", the impromptu announcer declared, Shadow bobbing his head in acknowledgement of defeat as he made to retake his place amid the crowd, "winner stays on then".

"No, not this time", the crocodile looked down, concern in his manner as Charmy raised his hand, shaking his head and hobbling towards a soft patch of earth, "everything under my kneecaps has been pretty much tenderised, I think I'm done for the day. Retire on a high, that's my motto". Vector pursed his scaly lips in consideration before nodding acceptingly and changing his game plan,

"Okay then, we'll need another pair to keep this going". _Ah, why not_; Julie felt that old destructive urge flutter up a little as she pushed herself upright; _I could use a decent fight, and anyway we're not out to really hurt each other_.

"You got one of the two here", she strode forwards, tapping Charmy on the shoulder as she walked past, a little admiration in her gaze as he took her seat in the grass with relief; she had half a mind to tell him to ask Shadow for a hand in relieving the stress in his leg muscles but, than again, Shadow had just lost a fight to a younger opponent – she couldn't really give him any more cause for embarrassment right now. As she reached the patch of ground where Vector stood, she turned to size up who would be joining her in this match; _Mighty would be okay, I just have to keep moving – no idea what Knuckles is like and I really don't fancy messing with Shadow, and…hello_; though it was a hard struggle, she just about managed to keep her poker face straight as she saw Rouge unbuckle her boots and then place them to one side, standing up to fight barefoot as he winked at the master of ceremonies,

"Oh well, none of these other cissies are up for it; looks like it's you and me Jules". The echidna didn't answer directly; she was too busy wracking her brains for memories – what had everyone else mentioned about the bat's fighting prowess. Julie was reasonably sure she was a kicker but, beyond that, this was pretty much a blind fight for the echidna; _at least that works both ways – she doesn't know what I can do_. As the bat sauntered forwards and stood opposite her, Julie could almost feel the serene confidence she exuded and did her best to replicate it, respectful that the bat could act so cool even if she knew Rouge must have been trying to solve the same problem she was; _what's she capable of?_

"Okay ladies, same as before 'cept no win by sting; first to three falls or a tap out wins. Okay, just get me tail in the clear", Julie had to let out a tiny smile as the larger reptile backed up to a safe distance before calling over, "right, go for it!"

From the word go, when Rouge's front foot had smashed into her leading guard arm and send a shockwave up through her shoulder, Julie knew she was in for a completely different contest to the one she was used to. Most of the Legion's boxing was to do with picking out the grand-slam shot to put your opponent down, or else it was all about staying out the way, dodging most of the traffic and trying to follow up with the counter-attack. _But this_; the echidna growled as Rouge darted in, feet flickering faster than a flame, hoping to shatter through her guard and land soft but numerous, strength-sapping blows to keep her on the defensive before whipping back out of range; _this is completely out of the bathtub_. Julie was smart enough to know that trying to wind up a big one was just asking for trouble; Rouge was more than quick enough to send a flurry of kicks flying in and then dodging whatever came back with impudent ease – no, she had to try something else.

"Come on Jules", the voice almost made her arms drop due to shock; only her instincts kept her jaw intact as Rouge snapped in to attack her split-second pause, "just pretend you're trying to hit me and it'll be a cinch". Smiling at the thought, the former Legionnaire advanced into the teeth of the storm, taking the majority of the punishment on her steel arms and shrugging it off, closing until she could launch an attack of her own, tagging the bat as she tried to skip out of range though there was nothing like the force needed to cause a stumble behind the punches finding home as Julie commented quietly, aware Rouge would be able to hear her over the noise of the fight,

"What do you know – he was actually right for a change".

"Now that's not nice", the bat leapt up, bringing her feet together and forcing Julie to spin away or risk being drilled into the floor as she came down, flashing out into her normal fighting stance in a trice before the echidna could even think about retaliating, "he was my team mate once upon a time".

"I know", Julie moved again, trying to box her way in and close the distance, "remind me again how you put up with him?"

The fight raged on for minutes with neither fighter giving ground; there had been a minute of controversy when Rouge had gone down but, stepping back, Julie had shaken her head to Vector's declaration of a fall;_ I never touched her, that was a slip_; and earned a look of respect from her opponent – obviously Rouge respected fair play. Now though, it was starting to become more desperate for the former Legionnaire; though she was in good condition due to her training, she now knew with bitter certainty that Rouge was both better trained and much more comfortable at this kind of fighting than she was; the bat had a better game plan and, as she felt another kick scissor up towards her ribs, only just able to get her elbow down in time to stop its progress, she had to admit it was working. _Can't go on like this_; surrender never entered her mind as she flicked her head, sending her dreadlocks and sweat flying out of her vision; _need something else – come on, what's she got to exploit that I haven't?_ The answer, as Rouge took to the air, flying up but leaving her legs down as she sought to rake the echidna from an overhead pass, seemed to be not much; Julie paced backwards, watching her opponent's weapons as the guardian's wife began to fly forwards, circling, looking for an opening to exploit just as Julie was thinking hard to try and find that extra edge. She had to lower her eyes as Rouge flew towards the sun, though she knew the bat wouldn't attack from there as it was a dishonest thing to do and thus she had a few priceless breathing seconds; panting down a few deep ones the former Legionnaire thought back frantically, looking for something, anything that she could turn into an advantage. _Hang on a second…_

XXX

_Damn, must really be an echidna thing_; though she let nothing show, Rouge was feeling the strain of this combat and had to respect Julie's heart from this sort of performance – the echidna simply would not let herself be beaten. Still, even someone like her could only do so much; completing her turn the bat saw, just for a second, a quiver run through the other woman's arms and had to home in on it; straightening out into her dive, she closed with both feet poised, ready to strike; Julie's arms came up ready to block but, even if she did manage to get them both in the way the momentum of this was going to be irresistible. It was only when she saw the feral grin on Julie's face that sudden, cripplingly fearful second thoughts reared their ugly heads and, by then, it was too late to back out.

XXX

All watching craned their necks as they saw Rouge get ready to pounce, then were forced to cover their ears as, expending all the power her augmentations could give her, Julie brought her forearms together at full speed, the metal clashing together with a resounding clang that echoed away into the distance. It was bad enough as a spectator; Rouge, being a lot closer to the source of the noise and having much more sensitive hearing to boot, was caught by the wave of sound and instinctively had to protect her hearing, clapping both hands up to her ears and curling up into a sort of foetal ball. She felt her knees slam down into something that yielded but it was all foggy, the haze of pain from her throbbing eardrums blocking out most of the other stimulus she could have detected and because of that she never really stood a chance. Despite being bowled over by the impact, Julie was quick enough to take advantage of the bat's dulled speed and reared up, catching Rouge in a hug and dragging her down into a scuffle on the floor the bat couldn't really win; Julie's strength was superior at such close quarters and, though it took a while to subdue Rouge long enough to apply pressure to a point she knew from experience caused an awful lot of pain. Vector saw the bat's free hand flutter on the ground and immediately called it,

"Tap out; that's a wrap girls – Julie's fight by submission"; _now that, was hard_; for a second the echidna couldn't move, having to sink down on the floor next to the gasping bat as she tried to muster the energy necessary to move again.

"Wait a sec Julie", she felt rather than heard Vector's voice and, as she felt pressure on the back of her top, she realised he must have been hauling her to her feet; she managed to get her legs underneath her again as Rouge shook her head, looking around dazed as she patted her ears, still not fully over the effects of the concussive blast of piercing sound. Julie was about to try and lend a hand but someone else piped her at the post; Knuckles knelt by the side of his wife and helped her rise slowly back to a vertical base, looking across as he did so with his eyebrows raised,

"That was awesome Jules; how'd you come up with a move like that?"

"Desperation", the echidna managed to grin, pointing at Rouge as she began to slowly stretch off, winking at the victorious echidna at the same time as mouth the word 're-match', "I remembered bats have sharp ears in more than one sense and tried something different – lucky for me it worked. Though I don't think I'd try it again in a hurry".

"Sore?" Vector queried, glancing down at her arms; Julie chuckled and shook her head before nodding at Rouge,

"No, but come on; you really think she's going to get caught out by a shot like that again? Anyway", with a sudden clap, victorious adrenaline tanking her up again as she finally realised she'd won that gruelling war, she threw down the gauntlet once more, "who's next?"

XXX

_Run me a bath_; as she let him into the apartment that was beckoning towards them, Shadow tried to mentally compel Julie to do the bidding his body was aching for; _and pass the smelling salts_. Te run here had been bad enough; the exertions from the games, fights and final, all-out make or break tussle that had come just before he and the echidna in front of him had said their final goodbyes were beginning to get to him at last; all he wanted to do now was sink into a hot, deep bath, slurp up something that didn't have to be chewed to be eaten and then crawl into that soft, warm bed that was just singing a lullaby he was having to struggle against to resist. As he shut the door behind him, he just about managed to prick his ears enough to hear Julie's first words,

"Man, that was a blast", she stretched upwards, standing on tip-toe as she took in a heavy yawn, "gonna have to do that again sometime".

"Not until I've got a decent meal and a good night's sleep under my belt though", Shadow managed to mumble in response as he recalled something about it being his turn to cook tonight, "go get a bath or something, just save some of the hot water for me later". _What did I _say?; apparently, something about what he'd said must have sparked of some mental process for the echidna before him; after tapping the side of her face for a few moments, eyebrows drawn together as she put some thought into her words, Julie pursed her lips before extrapolating his former request,

"Got a better idea", Shadow leant forwards, interest piqued, "I'll get a bath and, when I get out, you have my water; it'll save the utility bill", she added quickly as the hedgehog tried to digest this new idea; _seems to make sense – just put in a drop more hot after her, shouldn't be a problem – nice idea to cut costs Jules_; reaching the end of his mental rope, the hedgehog gave an approving nod,

"Sorted then; I'll cook something while you're in; you'll have to reheat it when you get out but at least it'll be waiting for you".

"Thanks", Julie called over her shoulder, already heading into the lounge to collect a few of her essential toiletries before she crossed into the bathroom, though she paused at Shadow's last, most important question,

"So, how'd you find the Chaotix then?"

He could almost see her picking her words as her eyes lowered for just a second; _must be a big thing to try and sum up – heck, I still can't quite manage it now – the only group more disjointed than those four is the Brotherhood of Guardians, and only then because Athair's a paying member_; he cut off his own opinions as Julie glanced up once more, humming mildly as she started to talk,

"As far as I can tell, straight shooting as the next bunch; Charmy really does do what he says on the tin – he's going to be a real lady-killer when he grows up", Shadow chuckled a little at the mental image of a stripy Casanova before paying attention to her again, "Vec's a lot sharper than you might think and Mighty, well, she's just like Charmy, no hidden depths or anything – what you see is what you get and I like that", the former Legionnaire gave a gruff snort as if she'd finished, but Shadow wasn't fooled by this – he saw the way her chameleonic eyes misted slightly and that colour change brought him smartly to the crux of the issue,

"Let me guess", it was her turn to look up, startled at his perception, "Espio?" He waited for her to nod before sighing and crossing his arms behind his head,

"Don't take it to heart; he's always like that – he did something similar first time I met him, as a friend sort of thing"; _first time I met him I think Charmy said I ended up dangling him off the edge of a skyscraper or something like that – I still think he was making that up though_; "he just loves people to not know about him, likes it when people are scared; I just think he's a bit twisted but you have to respect what he can do".

"I know; believe it or not I've met a fair few like him before", at Shadow's raised eyebrow the echidna grinned a little before carrying on, "yeah, almost the entirety of the Legion's sniper core were a lot like that; snappy, rude and outright abrasive, but you had to put up with them because you knew, push come to shove, their skill could save your life. That still didn't meant we liked any of them though, but, like he said, they were very good at what they did". To her surprise, Shadow laughed at this,

"Just as well in his case; some of the things Vector said he was going to do when he got hold of him – he said Espio had promised to try to be social and, well, compared to what he can do it wasn't his worst but, even so, he could have done better".

"If it was anything like he did to Mighty", the vision of the crocodile rearing up, his armadillo team mate clamped fast in his jaws as he shook slightly, the sight mesmerising Julie almost into immobility before someone had tapped her on the shoulder and mentioned that due to Mighty's resistant shell this was a pretty common outcome when the pair fought, "I'm sure glad I'm not him. Anyway", seeing her attention shift, shadow made to head to the kitchen and get something cooking, hearing with half an ear as the echidna finished, "bath time".

XXX

"No, sorry, that's it", Julie stretched back in her chair, yawn barely able to keep up with her oxygen demand as she tried to clear her foggy head, "bed time". Seeing the tiredness in her face and reminding himself that, yeah, it was getting on and he could do with a good doze to see in the new day in something close to a coherent state.

"Yeah, I guess so; hey", he cut off Julie's attempts to sidle off at the same time as the T.V, suddenly wary as he realised what she was after, "not a hope you; week's not over yet". _Right, brace for resistance_; he could just tell by the way her face feel and then reset itself in a softer mould what was coming next,

"Oh come on Shads", her tone was designed to wear away the first barriers of stubbornness, ready for the grand assault, "if I don't sleep somewhere soft now I'll wake up rigid as a plank".

"Julie you already are a plank", the riposte caught her off-guard but she quickly reasserted her control as Shadow finished, drawing his legs up onto the couch he was sat on, fortifying his position further, "and the answer's still no".

"Aww, please"; _result_; her mind unearth a relatively recent and, not so long ago, mortifying memory and suggested it right to her tactical mind; internally smirking as Shadow's eyes widened alarmingly, she fell to her knees and started to shuffle slowly forwards, voice high and obsequiously annoying, "Shadow the Hedgehog, I beseech and implore thee…" His lips twitched; not even he could stand up to this sort of spineless cringing for long,

"…in all they glory, splendour and magnanimity…" he was already spluttering; _a few more words should do it_;

"…to aid me in this, my…" _Gotcha_; she couldn't mask her smile as the hedgehog suddenly snapped like a twig, chortling away merrily at her absurd overacting and, having to make it stop, acquiescing to her request,

"Okay, okay, you win", she celebrated, pumping her arms in close to herself as Shadow waited a second before continuing, "just get off the floor; last time you were down there nearly scarred me for life". Julie poked her tongue out at him as she pushed her legs upright, standing tall and winking,

"Forget you; how'd you think Amy and Sonic felt?"

"I don't even want to think about it", the black hedgehog grimaced as though biting something bitter, "urgh, evil, evil thoughts".

"Welcome to my mind"; Shadow shivered,

"Why do you delight in torturing me?"

Because it's fun", Julie answered smartly, a light tone in her voice as she moved forwards and gently tapped him on the thigh, a friendly pat just before she moved off with, maybe, just the merest hint of something else, something deeper, behind it, quickly revealed and hidden once more as she lifted herself once more, "anyway, 'night".

"Or, in my case now, nightmares"; she shook her head sniggering despite herself at his comeback as she departed; _oh what I wouldn't give to have been in the same apartment as him and Sonic – I'll bet you could have written sketches on that pair that would have brought the house down._

XXX

As she walked towards her work once more, Julie kept her eyes open for one particular store, the ten crest note Shadow had passed her in the morning strangely weighty in her pocket as she recalled her part in the plan that had been generated last night from an emergency vid-phone call just last thing on Sunday evening. _He did say triple rum and raisin didn't he?_; she was certain that was the flavour Shadow had specified as Cream's favourite and she was now on a mission to procure on her way home; _but she deserves it after that sort of a trick_; Julie smiled as she remembered the circumstance behind this unusual item on her shopping list,

_Hitting the receive button on the vid-phone, Julie had watched as Sonic's face sprang into view; she would have voiced her concern for his unusually tense face and the strain in his voice had the blue hedgehog not beaten her to the punch,_

_"Oh hi Jules", he seemed to look over her shoulder; she could guess what he was aiming at, "is Shadow about?"_

_"Err, hang on"; she had turned to go hedgehog hunting but hadn't got halfway across the lounge before her housemate had appeared in the doorway, looking over her at the screen behind,_

_"I'm here dude; what's the problem?"_

_"I need to find something for Cream", unlike his normal jokey self, Sonic had sounded completely serious before continuing, "something she'll really love". Consumed with curiosity, Julie was the one to ask,_

_"Why, what's the occasion; what did she do this time?" For the first time Sonic had given a gruff laugh prior to his answer,_

_"What's she done – saved me a packet is what she's done", he elaborated as Julie waved at Amy, who'd just moved into shot over the blue hedgehog's shoulder, "remember she asked me about those exams when we were all together a few weeks back? Well she only went to her school and twanged a couple of pretty long strings", Shadow came forwards to stand side by side with Julie, getting a closer view of Sonic's awestruck face as he finished, "I don't know how she did it but she's somehow got me enrolled into her school's sixth-form. Basically I'm now still at school, I can do my A-levels under their exam board, it won't cost me a dime. She's saved me the cost of doing the exams externally; Vanilla just rang with the good news – now I gotta get her something to say thanks, and I mean something big"._

_There was a bit of a pause at this; both Shadow and Julie were trying to take in the act of generosity the younger rabbit had just performed. Both put thinking caps on before Shadow, pursing his lips and pinching his lower one lightly between two fingers, had looked up again, eyes glinting calculatingly,_

_"Well, this being Cream and her having a sweet-tooth that rivals Charmy's, I reckon I might have just the…_"

Someone jostled her from behind, throwing her train of thought off track as she thought about what to say next_; oh sor…_

"Just act casual".

It wasn't so much the unusual words that blew all thoughts of apology, every notion of running away from her; even the fact that something hard and pointed was jabbing her just below her ribcage wasn't what stopped her thinking of making a break for it.

What managed that was the fact that she recognised this voice. Very well indeed.

_Oh hell!_

A/N: Ohhh, tense ending to keep you on tenterhooks – gotta love being a cruel author! Next chapter hopefully coming soon!


	14. Chapter 14 Reminders From the Past

Chapter 14 – Reminders from the Past.

A/N: The ending last chapter was evil of me but, I hope you'll agree, was worth it for this. WARNING – Lots of bad language this chapter, the T rating kicking in again:

DH – Ah, I might be giving Tails a bit too much stick, but maybe he'll be getting his own back soon, and maybe with Cream's help? Or maybe not? Hmm, decisions, decisions – and is Espio really Espio? Think on that one…

HHH – Luckily the mystery is cleared up this chapter (P.S – a very nice, and nearly correct, guess).

TG – I know, cliff-hangers are evil, but at the same time they're so much fun. Yeah, I never liked the way the comics gave any real depth to the Legion beyond the conquest of Angel Island – that gets set straight right hear and now.

Even as most of her mind was blanked out by shock, some small part of Julie's psyche was left in a state coherent enough to realise whoever this was poking the barrel of a gun into the small of her back was an accomplished professional. He was smart enough to know not to rush her recovery; to force her to hustle along before she realised consciously that she was being dangerously threatened would have been risking discovery as other passers-by would have almost certainly noticed her blank, staring eyes and abnormal body language as unusual and may have taken it upon themselves to investigate. By giving her time to adjust to the abrupt change in circumstance, he was coolly keeping his own cover; _but then again_; as she finally dredged her memory deep enough to put a name and a face to the voice that had purred in her ear, Julie drew in a deep, shuddering breath; _we were all trained to be experts, and Jari always had the professional's edge_.

So, she knew who was holding the gun and, as she clearly felt the barrel, about the size of a large penny, grinding against the flesh of her back, she could tell that he was carrying the pistol version of the standard blast gun; it's shot wouldn't be lethal even at this range, but it could still do more damage than she felt comfortable in even thinking about. The very least of it would be charred skin and deep muscle tissue, maybe even minor spinal damage due to the close proximity of the gun barrel to her backbone; the very thought of such damage was enough to persuade the former Legionnaire that, whatever this ex-comrade of hers was actually planning to do with her, it was probably better to go along with it for now that try to act the hero and end up shot.

"That's it", the unseen voice whispered in her ear, though she could barely feel his breath tickle her ear as he spoke out the corner of his mouth, avoiding undue attention by hardly moving his lips, "nice and steady; move forwards slowly and look normal; try and pull anything and I'll pull the trigger, got it?"

"Yeah", she whispered back, knowing from hard experience that whenever this echidna promised something, he always kept that promise to the very letter, even if it meant waiting years to do it, "didn't know you were that desperate for a date". Her unseen aggressor chuckled darkly before hissing again, a razor's edge in his tone now as the barrel of metal prodded her hard again,

"I don't lower myself to the level of traitors; take the third right down this street and get into the back of the van waiting there, the doors will be open. We've been looking forwards to this for some time Julie, it'll be quite a party now we've got the main guest; quick march, we don't want to keep the others waiting now do we?" _We?_; with a sinking feeling in the very pit of her stomach, Julie deduced enough to realise that this wasn't a rogue move by one of her former squad mates with a grudge; this was at least a squad planned and executed move with her as the target. The pistol grinding her back kept her on the move even as she tried to slow the pace, earn some more thinking time, time to break down the barriers of fear that had cocooned vital sections of her mind off, prevented coherent, logical thought that she needed now more than ever. She had to, somehow, either get away from this echidna behind her, or she had to let someone know where she was; _and right now_; not even her past experiences of fighting pain and regret could suppress a shudder, stop her head sinking down a fraction as the bleakness of the situation struck her clear in the face; _there's nothing there_.

XXX

As she always did, Honey looked up at a sudden crash from the front of the office; despite his reassuring promises to the contrary that somehow kept Snappy off his tail, Shadow had yet to master the art of opening that door quietly as he was screeching to a sudden halt. _How does he get away with that?_; a twinge of jealousy tugged at the blonde echidna's heart as Shadow once more weaved his magic; a single raised hand was enough to send the head of the office, who ruled all else with a rod of iron and a fist of steel, sinking back into her seat with little more than an easily brushed aside filthy look as the black hedgehog breezed past, crimson eyes flicking left and right, sparking as he saw a suspiciously large stack of papers on the front of one of the foremost desks – a sign that, Honey knew, to him meant 'time to run'. It was a little selfish but, as she hit the first few buttons on the receipt paper work of the five reports that she'd stacked up in her out tray, she tried to catch her friend's attention as she was on a fresh head of steam and wanted to keep it up; _if he delivers these I can crack right on without having to take a break – come on Shads, this way, this…oh thanks for nothing you_. She couldn't feel too disappointed though; that pile had been there for a little while so, as she watched Shadow scoop the files up and shuffle them for a second, arranging them into order of furthers location topmost, she merely settled back for a moment, stretching back as one of the numerous office guides informed the workers to whenever they got the chance; something about avoiding the risk of back problems and DVT by staying mobile. She craned her neck backwards, bending her back enough to get a good view over the back of her chair and see the rear of the computer behind her; she then quickly convulsed forwards, just about stifling her sudden laughter as something crabbed over her taut stomach and sent lightning pulses of tingling feeling racing around her body.

"Get to you next"; she immediately whipped a hand to her right, more out of reflex than anything else as she knew she'd never hit the hedgehog who had just raced past; _swine, no need for that_; even as she thought it, she had to shake her head; _ah well, at least he promised he'd get back to me soon as he could_; rubbing her belly one last time to dislodge the last few itching residues of Shadow's sneak attack, Honey began typing out the remainder of her receipts; _and that means he's going to be back before I'm ready if I don't shift it – he'll never let me live that one down if he actually manages it_.

XXX

Slowly, she turned the corner, and the sight was worse than she could have imagined; she barely had another twenty metres to come up with something even vaguely resembling a plan that might just offer the hope of saving her skin. The transport this mysterious 'they' had arranged stuck out like a sore thumb as she paced slowly along the pavement that led towards it, seeing the doors open like the gateway to the land of the damned, beckoning her forwards even as she squinted to see what lay beyond in the darkness, what creatures dwelt within. Jari's gun hadn't wavered position in the five or so minutes it had taken to walk this far; whatever faults Julie could think to lay at his door, lack of vigilance certainly wasn't one of them as, even now, so close to his goal, her former squad mate didn't let his concentration slip, keeping the pressure on her high but not unbearable, making her walk forwards against every impulse she had that screaming for her to flee and get away from this death-trap she was being forced towards.

"You brought me a van", every word she could milk from her foe could give her an inkling into their plans for her, and there was no stone to small to be left unturned, "I'm flattered you went so far for little old me".

"Oh believe me", out of sight of most of the main street, he could be a little more forceful; a shove in the back send the ex-Legionnaire stumbling forwards a little as his voice came a little harsher, more spiteful and scorning as he spat, "your comfort is the least of our concerns; we just had to make sure the proper reception could assemble for you, traitor. Anyway, get in". Stubborn to the last, clamouring for every last second she had as, finally, the first few scraps of something that might count as a good idea began to assemble in her fraught and frantically functioning mind, Julie put her hands on her hips without turning around,

"And if I don't?"

"In that case", the blood in her veins froze, all thoughts of further disobedience banished instantly from her mind as, in the darkness of the van's interior, two blazing blue lights lit up and zeroed in right between her eyes, "I'll come out for you".

For a second Julie didn't move, but this time it wasn't stubbornness that held her rooted to the spot; it was terror that had send roots from the soles of her feet to bite deep into the concrete; _oh if there is a God, please, please help me now_; memories burned into her mind, tumbling out to parade in full scrutiny of her horrified mind, reminding her of who was her master here and who always would be. Of all the fates Jari could have delivered her to this was among the worst; to stand before the one Mobian she hated, respected and feared more than any other on this island, the single figure who had shaped her, moulded her and tried to break her into his image, and in his frustration at his inability to do so had become more vindictive, more sadistic in his punishments, making her the Mobian she was now; _anyone but him_. Julie-Su stood paralysed, helpless with terror and shock, within arms reach of one of the most formidable combat machines ever produced by the Dark Legion, and she couldn't even blink her eyelids to block out those burning, consuming blue eyes, the radiating dead-lights of her former drill sergeant.

_Xenin_.

XXX

_I told you once before Julie_; though her fear was satisfying, her reaction to his presence sending shivers of pleasure to his draconian soul, it was soured by the thought, no, even now he could see it, the certainty that she would acclimatise to even his fearsome visage once more; _nothing ever escapes me, no trick goes unnoticed, or unavenged._ As he watched the fear drain away from her, Xenin felt the familiar disappointment, no, that was actually slightly wrong; he wasn't disappointed that this Mobian, almost alone of his squad, didn't fear him; he was so used to the other Legionnaires, even some of the officers, shrinking before his raw mechanised muscles that by a strange twist of fate the lack of fear in someone confronting him was strange, almost unsettling. In short, not being feared and, because of that, respected was a sensation he didn't like and, as with most things Xenin didn't like, it was a sensation that wasn't going to last much longer.

"So", he grated, still not completely used to his mechanical voice-box and how to control the pitch of his new, deeper and more resonant bellow of a voice, "the whole squad together once more; good work Jari".

"Wow, I never thought I'd see the day", the Dark Legion sergeant glowered, his robotic vision projecting lights that played over Julie's face, casting her in an eerie blue light as she folded her arms, "your voice finally broke then Xenin; guess you must have grown some balls at last".

"Enough small talk", never one for verbal combat, Xenin pointed at the echidna stood slightly behind Julie and nodded, "if she's not inside this van within the next five seconds, pull the trigger", looking back at the treacherous worm who had once trained under him, Xenin felt nothing but contempt and a cold, calculating certainty that he was doing the right thing as he once more agreed with former joint second-in-command of the Dark Legion; _there's no room for traitors and dissenters in the Legion – if we don't present a untied front to our opponents they'll think us weak, move in for the kill – I'll not let that happen, and this will be my example_; reassuring himself of the reasons behind his breaking of the Dark Legion's rules against vengeance and violence, the drill sergeant locked eyes with his one-time subordinate and gave the smile of a gambler who knew he couldn't lose, "your choice; get in, or get shot".

XXX

"Hmm, now let me think", Julie made a play for time, redefining her plan even as she knew for a fact that Jari would be taking his superior's words as seriously as he did everything else, "tough choice; oh why not", just before his finger could tighten on the trigger, Julie took a step forwards, one hand on the side of the van as she levered herself in, "sure beats walking to work; what, no hand up for the lady? Where are your manners Gual, R and R?" The echidna closest to her as she entered the cramped quarters of the small van snarled and hitched his robes closer to him as though fearing she was contagious,

"Bad enough I have to breathe the air of a deserter; the only touch you'll get from me is…" Julie saw the light in the van increase as Xenin literally flashed a warning with his eyes and his subordinate, another of Julie's one-time squad mates, fell quiet; _okay, this isn't mainstream Dark Legion policy – this is a rogue move, damn._ If what Gual was saying was right, that meant that whoever was in on this was breaking Enerjak's decree of non-violence but, at the same time, if there were no witnesses who'd be any the wiser. She could guess what was coming next, but she had a chance to get ready for the inevitable and, as she sat down and fingered the small object in her pocket, she had the potential of a way out of this unholy mess. _Just need to buy some more time_; as she felt the van move off and added two opponents to her previous estimate to take into account the driver and a possible passenger as well, she made the first in a series of gambles,

"So", as the words distracted her fellow passengers, she hit what she hoped was the right combination of buttons; _up for most recently dialled, he was the first, oh I hope he was_; "what's the plan guys?"

XXX

As he stood up, already having dissected the papers in his hands and plotted the route he needed to take, Shadow was having to fight hard not to break into a smile at the same time as Honey was using her most fearsome reproachful pout to test that same resolve to the limit. Eventually, though, one of them was going to break and, with a splutter, it just had to be Shadow,

"I'm sorry", at her playfully scornful look the hedgehog elaborated cornily, "come on, how was I supposed to resist that sort of target?"

"By exercising some form of willpower?"

"Will Power; never heard of him before"; Honey shook her head and would have replied had Shadow suddenly not straightened upright, looking down and to his right oddly, "excuse me, I appear to be buzzing". As he fished his vibrating phone out of his pocket the blonde echidna came up with the comeback,

"Situation normal for you isn't it?" As he made to receive the call Shadow chortled before pressing the phone to his ear,

"Something like that – hello?" There was a pause for a few seconds before he brought it away again, examining the display squint-eyed as he tried to deduce what could be behind the strange noises he was hearing; aside from shuffling and, if he strained hard, what appeared to be very muffled voices, he was getting nothing even resembling coherent speech; _wonder what's going on – Julie knows better than to try prank calls when I'm working…_

"Mobile telephones", the voice that grated into his eardrums at a range of less than five feet set his pulse rate spiralling into the stratosphere and his circulatory system awash with unnecessary adrenaline, "are not permitted in this office. Shut it off". Knowing better than to even try to argue, Shadow merely lowered his eyes and mumbled,

"Sorry", not daring to look up until the head of the office had withdrawn to her own desk; only when she was sat down did the rest of the workforce in the department dare to draw breath once more and could Shadow persuade his legs to move once more, slipping his mobile into his pocket before it could get him into more trouble. Quickly ducking down to scoop up the files and hide his redden face, the ebon hedgehog's only response to Honey's reprimanding wagging finger and clicking tongue was a sarcastic smile, though he couldn't help but roll his eyes at her over-exaggerated quivering lip. As he straightened once more, all too aware of other eyes on him, commiserating and snidely mocking in equal measure, Shadow exchanged one last smile with his office friend before firing up his shoes and heading for the elevator; only when he was out of the office did he once more question what was going on and, almost immediately, as he nodded to the other runners that were just roaring out of the back of the C.A, he decided to use the most straightforward method available to him.

XXX

"Plan?" The interior of the van seemed to vibrate at Xenin's dirge of a chuckle, his mechanical throat not quite up to the task of mimicking a normal laugh with his lack of practice, "we got a few more stops, then we move onto the main event".

"Oh right, right", Julie commented, flicking her legs over crossed as though bored and thinly amused as Gual immediately rearranged himself to put as much distance between them as possible; _must think deserting's a disease – coward's contagion, there's a new one for the medics to work on_; "any more news on what this main event might entail?"

"Oh, not too much", Xenin smirked right back at her planning disguised as curiosity, "a few questions first off, then a couple of games to finish with; all in the name of fun you understand?" _He's getting slightly better_; Julie had to commend her former superior dryly as he appeared to have finally grasped the basics of psychological talking; _he never mentioned who's fun these games were for – not like I can't guess though_;

"Perfectly" was all she managed in reply before a sudden noise made her heart leap into her throat; all the other Legionnaires present hastily regrouped from their surprise and glared at where the noise was coming from; Jari, sitting almost directly opposite her and still with his finger on the trigger, quickly took command of the situation and jerked his gun towards her,

"What is it?" Slowly, well aware of his eyes tracking her every move, the former Legionnaire slipped her hand towards her seat and, after a little coaxing, allowed her phone to slip into her hand, holding it for all present to see and view,

"Just my phone"; Gual growled at the device as though it had done him a great personal wrong,

"Cut it off".

"No", Xenin's snarl overruled his subordinate; Gual nodded in deference as he turned to Julie and pointed, "answer it; give anything away…"

"Believe or not I'm not stupid" Julie sighed in a wistful manner; _now I have to pray that Shads can put two and two together and come up with trouble_. With all her acting talent straining to keep her face casual and the urgency out of her voice, she casually hit the green button to accept the call and spoke,

"Hello?"

XXX

_Bit of a long time, seven rings_; puzzled by the delay, Shadow had half a mind to hang up and try again later when suddenly he was put through and Julie's voice reached him,

"Hello?" Caught off-guard for a second, Shadow hastily recollected his scattered thoughts and answered,

"Oh, sorry to bother you Jules; did you just ring me?"

"Err, no, I haven't rung in a while". The black hedgehog's mind whirled for a moment as he tried to work out what could have caused that; it had definitely been Julie's number he'd received a couple of seconds prior to his ringing,

"You must have; I got a call not five minutes, had to put it down because I was in the office".

"Well I…oh, hang on, mystery solved", he heard her laugh for a second before she spoke again, "damn thing must have been in my bag, lots of stuff in there and it must have been knocked, sorry about that". Picturing the scene in his mind and realising how obvious such an indiscretion must have been, Shadow laughed in turn,

"Man, your phone's got a sense of humour to rival yours; always dropping me in trouble right when I don't need it".

"Commiserations"; _yeah right_; he knew he'd be hearing more of this tonight and internally started bracing up the mockery bulwarks as the echidna finished speaking, "anyway, see you at home; now get back to work".

"Says you"; with the last word expelled from the tip of his tongue the black hedgehog quickly hung up, denying her the opportunity of a comeback as he put his mind back into working mode, thinking about where he had to go next. Well, actually, that wasn't strictly true; certainly most of his efforts were focussed on getting in touch with his next address, but there was a small, nagging suspicion flaring up in the recesses of his mind that suggested there might have been a bit more to this than he was currently seeing – try as it might though, it couldn't convince the rest of him that anything was amiss and thus it was that Shadow continued in his labours, heading for his next destination apparently unheeded.

XXX

_Well, I gave it my best shot_; she'd walked a fine line that had to take into account Shadow picking up on her unspoken message and at the same time not broadcasting to her captors that she was trying to piece together a plan to get out of this situation. As she snapped her mobile closed and turned it off without being told, Xenin nodding once when he was comfortable that it wasn't going to go off again, Julie settled back into the meagre seat available to her, eyes closed and apparently relaxed even if she had every mental finger and toe crossed that Shadow, now her best and last hope, was at this very moment alerting someone to what was going on. And, as she suddenly felt the van lose speed and then give a sudden jerk as it came to a dead halt, she felt the cold, hard knot that had once been her stomach contract a little tighter as she had to shave off a little more of the time between her and whatever fate her future 'playmates' had decided for her.

"Ah, one down; only one to go after this", Gual piped up, leering at Julie with something close to sadism bubbling up murkily into his voice as he reached across to pop open the rear doors once more, "the time is getting nearer".

"Just as well, I'm already late for work", she shot back caustically as she glanced at the new arrival as he stepped into the back of the vehicle, Xenin greeting him as his two watery brown eyes swept the assembled throng,

"Sit down Musa, we don't have all that long before we'll be missed at base; we need to have, ah, delivered the message before then?"

"Quite so; drive"; as Julie felt the motions under her seat as the van lumbered into life once more, she looked up at the latest addition to her former squad mates; _Musa, we used to get on quite well – guess times change_; his eyes were like flints as they eventually rounded on her, locking her into a stare-down as he stepped forwards, his implanted internal gyros allowing him to stand surefooted even as the van pitched around a sharp left corner,

"Julie-Su", she nodded at her name, shark-like smile twitching just at the edges of her lips as his drawl ended, "never thought of you as a quitter".

"You were right to think that", Julie wasn't paying attention to what she was saying particularly; her attention was instead focused on the other echidna's face, trying to pierce past the veil of his surface expression and see, in the corners of his seemingly impassive scowl and in the deep depths of his remaining natural eye, softness and disgust, loathing not aimed at her as, without seeing another word, he swept past and took his seat. His gaze though, that never left her own vision; without saying a word or even arousing an inkling of suspicion in his squads, Musa had already apologised for even being here as a part of this circus act, dragged into this revenge scheme by nothing but peer pressure and the knowledge that if he chickened out he'd never be able to look Xenin in the eye again; _and I better than anyone know how much of a sadist he can be if he doesn't get what he wants from someone_.

As she felt the other echidna almost imperceptibly, but implacably, shift towards her own seat, shielding her a little more from some of the inherent bad feeling she could virtually taste steaming from those she had once considered acquaintances, Julie knew he at least would try to make this as painless as possible. And, just as silently as he had apologised to her, she thanked him for such a sacrifice.

XXX

Following hitting a hard right, Shadow saw exactly what was about to happen and fired up another jet of speed to prevent it, wind whistling in his ears as he raced forwards, trying to get to the departing echidna before the key finished turning in the lock,

"Hey, hold up a second", she must have heard him , head snapping around to stare wide-eyed, naturally cautious as the ebon hedgehog screeched to a halt and vaulted over her garden gate with a single, well-practised move and strode towards her, hand already dipping into his satchel as he reached his next client, "don't worry, C.A; lucky I caught you". The echidna girl regarded the paper he held out suspiciously before looking up at him, lips creased into an ironic smile,

"You had plenty of time, I was going out"; it was one of those laugh-or-cry situations as Shadow rolled his eyes, pulling his hand down his face as he now clearly saw the client slip her keys into the bag that dangled on the arm that reached forwards to take the paper he offered forwards, "ah, what have you lot been so kind as to point out to me this time – housing tax due again is it?"

"No idea – come on", as was his custom he tried to strike up a rapport with the people he serviced; if anything it made the day go quicker and, with his rapier wit and occasionally infectious sense of humour it was more often than not successful, "you think I can afford to buy a place on my sort of salary?" A dark blue eyebrow rose in a manner that made Shadow realise his joke was going to be well fielded, maybe even returned with a match for his wit,

"Rent boy huh?" _Ooh, that was unnecessary_; still, he was collected enough to take this backhanded insult in his stride and smile about it,

"Something like that".

"Believe me I sometimes think renting's a better option than buying; the taxes like this housing one are a killer", with a sigh, she stuffed the note in with her keys and looked for an opportunity to depart, "well, I best get going – thanks for the quick delivery".

"Hey, all part of the service offered by your local C.A runners and associated office staff", he stepped aside to let her pass and followed her out of her garden, towards the road once more, "well, hope to see you again and have a good day".

"Same to you – goodbye"; Shadow gave a last casual wave before taking off once more, though, as he raced back to the main office of the C.A, a casual observer may have noticed his pace was a good deal slower than the one he had set to arrive, and that the black hedgehog was shaking his head at regular intervals as though trying to dislodge an insistent itch that refused to die.

XXX

Even before the van drew to a halt, Julie knew who would be boarding at this final stop and prepared herself for it; of all the echidnas in her squad, Dusty had been the one that had forever gotten her back up. The two had cordially detested each other from almost the first moment, when the virtually albino echidna had vocally and loudly decried Julie's 'officer-sucking' tactics to curry favour at the promotional stakes. Despite the unfairness and untruth of that statement, Julie had been forced to hold her tongue as, in her eyes, the truth of her extra duties had been more painful than the rumours Dusty had begun to spread; _and it all went downhill from there_. Her snarl deepened as, helped up by Gual, she finally caught sight of the squad mate she had least regretted leaving behind and, almost in the same instant, those watery pink eyes returned the look.

"Well, well", after a second of doom-laden tenseness, Dusty was the first to open the verbal hostilities in a voice that dripped scornful malice, "the prodigal whore returns; pimping yourself to the EST for protection these days, still haven't changed have you Julie? Still wanting to be the suck-up of the top nobs even out on civvy street?" _Some things never change_; even in the midst of so much thinly concealed hatred and wrath, Julie could still fold her arms and rejoice that, come what may, Dusty would never be able to out-talk her in a verbal duel,

"Better a suck up than a suck-off", the pale, grey-furred Mobian's nostrils flared in anger but she couldn't act fast enough to stop the second half of Julie's counter-attack, delivered in a mocking, sickly-sweet tone, "still warming Rykor's bed these days, or have you moved on since then?"

"You…!" Stung to fury by the reply Dusty lunged, eyes flaming in anger and the desire, the naked need to do damage to the turncoat before her, arms outstretched to grasp and rend; something was suddenly before her, knocking her backwards with a concussive shout,

"No", she was thrust back against the opposite side of the van as Musa stood tall, blocking her attack at the same time as knock on the back of the driver's compartment, "not here and not now; later". For a second Julie could see the struggle in the other echidna's eyes, her mind and heart grappling as she wrestled with her mind until, with a snarl, she sat straight next to Xenin, glaring daggers across at Julie and hissing,

"True enough; I'll get my fun later, as will we all". Julie deflected the threat with a smile, shifting backwards as Musa, assured there was to be no further attempt at violence, retook his seat, cocking his head a second later at the virtually inaudible hiss from the left of him,

"Thanks"; holding in his smile even as he dropped his voice to about the same volume, he muttered back without moving his lips,

"My pleasure".

XXX

No, it was no good – Shadow finally pulled up to a stop, leaning against a nearby wall and groaning to himself as his gut feeling just wouldn't quit its red alert status; _there must be something wrong – Julie never phones me when I'm working normally, but she said it was an accident_. A vision flickered before his eyes, the powder blue lady he'd just delivered to, how she looked and how her bag had swung on her arm as she'd tried to sign for the forms he'd given her; _must be a simple thing to do as well – there must be a lot of stuff in a handbag like that and something would have hit the phone, rung…_

_..JULIE NEVER KEEPS HER PHONE IN HER BAG!_

The explosion in Shadow's mind was mirrored only by the slap as his forehead and palm collided at high speed; before his very eyes Julie was explaining again how she always kept her wallet in one pocket and her phone in the other, that way if she forgot one she'd feel it because she'd be off-kilter; _and it's less likely to get stolen that way – how did I miss this now?_ He'd seen the line and now he couldn't unsee it – the only option was to follow it, listen to the mounting evidence as his mind raced as speeds even his body could never hope to match; _she even emphasised the B-word in the call, her tone wasn't calm and cocky like it normally was. And the EST…_; another piece of evidence was thrust into his virtually blank mind, further cementing the idea that this situation was spiralling ever downwards towards a terrifying conclusion; _they've got a strict mobiles policy, especially compared to the C.A – they can't even have their phones on inside, Julie shouldn't have been able to call anyone, even by accident. Oh Jesus, what's going on?_

With an sudden gasp comprised of equal parts fear and apprehension, Shadow knew only one thing; he had to get answers and he had to get them now; the nagging voice that had first alerted him to the possibility that something had gone wrong was now screaming, not allowing him to think beyond the necessity of making sure the echidna he continually squabbled and scrapped with was okay. His first idea was to run to the EST, but that would have taken too long even for him as it was on the other side of town from where he was now; with a single motion he acted on his second thought, dialling with panic-lent speed and pressing his phone to his ear so hard it left an impression on the skin around his ear, so desperate was he to hear as, after a trio of rings that extended from here to eternity, he heard the blessed sound of someone picking up and speaking,

"Hello EST reception, how can…?"

"Hey, this is Shadow", he knew his name would mean little but the next name should, "is Julie-Su around, I need to speak to her".

"Shadow?" The answering voice sounded a little confused and fell silent; the hedgehog was about to start pressing for his answer when it sounded out again, this time with a cry of realisation as he listened on, "oh, you're her flatmate right?"

"Yeah, now can I speak to her?" Shadow wasn't in anything like the mood to bandy pleasantries and thus his conversation was clipped and to the point, "where is she?" Another silence fell, this time more ominous and pregnant with ill omen; the only good thing about this pause was that it was shorter, much shorter, than before,

"You mean you don't know either?" That sent the alarm bells ringing properly but Shadow was prevented from reacting for the moment by the receptionist's voice, now more urgent, filling in the rest of the details, "she's not come into work, we were waiting for her to call in sick; do you…?"

"I'll call you back in a few minutes"; as he terminated the call, Shadow's fingers were already calling another number, swearing and begging for an answer in equal measure as he hit the button and jammed the phone to his ear once more,

"This person's mobile phone, is switched off…"

In the blink of an eye he'd gone from stationary to flat out motion, the passers-by missed by whiskers as he careened past at breakneck speed, unable to even consider slowing down until he'd figured out what had happened to Julie. Even as he ran, he fulfilled his promise to the EST and rang back, telling them his suspicions and his outright fears; Julie was missing and he couldn't contact her, something had gone very wrong indeed and he was trying to find out what. He managed to hear a promise called back that the EST would scramble all the units it could spare and scour the streets to try and find the errant former Legionnaire; that was all Shadow needed to hear as he snapped the appliance shut and tore up the pavement, not knowing exactly where to look so trying to look everywhere, narrow down the avenues, do whatever it took to get the bottom of this awful, gut-wrenching mystery.

XXX

A hand in the small of her back sent her stumbling roughly out of the back; only a lucky landing and a quick roll to her feet allowed Julie to keep her footing without twisting either an ankle or a knee. As she hastily came too and span around, she watched and stayed where she was, taking in everything she could at the same time as quash the few instincts that Shouted at her to run; Jari was covering her with his pistol and he was a marksman of the highest calibre – she'd be lucky to get ten paces before he brought her down. A single sweep of her eyes told her everything she needed to know, the whole, depressing story; _out of town, something like a quiet industrial estate – no-one sees and no-one hears_.

"Well then, here we are", Jari squeezed himself closer to the side of the van, though his gun barrel never wavered as Xenin's monstrous bulk finally emerged from the darkness that had obfuscated most of it; Julie could have sworn the paving slabs creaked as both his augmented legs slammed down and found purchase in the floor and allowed him to stand up straight, "now, I'm sure you remember how to play the ring Julie?"

"Oh, that old game"; _and nowhere to run_; now it made sense, the back wall in this blind alley meant she had to just stand here and resist as long as was possible at the centre of the circle before they eventually broke her down, "if I remember rightly I set the squad record".

"Well now it's time for new record", Dusty landed next to her sergeant, sizing up the Mobian in front of her the same way a poisonous snake might decide if it could take down a particularly large rat, "it's time for us to set the record straight Julie; no-one leaves the Legion and can expect to get away with it clean. You brought shame on us all and stained the honour of the regiment, now we've got to scrub that stain clean". Shaking her head, determined to go down defiant to the last, Julie merely smiled in the teeth of the storm and casually extended two fingers, beckoning them forwards as she spoke menacingly,

"You're losing your edge Xenin; if I'd spent as long as this lot shooting my mouth off you'd have had me on cleaning duty for a week – if you're going to start, get on with it". The most obviously mechanised echidna present growled at the memory before flickering his arms forwards with a terse command,

"With pleasure"; at their sergeant's signal, the other echidna of her former squad, including the one who'd driven them all where they'd needed to go, obviously a new recruit as Julie didn't recognise him, quickly took their positions, surrounding the central player in a loose circle, hemming her in, preventing her predicting their pattern of attack with any degree of certainty. Readying herself as much as was possible, both in the physical and mental sense, Julie raised her arms in a guard and waited, nerves humming in delayed tension as she waited for the call, Xenin delaying the inevitable as his blue LED eyes scanned her for any sign of weakness, any lack of resolve he could pick up on. Suddenly, he nodded, just once; Julie heard a fast patter of feet from behind her and to the left and span, confronting her assailant, all thoughts of anything but the fight gone from her head; if she was to have any chance of surviving this she couldn't afford to have her confidence or concentration waver for a second.

XXX

As much as he hated to admit it, Shadow's sense of pessimism was beginning to get a toe-hold in his thoughts; having run around for a bit blindly, he had finally had the rough idea of heading back to his home and trying to track the route Julie should have taken to get to work. He'd had a slice of luck as a couple of the shops he'd quickly pulled into along the way had remembered seeing her walk past; for once her metallic dreadlock had been an advantage as it had stuck out in a few memories, making identification easier than Shadow had anticipated. But now he was stuck and for all his frenetic brainwork couldn't see what had happened; she appeared to have got as far as here, then had simply vanished off the face of Angel Island; no-one past this street had seen her but those previous had. _Only one thing for it_; trying to calm his scrambled emotions and ragged breathing, the hedgehog retreated to the end of the street closest to his home and entered the nearest outlet; luckily it was relatively quiet inside and he was able to make it to the counter without fuss,

"Hi there", the echidna serving there, a middle-aged sort of guy with just a hint of grey starting to sneak into his streaks of hair, looked over from where he was reaching up to straighten one of his picture displays, "just a long shot, but did you see an echidna with a metal dreadlock walk past, about half-nine, maybe a little later?" Obviously the owner of this place knew what Shadow meant by the reference to the augmentation and his eyes narrowed a touch,

"Metal? As in one of the Dark Legion?"

"She's ex-Legion", Shadow corrected him before getting back to the meat of his issue, "anyway, did you see her, she normally walks past here to get to work". After a second, the echidna behind the counter shook his head, face regretfully apologetic,

"Er, no, I was in the back most of the day, sorry".

"No problem"; _gotta get somewhere else, somewhere where there's always someone watching the front_; as he waved himself out of the shop, his eye was immediately caught by a place the opposite side of the road and just a few doors up; _that'll do me_. In the blink of an eye he was gone from outside the photographers to pushing open the door of the newsagents, talking away to the cashier there,

"Hi, need to know", he gasped, ignoring the fact he was pushing in at the front of the queue and the mutters about the manners of the youth of today, "about half an hour ago, echidna walked past, ex-Legionnaire, one metal dread, any ideas?"

"Yeah"; _oh thank you Lord_; Shadow internally rejoiced as the answer was prompt and precise, "she goes past every day, works at the EST or something; now that's a turn up for the books, one of them on our side now".

"I know, what happened today? Did she just walk on past?" The younger Mobian's eyes narrowed for a second, guard rising in the face of Shadow's impatience,

"Why're you…?" The question, coupled by the jostling he felt at his back, snapped Shadow's temper clean in two; bringing both hands down on the counter top, the hedgehog brought the shop to a standstill and, as the ringing crash was still lingering in the air, looked over the counter, ire flaming in his crimson eyes as his tone spoke of attempted murder not being too far from his mind at the current moment,

"It's important, that's all you need to know", he growled, the rumblings silencing all the looks he was getting and the hushed hubbub of conversation that had resurfaced following his outburst, "now tell me, what happened this morning?"

"She, ah", Shadow saw the cashier's fingers move under the counter top and looked up, a narrowing of his eyes coupled with a single shake of his head stifling the movement; the youngster swallowed softly before continuing, "she went past, but someone snuck up on her, made her jump a bit; they carried on together, turned up that alleyway there, right up close and looked like they were talking; we thought they must have been work buddies or something. Didn't see more than that and…" All that was left was the breeze as the cashier suddenly found himself talking to thin air – with a bang and loud chime from above the door, the black hedgehog was gone.

A split-second later, an anguished cry echoed out from that same alleyway that Julie-Su had disappeared down as Shadow realised what must have happened; _there's no way out of here, it's a dead end – oh Jesus Christ Julie, where did they take you?_

XXX

Dodge, parry, cut, thrust and lunge; with lungs heaving and the strain of the punishing regime finally starting to tell on her, Julie flicked sweat and hair both out of her vision as she read from Musa's eyes where the next attack was coming from; he fell back as she shimmied to the side and threw an elbow backwards, feeling her arms scrape against flesh, a glancing blow, nothing more than that, but enough to force her assailant to back off and give her a second's breathing space. _Thanks pal_; Julie totted up another one she owed Musa as Jari slunk backwards, gently rubbing his grazed ribs and getting his breath back as someone else leapt in to occupy Julie's attention, preventing her from following up her advantage, landing any kind of devastating blow on one of her attackers and starting to even her odds. Had it not been for the co-operation of one of her former squad she'd have doubted the game would have lasted as long as it had, Musa's attacks had lacked the razor-sharpness and conviction of everyone else's, every time he locked into a clinch with her had been a respite rather than the tussle it had appeared to be from the outside. Spinning around, trying to have her eyes everywhere at once, Julie took a breath as she realised everyone standing off her for the moment, the Legionnaires backing away at Xenin's gesturing fingers; _all right_; despite the aches and pains that were only now beginning to register from her stressed muscles and body, Julie managed a weary chuckle as she saw the reason he'd called a time out;_ he's not happy_;

"Pathetic, the lot of you", Xenin's mechanised bellow rang out over the combat, his eyes lingering particularly on where Gual was trying to stand up straight, his clenched teeth indicating where he'd felt one of Julie's augmented arms crunch home right into his gut and grind out his air, "when we get back to the barracks, you're all signing up for extra combat training, is that understood?"

"Yes sir"; the desultory replies filtered back, Julie standing tall and wagging a finger at the Dark Legion drill sergeant, voice not losing its mocking edge despite her exhaustion,

"That includes you I hope Xenin; you've sure let your standards slip recently – this trash wouldn't have washed for five minutes when I was drilling". Strangely, he didn't bite the way he normally he would have; in fact Julie was suddenly left feeling more nervous when the sergeant himself took a step forwards and his head lamps homed in on her, making the fur on her face glow as though lit up by ultra-violet light,

"Five minutes you say", his answering smile cut to the bone quicker than the keenest knife, his robes fluttering open a little and, as Julie saw the glint of metal where once there had been none, she realised with a sickening jolt of fear that, somehow, this virtual psychopath had been able to con at least one of the officers into giving him more upgrades, making him even more of a threat than he already had been, "no-one has lasted more than two against me so far", his rear foot shifted back, setting up his stance as he cricked his neck, the pops of joints snapping echoing dimly around the cul-de-sac all seven echidnas were currently cornered in, "and I don't think you're going to buck the trend".

"You never know", even now, as fear threatened to rise up and destroy her more completely than even the half-machine before her could manage, Julie somehow had the will to quash such feelings down deep and raise her aching hands again, ready to meet her former master head on, "I've surprised you before now". To her consternation, those words seemed to have an impact on Xenin; his approach paused momentarily and he cocked his head slightly to the side, sizing her up once more,

"True, I never expected you to desert of all of them", he gestured the other echidnas with a sweep of one of his completely metallic arms before focussing on her again, "why Julie?"

"That's my business"; even before the words were completely gone from her mouth Julie heard the call from the sidelines,

"Does it matter sarge?" Dusty was reclined against the wall, watching on with gleefully expectant eyes and hoping to hurry the show along, "whatever the reason, she's still a traitor to the Legion and the grandmaster; the only thing she's fit for is to be left as an example to anyone else who thinks about taking the coward's way out". Xenin considered for a moment before, with a shrug, apparently concurring with his subordinate's summing up of the situation,

"Good point, and you will make an excellent example Julie, you always were one of the best soldiers; this will prove to them all that, no matter how good you are, who your friends are, you can never escape from the Legion. Now", his lunge almost caught her on the fly; she only just managed to dodge his bull rush and throw herself clear of his first, reflexive swing, "this ends".

XXX

The receptionist had patched him straight through to Remington; the second he heard the receiver picked up Shadow had let the head of the EST know the score,

"She's been kidnapped", he had to pause at the awful word, swallowing the bile that rose in his throat and the fear for her safety that such revulsion generated, "one of the local shop cashiers saw her walk up a blind alleyway with someone and she never came out; I had another word with him, a van drove out a little while later. Someone's snatched her and it has to be the Dark Legion". Listening hard, ready to go on the barest sniff on an instruction Shadow tensed as he heard Remington swear softly under his breath and then pick his volume up once more,

"Right, if it is the Legion, and I agree with you, they are the most likely culprits, it's most likely a rogue move; this is the first case of a forced retake of a Legionnaire having left Necronopolis and, as far as we can tell the current head of the DL condones acts of violence and kidnap".

"Barring one exception", Shadow muttered, thinking back to the story Rouge had told him before realising the significance of that story as well, "but even that was rogue as well, it wasn't Enerjak behind it".

"No, he condoned the whole thing and punished those running the show; we have records to prove this", there was a pause at this point and Shadow's heart fell right into his shoes as he heard the echidna sigh, "I'm sorry Shadow, but there's not a lot we can do bar hope; it's a well-planned, well-executed move by a small bunch of professional soldiers on a single target, the chances of finding her in time would be small at the best of times".

As he made the confession, Remington cursed himself again and again; just because there had been nothing up to now was no excuse to expect nothing like this to happen in the future; _now I have to take the rap for it, and someone else will suffer because of my mistake_;

"Remington", he perked up at the voice, slightly startled as he'd almost forgotten he was still in contact with Shadow, "where would you take her?"

"What?" It was more the sudden tenseness, suppressed excitement in the hedgehog's voice that confused him more than the actual question, "I don't…"

"Think about it", Shadow tried to put himself in their shoes but couldn't do it; he needed someone with Remington's experience to make the call for him, "you can't go back to base because you're going against the rules, where could you go? What would you do if you wanted to get hold of Julie?"

"If I was the kidnapper?" Suddenly he understood, and the problems reared up before him, drastically narrowing down the options as his quickly but carefully sifted through the facts and tried to draw conclusions from them, "the van means there's more than one, and that'd be hard to hide in plain sight – one Legionnaire's suspicious, two is downright odd, you couldn't rent an apartment to hold her in, you'd be seen going in and out, especially as Julie herself has metal on her arms and head, it'd look too peculiar to go unnoticed".

"The wilderness, outside the city?"

"No", at that word the hitches in Shadow's chest suddenly became less painful, hope starting to filter back in as that cut out a lot of his potential searching areas, "too risky and far too easy to track; Julie's smart, she could break free and once she got lost in there you'd never catch her again, it'd only take a second's slip in concentration; besides that a vehicle, any vehicle, outside Echidnopolis would look odd; no-one goes beyond the Silver Sea as a rule, there's no roads anywhere there. No, if it were me, it'd be in this city, somewhere quiet and not well used; there's no ransom demand or anything like that, this isn't for money or leverage, it's something else, something personal, they need a few minutes alone, not much more, somewhere you'd not be discovered…"

"Get some units out to the outskirts", Shadow's voice thundered into his thoughts, the hedgehog plotting his least travelled paths and seeing a couple of possibilities already, "I'm going; the holding units, industrial estates, anywhere like that, places a van wouldn't look odd. Get there ASAP, I'm on my way". Without waiting for the answer Shadow took off, cursing himself for not seeing it sooner, not being able to put the pieces together and trying not to think about the consequences his lapse might have caused, concentrating instead on speed, trying to force yet more speed from himself, get there ever faster, reach his goal…

…_save her_.

XXX

Julie had no hope left; the second Xenin's fists had blurred through the air to crash into the wall he'd backed her up against and send a spider-web of cracks splintering through the brickwork, that had done her thoughts of somehow winning this unequal contest completely. Even a glancing blow from one of his iron hands would have stoved her rib-cage in completely or broken every bone in her face; she was having to use every ounce of her speed and guile to stay one step ahead of his attacks and, with fatigue and fear eating their way into her tired body and limbs, it was getting harder to do so. Sweat threatened to blind her for the crucial moment, prevent her seeing his feint and react to the proper attack; she flicked it away, a risky move at the best of times against an opponent as skilled as Xenin. _There's no way I can win this_; she stepped inside his guard, pushing him back, regrouping as he stumbled for balance, trying to think through the pain and fatigue; _I can't win alone, and I can't call for help – even if I could do it, no-one would hear me scream no matter how loud I was._

_But…what if I wasn't screaming?_

That was it; the one chance, or more properly, the edge of a chance, she needed to hope again, to fight with more than a condemned man's last desire to keep body and soul together just a few seconds longer. She knew what she had to do, and the first part of that was to be patient; if she rushed it she would let Xenin get close, wrap her up and that would have been the end; she'd never have been able to fight her way out against him at close quarters. She had to pick her moment, run when the distraction let her; the thought that for once it would be her natural messiness that would save her made her smile as…there! Xenin overreached himself, not by more than a matter of inches but it was enough; whipping to the side and ignoring the screams from aching muscles, Julie's foot flashed out and caught the sergeant's ankle, sending him stumbling to the side, allowing her to spin and run straight for the van. She heard the shouts of alarm distantly, phantoms shifting towards her in her peripheral vision but it didn't matter; even as they closed she made one last, desperate spring, expending all the power her legs had left. The edge of the open door made her gasp as it slammed into her stomach, her hands clawing, reaching, scrabbling to seek what she needed, the one present she had that could possibly do something in situations as dire as these. Fingers raked her clothes, pulled her back, she felt impacts but disjointedly; she had what she needed, pressed it, pushed down on the bag she carried, air erupted from her lungs as a heavy impact slammed into her floating ribs, but then she felt something give under her thumb and a piercing agonising screech filled the air. As Julie half-staggered around, the attack alarm still shrieking from within her bag, and saw the shocked faces of her former squad mates staring open-mouthed at her, she could have sworn there was no sweeter music than what was filling her ears at the moment.

It couldn't last; after a few shocked seconds one of her opponents realised how much of a racket that bag was making, the fact that it was surely making people take note of what was going on, for it was far louder and more piercing than any note a voice box could make. As she ripped the bag away and dashed it to the floor, stamping on it indiscriminately to make sure the noise was crushed as quickly as possible, Dusty made the decision that she wasn't going to be cheated of her long-awaited revenge and swung with all her might; the pleasure that filled her as Julie fell to the floor, nose spurting blood, went beyond pleasure and she wanted, demanded, more of it; kicking out, the Legionnaire hissed at her nearly insensate victim,

"Who's laughing now bitch? You always were the officer's favourite, you tried to cosy up to them more than anyone else did – what did it do for you? Where are they all now", she swung again, the impact muted as she struck the metal on Julie's arms but no matter, the traitor was down at her mercy, she couldn't be stopped now.

Dusty had honestly thought that nothing would have stopped her in this, but the half-growl, half-sob noise that suddenly sprung out of nowhere was so out of the blue it made her pause and glance up, just for a second; _damn, company. Well, no matter_; recomposing herself, the Legionnaire spat at the stranger who was blocking the front of the alleyway, indicating the sight at her feet, where Julie was trying to shake her head and clear away the cobwebs,

"This is Legion business; just turn around and walk…"

"You dare", the words were soft, but somehow hit harder for that; suddenly the Mobian's face snapped up; before her eyes the shock that had made his last declaration a mumble was banished; suddenly there was murder and hatred in that pitiless, bloodied stare, "you _dare!_"

XXX

_The screams had summoned him, his heart bobbing in his throat and sending images of suffering and undue pain spinning crazily through his head – she had suffered so much, so young, already, why did the others torment her now, now when she'd already been through more than all of them combined would ever know? Was part of human nature to inflict pain and suffering on anyone weaker than them? Was it their fault or where they merely slaves to their instincts, unable to do any more than oppress those who would rise above them, showed signs of becoming something more than they were? He didn't know, hoped he'd never find out; suddenly he turned the last corner and one look at the sight before him let him know all that was important; they had hurt her, and they were laughing about it, laughing!_

_"You dare", he knew what his role was here; there could be no excuses, no pleas to defend this cowardice and cruelty, "you DARE!" His mind vanished in a blaze of murderous rage – this wasn't about justice, this was just about punishment and revenge._

_For her. Always for her._

XXX

Something ruffled the air overhead and someone screamed; Julie growled over the pain of her aching ribs and nose as Dusty collapsed next to her, holding in face in her hands as though sobbing; _you've got no reason to cry_; despite the agony that raced up her side, Julie forced herself up on one elbow, starting to bring herself into play and capitalise on her unexpected fortune; _not yet anyway_. It was only then, as she saw a black blur stopped by contact with Jari, sending him flying backwards with a pained gasp, that she realised what had happened; by some miracle, some blessing from above, her last gamble had paid off and then some; of all people, Shadow had managed to find her, and was fighting on her side; _and by my side_.

Relief drowned out the pain; she threw herself to her feet with a strength that bubbled from the much-scorned and silenced but never forgotten optimistic part of her mind. Throwing herself forwards, she knew how she could cure two problems with one blow; picking her target out, seeing him back away, she gave a loud war cry and saw Musa's head snap around, arms flying up reflexively as he saw the opponent come steaming in. Julie flung herself into his guard, appearing to grapple at close quarters, paying no heed to the renewed complaining of her bruised side as she managed to whisper,

"Go down" and hook an arm free long enough to get a swing in. Musa must have heard her; he went down as though pole-axed even as her knuckles barely grazed the fur on his cheek, knocking one 'opponent' out of the fight at the same time as stop Shadow accidentally going after someone who was unofficially on their side. She span, awaiting the next challenge, knowing she could take them on now, only to see, with suddenly horror-struck eyes, what had happened in the seconds she'd spent ensuring her friend wouldn't get hurt.

Shadow hadn't been lying; that was her first thought as she beheld the carnage, the drops of blood that were flying from pricks and lacerations with each shot the black hedgehog landed – in a fight, his quills were up and turned into dangerous weapons. Jari was on his back, gasping for air and trying to hold his bloodstained robes together to stem the flow from his perforations, Xenin was looking around trying to size up his new opponent and Gual was backing off, as was the Legionnaire Julie didn't know. But what made her pause, what stopped her thoughts of fighting for a second, was her first glimpse of Shadow's face; there was anger there, and there was also pain etched deep into his scowl and bared teeth, but his eyes, his eyes were blank, unseeing; there was nothing she could read in there that was even remotely Mobian. _Like looking at a pair of mirrors_; she was jerked back to reality quickly, too professional to stay still for long; Shadow may have caught them by surprise and his speed had knocked down at least two opponents, but his first flurries would have been the most dangerous and Xenin at least was too canny and cunning to let anything throw him for long; she had to help the black hedgehog press his remaining advantage and sprinted for it, seeing Shadow bounce upright and land directly in front of the unnamed Legionnaire.

XXX

_Another guilty party; he threw up his hands in defence, or was it as a plea for last-ditch mercy, but it was irrelevant – he'd committed the crime, he paid the consequences. No-one would lay a finger on her, ever threaten to lay a finger on her, as long as he was around, and now he was going to teach them why that was_.

XXX

His fists flickered faster than smoke curled, Julie watched on, marvelling as she ran, as he threw a volley of punches that rocked the echidna he was fighting back to his boot soles. He tried to counter attack, thrust out with both hands but hit only air; his reflexes were six months slower than Shadows and the black hedgehog didn't think twice about taking advantage of that. Five small bands of iron snapped down on one of the presented arms and gave an irresistible tug, forcing him forwards; the knee Shadow sent forwards like an ebon thunderbolt finished it utterly, half-breaking the echidna's ribcage and sending him to the floor curled in a foetal ball to try and stifle his pain. Xenin, as she'd know he would, took advantage, bursting over his fallen comrade's body, arms outstretched and wide, tough enough to shrug off the hedgehog's punch of opportunity, snap his arms shut in a bear hug and attempt to break his opponent's back with the strength of his arms, something Julie knew just how to prevent. _I know you Xenin, no matter how many metal bits they stick onto you_; her fist stabbed forwards, two knuckles protruding and sinking deep, as deep as her arm and robotic strength would let them go, into the sergeant's floating ribs, once, then twice, then again, each impact causing pain and causing his grip to slip a little more; _there's always a soft spot somewhere_.

XXX

_The pain was nothing compared to the frustration; he couldn't carry on with the punishment because someone was holding him too tightly to let him swing. Much as he writhed to free even one arm, for that would be enough, he couldn't do it – fear suddenly slapped him as he saw her, the one he was, had already sworn by everything he was, to protect, rear up, flail against the one imprisoning in, putting herself at risk. He felt an opening and took it without conscious thought, pulling his arm free, he rained down punch after punch, feeling the face beneath him grow slippery with blood and not caring – he would swing until his freedom was attained and she was safe again._

XXX

Under the attention of both Shadow and herself, not even Xenin could fully cope; eventually his arms fell apart and Shadow slipped to the floor, immediately springing upright and smashing his back, complete with razor spikes, right onto the point of Xenin's jaw, the Dark Legion sergeant stumbling backwards and letting Julie see beyond him, to where Gual was standing blank-eyed and whimpering at the wreckage of what had once been a squad of Dark Legionnaires. She knew he was harmless now, but this was just too perfect an opportunity to put that fact beyond doubt; he tried to back away but a sudden burst of speed caught him out; he doubled over again as Julie's fist bulldozed the air from his lungs; as he staggered, trying to breathe, she quickly stooped to his level and grabbed his dreadlocks with both hands, lifting his head upright as she whispered under her breath with loathing,

"You always were a cowardly little prick Gual, never did anything unless you had someone bigger than you was doing it as well", she thrust her arms downwards suddenly, dragging his chin down to her knee at a rapid rate of knots, feeling the impact blossom through the pain in her knee but at the same time seeing one of the last major threats stiffen and then sag, all the fight, if not the consciousness, leaving his body for the time being. Flushed with triumph, adrenaline pumping through her body, Julie span around to see who else was breathing; the sight of a pale pair of thighs trying to crawl into the van made her heart leap and without a second thought she raced forwards, grabbing Dusty's legs and hauling back, hearing the other echidna cry out in pain as she dropped an elbow right into the small of her back,

"Who's laughing now bitch?" Julie saw the gun she'd been going for still hanging in the holster Jari had stuffed it into before taking his place in the circle and knew Dusty was now hers for the taking. Suddenly the other echidna twisted and kicked out, caught in the chest Julie was catapulted backwards and landed on her back, head spinning as she tried to get her head sorted again. Something landed on her and agony sheeted up her already bruised ribs, making her growl in stifled pain as she tried to reach down and stop Dusty's punches; _damn, gotta stop that_; the pain was already receding and Julie knew that was bad – she couldn't afford to go under now, not after she scrapped her way back to this position. Something hit the palm of her hand and out of reflex her grip tightened, holding the Legionnaire's fist and squeezing, pulling Dusty upwards, across her body as she cocked her other arm and suddenly released it, slapping the other echidna dazingly around the face. Using the opportunity to sit up, Julie pulled again and, quickly adjusting her position, fell forwards and reversed their positions, this time looking down into the pale white albino's blood-masked face, red liquid oozing from where Shadow's quills had lacerated her face. Something warm and wet hit her face as Dusty spat upwards, defiant to the last as Julie looked her dead in the eye, right before her raised arm sped forwards to slam down like a hammer, hitting Dusty square in the centre of the muzzle, again, and again, pounding flesh and cartilage despite the acute angle as Julie milked the opportunity for every drop of pain and scrap of damage she could get.

A push upset her, knocked her off her stronger position even as she continued to hit, no sure if she was even making contact any more as her vision was fractured for some reason. She flailed, angered as something seized her wrists and stopped her striking; someone was saying something but she couldn't hear what, barely feeling as she was dragged upwards, collapsing against something soft and struggling to breathe, fighting to stop the adrenaline running away with her at the same time as suffering from it's absence, feeling faint as the pain and tiredness caught up with her in one devastating wave.

"Easy, easy Jules, take it steady"; _Shadow? Where's Shadow?_; she drowned out concern for herself with concern for her flat mate; as far as she knew he was still fighting, she had to be there to help. Finally recognising the voice and presence of Musa, Julie struggled to turn in his arms, see what was going on elsewhere; clearing her vision of tears of exhaustion, she strained to see what was going on and her vision cleared in time to see something that replaced her anger with something she'd never felt before, at least, never where Shadow had been concerned.

Outright terror.

XXX

_The ringleader – he would be the one who got the hardest lesson that would make sure it never happened again. He was virtually gone now, he had nothing left, and it was just a case of making sure he got the message. And, with but a second's thought, he had the means of how to hammer home that point completely._

XXX

Before her eyes, Shadow was transformed from a pragmatic but occasionally carefree spirit to something that belonged in a horror story; Xenin was virtually spent, his front slashed and pierced by a hundred tiny cuts and most of his mechanical parts were dented and torn. None of this, however, seemed to matter to the black hedgehog who was still ripping through his guard with ease and striking at will, inflicting more pain and punishment at every opportunity. Before her awestruck eyes, the hedgehog backed the only Mobian she had ever feared up against the wall, taking hold of a clumsy, unscientific blow and raining down hits on the arm that Xenin had gifted to him; speed and technique were generating power and that power was cracking through the best technology the Legion could provide. With a sudden mechanical hiss, Xenin's arm went dead, dropping down as Shadow must have crushed something vital; before the sergeant could recover, Shadow's foot had pinned him up against the wall and, for the first time since the start of the fight, Shadow spoke, his voice like stone being smashed against stone,

"Who are you?" Xenin snarled a curse and tried to spit; the globule of saliva, however, fell away, blurted out with a cry of agony as the abominable stink of burnt fur and charred flesh suddenly percolated the air of the battlefield; with a shudder Julie saw flames licking around the bottom of the black hedgehog's shoes and realised what he was doing; there was a cruelty she'd never thought the black hedgehog possessed in his work as he demanded again,

"Who are you?" This time, the echidna couldn't stand up to the pain,

"Xe, Xenin", he grated, trying to push the hedgehog's leg away but prevented by the pain and the damage Shadow had inflicted already. In no hurry, apparently immune to the stink of burning, Shadow merely leant forwards tone softening dangerously as he spoke his next words,

"Well then Xenin, you and these others have learnt a lesson here"; suddenly Shadow ripped his foot, complete with a large portion of the meat of the echidna's chest, away; unsupported, Xenin fell forwards, helpless as Shadow span to the side and lashed out with his right hand.

That punch, even from her distance, Julie could tell was an exercise in precision brutality; she clearly heard the snap as it smashed the sergeant's cheek bone, leaving Xenin, once an invincible machine none in the Legion save her own half-brother could beat, a whimpering, mewling heap on the floor as Shadow, back to her, leant down enough to growl in his bested foe's ear,

"You don't mess with the ultimate life-form".

XXX

_The lesson was learnt now, beyond any doubt; anyone who tried anything after this was either an idiot or a suicide case. But none of that mattered now – what did matter was that she was safe, that was all that would ever matter. Taking a breath, he could relax now, he'd done his duty above and beyond what was expected; turning around, he looked over to see…_

…two echidnas?

…_huh?_

XXX

Shadow swayed suddenly, who had been expecting to see? What had he been fighting for, and more to the point how long had been scrapping like this? He recalled Julie had been kidnapped, he had figured out with Remington were she was most likely to be going and then that unmistakable shriek had sounded in the distance; he'd homed in on it like a magnet, seen the scene before him and then…he'd zoned out completely. He'd been fighting, but that had been total war, he'd spared nothing; he hadn't had a choice, he'd had to use everything he had, some deep protective instinct wouldn't let him get away with less, but who had he been protecting? _Julie_!

That sudden thought blew away his reminiscing for now; all that mattered was his flatmate, and she was in a state and a half, somehow in the arms of another Legionnaire, regarding him…as though he was about to rear back and strike her? That wasn't right – he'd rather cut off his own hand that hit her with it, why was she so openly afraid now?

"Julie", he took a step forwards, only to see her shrink back into the other echidna, a sight to break his heart; she had to see he was her ally, her friend here – spreading his arms wide, palms up and inoffensive, the hedgehog, confused and bewildered as he was, knew he had to get her trust again, "Jules, it's me". He tried to make his face open, remind her of who he was, what that meant to her and, as her formerly frightened eyes looked at him again, seeming to clear, he dared think he might be making progress,

"It's Shadow".

XXX

"Julie"; and he was changing; the murder was releasing its hold on his eyes, his manner – he seemd to be collapsing in on himself, "Jules, it's me", and burning off all that rage, leaving behind only the Mobian, the real Mobian, with his trusting, compassionate gaze and arms welcoming and wide, behind those emotions.

Right before her eyes, it all sloughed away; the anger, the spite, the desire to maim, all gone like dust in the breeze, leaving behind the hedgehog she knew so well. But, still traumatised by her recent ordeal and unsettled by Shadow's seeming personality switch, she didn't know what to think any more, wasn't sure who she could trust…

"It's Shadow".

The words, soft and sincere, were what she needed to hear; coupled with the hedgehog's face and open, inviting arms, made her realise that he meant sanctuary, a world away from this gutter fight and the spite of the Dark Legion. It was something she needed, something she wanted, somewhere she needed to be; she tried to move forwards and felt the pressure around her slip off, letting her go on her way towards where the hedgehog was walking towards her slowly,

"Sh, Shadow", she mumbled, hoping against hope that he'd be able to help her, help block the stress she'd been exposed to out of her mind as, for once, she couldn't do it on her own, "what…?" She felt arms around her, warm at her front, soothing away the pain that now throbbed around her body, feeling his breath on the side of her face, hearing his voice in her ear, comforting, letting her know she had friends in this aching, unfair world as he spoke,

"It's all right Julie", even with his head not fully sorted, Shadow knew he had to focus on her here; it was the only chance she had; _she's shaking like a leaf, probably hurt more than I can see, shock would be killing her_; he knew what he had to do next and also knew he had to tell her the same thing, "Julie, listen, I'm just picking you up now, I've got to take you to the hospital…"

"No", all she wanted now was normality, wanted to convince herself this was a normal, average day like any other, "I better get to work, see Remington…"

"He knows", he had to break that illusion gently; this was the best he could come up with as he could faintly hear sirens in the distance, "he knows about this; we need to get you to hospital, it'll all be all right Julie, just trust me". He felt rather than saw her nod and began to gently reach down, seeking to scoop her slowly into his arms as so not to alarm her; as he moved, though, he was looking over her shoulder at the other Legionnaire, the one he knew must have been friendly as he had been comforting Julie up to now. Seeing the hedgehog's gaze, the echidna nodded once and pointed to the Mobian carnage all around him, then pointed to himself; his fingers then pointed out Julie and made the sign of the cross as he mouthed the word 'hospital'; _he must mean first aid_. It was Shadow's turn to nod and, as he finally got the echidna in his arms in a comfortable position, he made his first steps on the slow but steady journey towards the Echidnopolis general, the Dark Legionnaire standing aside and letting him pass, eyes lingering on Julie's clinging form with deep regret and consternation as he watched the hedgehog pick up speed and then vanish from view.

As the sirens grew louder, Musa knew it would be stupid of him to try and run; all he could do was try and sort out the wounds he could and make up a decent explanation for when the EST arrived on the scene. He didn't even want to look at Xenin right now, partly because of the wound that was probably still smoking on his chest, but mostly due to the disgust he felt towards his sergeant for organising this pointless revenge attack. With a sigh he headed towards where Dusty was sprawled, seeing with some relief that Julie's last hits hadn't been aimed well enough to actually break her nose, just tenderise the flesh around it; ripping off part of his sleeve, the Legionnaire knelt to try and stanch the bleeding, all the while muttering a silent plea that, no matter what happened to his squad, Julie-Su would pull through this unscathed.

A/N: So the battle is won, but the war is far from over. After such a shock, can either Julie's self-esteem or Shadow's memory ever truly recover to what it once was?


	15. Chapter 15 On My Shoulder

Chapter 15 – On My Shoulder.

A/N: Sorry for the delay, work and all that (and a few problems with the site – anyone else been timed out recently? Hope the managers can sort out the bugs once and for all – go for it guys!), but the reward is worth it, a new posse of reviewers:

Aria Milan (AM if you don't mind :-)) – Yeah, I noticed you cropping up on my stats page – I tried to message you but the option was suspended and I couldn't get through. Glad you like what you see, and the next chapter should be with you shortly.

Ultimatum Light – (henceforth UL – neat name though :-)) - Thanks for the info, glad what I'm writing is keeping you interested. As I explained to a couple of my other reviewers, I really like to hear from people who've read all my stories and continued all the way through because they were so interested – when I try to make it as a professional writer, I'm going to need to know that I can captivate readers over the length of a series. Anyway, enjoy this latest offering, and let me know if the scenes were touching enough…

BlueDolphin (BD from now on :-)) - Thanks for the praise, glad you liked what you saw. However, I need to know something – this fic is the eight in my series; I know you haven't read any others, but have you been able to pick up the storyline easily, without having to back-track in the series to pick up the gist of what's happened? Let me know if that happened for you, but, to answer the questions you did have:

a) Mighty's normally a dude, but I did a touch of doctoring – you'll have to read Iron Skin, Golden Heart to get the full history of this character.

b) Shadow is referred to as the former ultimate life-form due to his amnesia – how he got such a condition was described in Angel of Darkness and Ice, the first in the series. He can't remember anything before the last fight with the Metal Overlord, so he can't remember being called the ultimate life-form.

c) I'm not a pro writer yet – I hope to take it up when I've finished this series of fanfics – until then, I write here.

DH – Glad you like the fight scenes – good to write, and comparatively easy compared to scenes like the ones below, recovery scenes, if you like. Let me know if I made them believable or not.

TG – Sitting time over; hopefully this chapter is as intense as the last one, but in a subtly different way – let me know if you felt that in the writing please.

HHH – Well, assuming they haven't carted you off to the asylum for ripping a kid apart with your bare hands and teeth, I'm glad you enjoyed the rage – there will be another scene similar coming soon, but wait you must for that. Anyway, hope this chapter's okay for you as well.

Once more her mental fortitude left him astounded; by the time they'd arrived at the hospital she'd been sure enough to go through the A&E process alone, politely refusing Shadow's offer to come with her, though she did let him sign himself off as her contact and, though anyone with half an eye could see it was untrue, her next of kin as well. Now the black hedgehog sat alone in the reception area to A having just made a few explanatory calls he was now scribbling feverishly in fits and starts on a paper towel, trying to sort out his own head in time for when Julie was discharged, trying to recall anything of his own thoughts during the fight he'd just been through – so far, the signs he could see were both encouraging, and ominous; _there was someone else there – I wasn't fighting to save Julie, that was an added bonus_.

That fact, more than any other, was the one that scared him more than anything; he knew, had no choice but to know in this cold light of day, the damage he'd done to someone who was basically helpless, out of the fight. He had obliterated five augmented echidnas to make sure this ghostly memory was safe; all the hedgehog knew now was confusion, frustration and fear; confusion and frustration because he couldn't imagine loving someone so much he'd die for them, so much he'd kill to make sure they were well protected but at the same time not being able to deny his recent actions. But the fear, that was there for a different reason; _what would happen_; his imagination ran away from him and he could do nothing but feel the hand of terror wax its soft caress over his skin; _would I trip out like that if I saw something like a play-fight, say Amy getting hurt accidentally? It's not the first time I've done this either_; once more he saw the drone melted by the heat of his shoes as he snatched Cream from its imprisoning arms, again not fully in control of his actions as events lost in the mists of his mind took control of his body, forced him to guard someone who couldn't stand up to the pressure on their own; _and I was lucky this far – the people I hurt deserved it. But what would happen if it was someone like Knuckles, or Mighty, accidentally landing a tap wrongly, someone cried out in pain – would I snap against them too?_

It was a question he both couldn't and was afraid to answer – as much as he was able to look into the recent past and realise he'd never raised a finger against any one of his friends all the time he could remember, such reassurance was hollowed by what he had just done, the blows he'd landed and the utter lack of compassion he had exhibited. It was torment, made all the worse because it was all self-inflicted, like the memories he had forgotten were rebelling at being lost for so long, forming a personality of their own and pushing through, waiting for that one second of weakness, and try as he might he couldn't think of how to stop them doing such a thing…

"Shadow?"

The voice was enough to break his destructive train of thought, letting him take a deep breath as Shadow once more, take stock of his memories returning no matter how unfortunate the circumstances behind such a flashback. He raised a hand to his forehead wiping away the clammy sweat that beaded on his brow at the same time as look up at who had spoken his name.

"Lara?"

XXX

_Feni wasn't lying_; the natural healer in the nurse's soul was immediately alerted by her son's friend's face, the struggle that had only recently been abated due to her presence; _he's badly rattled_. Hiding such conclusions with the practised ease of years of experience, Lara smiled and pointed to the seat next to where Shadow was sat,

"Hi Shadow; this seat taken?"

"Err"; apparently his voice failed him and he had to resort to a shake of the head; with a steady movement the echidna lowered herself to sit comfortably, resting her hands on her knees as much to hide the ever-so-slight bump that now gently protruded just under her stomach as for comfort. She drew in a deep breath and smiled around, waiting for Shadow to make the first move and open the conversation; _then I can start to work out why he's like this – he should be patting himself on the back from what I've heard_;

"Lara?" The hedgehog questioned again, only recovering his tongue more when he received a cheerful nod, "what, why are you here? You should…"

"Only in another month or so", she gently interrupted the rest of his tirade with a raised hand, dispelling his illusion as she had with her son and husband, "maternity leave doesn't start until halfway through the second term, so I've got about another month to wait yet. Until then I'm on light duties only; no heavy lifting or anything like that".

"Good"; Shadow's mouth spoke before his brain could catch up and he hastily tried to correct himself, "sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you're not capable, but the baby…"

"I know, I know; you men are all alike when it comes to pregnancy – first Wyn, then Knuckles and now you", her laugh let him see there was no malice in her accusations and helped him relax a touch; it was then that she inclined her head towards the paper he still held in his off-hand, "stuff on your mind?" His red eyes rolled around to the paper and he gave a weary snort,

"You can't imagine", he rubbed his face tiredly with his other hand, raking over his previous occupations once more and still no nearer seeing his way out of the maze than he had been a few minutes previously. Then something caught the back of his hand, pulled it away gently; he looked over, not fighting as Lara met his gaze, not accusing, not probing for answers, but nevertheless clearly waiting for him to say something. _I shouldn't – I'll just worry her as well as me_; but there was something in those bottle green eyes, so reminiscent of Sonic's in the right light, that echoed the blue hedgehog's persistence and ability to break down even the tallest, strongest walls between them. The end came suddenly, as it always did; almost without realising it, Shadow found his own voice giving form to words that he'd had no previous intentions of speaking, nor taken no executive decision on uttering, but was saying anyway,

"I, ah, I hurt a lot of people today Lara".

It sounded babyish to his own ears but he didn't seem to be able to care as he carried on, concentrating on his words as he spoke again, carrying on his story as best he could, unearthing his deep fears and concerns to this one neutral, experienced listener,

"I didn't have to; at the end, I didn't need to hit Xenin, if that was his name, he couldn't have fought any more; instead he's got my boot-print branded into his chest and a smashed up jaw. That was violent and I'm not"; _I don't know that_; much as he was loathe to admit it, he had to take the more open-ended option of that statement and swallow his bile this one last time, "I don't want to be like that; hitting out every time I see something wrong. Yes I helped pull Julie out of trouble but it wasn't me that did it, it wasn't me that was trying to save her, or it was me but I wasn't trying to save her", his words didn't make sense even to himself but they were all he could come up with, "there's something, someone, else there Lara; I know now there was someone else, someone I'd run through hell barefoot for – this isn't the first time either. Cream, remember her, the rabbit girl"; _like I could forget_; suppressing her smile, Lara nodding, letting Shadow carry on venting his wounded emotions, "she was, someone tried to hurt her, the same thing happened; I flipped out and damn near broke them in half".

"And saved her doing it", Lara pointed out; she thought she was making progress when the black hedgehog chuckled but the shake of his head, the wetness at the corner of his eyes made her think again, try to come up with another way of tackling this problem as Shadow continued his lamentations,

"I don't think you're seeing the point Lara; yes, I saved her, but I wasn't in control of myself and I know what I can do", he looked at his hands, fascinated as though he could see his gloves drenched red, "what's going to happen next time I see a fight, next time I see some I care about fighting, say Rouge gets knocked down by your son, just in play – would I freak out and destroy him like I did Xenin? The way I see it I'm a loose cannon; I can't trust myself any more because I don't understand", his shoulders hitched as though taking a breath was painful, "I can't see what's making me act like this – is there anyone that can?"

XXX

As she watched the ebony hedgehog's chin sink onto his fist, red eyes staring forwards with tears clustering the corners, Lara felt that old pang rise up to stab her once more; _I missed all this because Knuckles wasn't there_. It was true enough; her son's absence meant she had never been able to express her full maternal instinct; she had never been able to hold her child's hand as he suffered a confidence crisis because, as a guardian, he wasn't supposed to have weaknesses such as those; his bloodline demanded he be as close to infallible as mortally possible. The fact Rouge had done just that, substituted for her as Knuckles had finally broken down and sobbed his heart out in her arms really did, in Lara's eyes, say it all about the Brotherhood's outmoded, outdated style of thinking; in her quiet moments she felt a feeling of relief and delayed pleasure that her grandchild or children wouldn't suffer such a fate; a guardian growing up in Angel Island now was bound to get contact, no mater how fleeting, with at least one inhabitant of Echidnopolis and have therefore a bare minimum of Mobian contact. Such thoughts, however, lasted no longer than a second; she could see the hedgehog before her was confused and not a little frightened of what had just happened, especially by his own hand in the actions and just needed a sympathetic ear to help him get over this stumbling block. And, whatever else could be said of her, Lara-Le was an emotionally pragmatic woman; sizing up the situation, a recent example flagged up in her mind and she saw a way through – putting a comforting hand on Shadow's shoulder, the echidna gave a quiet laugh as he glanced up at her fingers, apparently fascinated and horrified by the contact,

"Shadow"; _just got to word this right_; "despite what certain others might say, I know you're not stupid – think about it; you can tell the difference between a mock-fight and a real scrap. Remember what happened last time you were around, that comment Tails made to my other half?" One of his eyebrows was raised before the memory clicked into place and, a most welcome sight in her eyes, a slow smile sidled, half-embarrassed, across his face,

"Like I could forget that sort of a comeback"; the scene of Wyn lightly poking fun at Shadow's taste in women and trying to extract the grisly details of what had happened so far in his and Julie's 'relationship' thus far, at least until Tails had stuck his oar in on the black hedgehog's side, came back to him so easily:

_The brown echidna stood tall, embracing the room as a whole even if his eyes lingered on his wife for a second before flicking over to settle on where Shadow was still trying to look coolly disdainful,_

_"Oh come on Shadow, there's no shame in admitting your feelings to me; after all", he puffed out his chest impressively, trying to give the right impression as he commented breezily, "I'm a man of the world"._

_"Yeah", everyone glanced over as Tails pointed down towards the echidna's waistline, grin a mile wide as he turned the tables on Wyn's sense of fun, "you can tell by the size of his equator". For a second all was still, then Lara sputtered hopelessly, Shadow only just keeping himself together as Tails lifted his fist in triumph before he saw Wyn advancing on him, hands raised. Shadow heard a nervous gulp but was in no fit state to intervene, forced to listen as the fox tried to stave off the inevitable,_

_"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that; no, Wyn, really, I'm sorry – Lara help!" There hadn't been a chance of that due to the female echidna's virtual hysteria and, by the time Tails made his spring for safety, it was too late; Wyn snagged a handful of his scruff and hauled him backwards, right into his punishment._

XXX

Lara saw the visions flicker through the hedgehog's eyes and, as she saw them start to fly past, gave his shoulder a gentle pat to recapture his attention again, speaking calmly but making sure there was a lightness in her tone as she pointed out the obvious,

"See?" She waited until he was looking at her before carrying on, "you knew Wyn was just messing around; he treats Tails a lot like Sonic does – they must have played about like that before now and you've never stopped them".

"Unlike you", with a chuckle as he saw the conclusion to that little tussle, Shadow delivered a very soft slap to Lara's shoulder, "you joined in you git"; she tried to look innocent as Shadow once more saw her wind up a grand-slam shot, lining up her fist with Tail's stomach as the fox was held immobile by her husband; Tails had shut his eyes in waiting for the hammer blow before bursting out laughing, trying to kick free as Lara's hand started tickling his ribs as he was held helpless.

"Well, Wyn had been really good sticking to his diet that week, but anyway, enough about that, that's the important thing Shadow", in an instant all fun had been scrubbed clear from her eyes and she faced him once more with truth, no more, no less, in her eyes as she made the point she'd been leading up to, "you know when people are just having fun and you know when it's serious; I realise you have a past you're not fully sure of, but it's obvious to me that you must be some kind of protector, you couldn't or wouldn't let someone or something come to harm, but you knew what was intentionally meant to hurt someone and what was fun, just like you do now. If you weren't able to tell the difference you're probably right, you would have snapped before now; think about it – makes sense doesn't it?"

He didn't answer for a moment, she hadn't expected him to; it was a lot for someone to take in, especially as it was coming in from an unexpected angle like this; all Lara could do was cross her fingers and hope she'd said and done enough to tip the scales in the right direction. She tried to remain earnest, look hopeful for the hedgehog's sake but, as the seconds ticked on and no reaction was forthcoming, she couldn't help but a chilly little worm of doubt wriggle its way up into her chest. _Come on now, enough of that_; she concentrated so much on beating down that feeling of fear and concern that she nearly missed the reaction entirely; it was only a gruff little snort that alerted her to Shadow's rising head and sudden deep sigh,

"Yeah, I do know what's fun and where that fun stops; heck, if I didn't Sonic would be a blue paste by now", Lara smiled both at the image and the knowledge that the hedgehog was over the worst before her concern rose again; Shadow sat forwards once more, though his eyes were more piercing this time, looking, she noticed, at the door almost directly ahead of him; she made the connection almost at the same time he spelt it out for her, "but this isn't about me now"; _it takes a big person to admit something like that Shadow_; Lara's respect for the hedgehog by the side of her rose as he made that declaration before nodding at the entrance to the A&E department, "it's about what's going on in there now; in there, and in here".

XXX

As he tapped the side of his temple Shadow knew with grim certainty that, whatever confusion and calamity was echoing through his own thoughts and emotions, it would be nothing compared to Julie's trauma and turmoil; _and after she was starting, really starting, to get back on her feet, emotionally as well as financially and physically_. The timing of this attack was particularly cruel; Shadow couldn't help but think that it too had been planned to cause as much disruption to the ex-Legionnaire's life as possible; the only thing holding his desire to race to the EST and demand an explanation from them, any of them, in check was the knowledge that he had to be here when the doctors had finished seeing to Julie – more than ever now she needed a friendly face, followed by a sanctuary for the rest of the day where she could start to recuperate her shot nerves unmolested and at her own pace.

"She's going to need you Shadow", he glanced around in time to nod at Lara's words, at the look of concern and reserved judgement on her face as she finished, "now more than ever, she's going to need someone there for her".

"I know", his reply was soft, there was no need for volume in this instance as Shadow simply held his hands up, shrugging his shoulders as he realised he was towing the water out of his depth and needed help in this instance, "what should I do Lara – I've got no idea?"

XXX

_He's honest at least_; recognising the question for what it was, not a plea for a plan of what he had to do to cope in this situation but just a casual request for a bit of guidance from someone who was a lot more experienced and had a clearer picture of what would be a good next move. In a similar vein, Lara's answer was simply a suggestion, an outline of an idea rather than a step-by-step plan of attack,

"Just be there, that's the most important thing – Julie'll need to feel like she's got some support, abandoning her…" his face at that suggestion, the look of disgust and horror that filled her vision, let her know no more needed to be said in this department and, as such, she moved on, "after that, just make allowances, give more than you'd normally take and offer a shoulder if she needs one; basically, she's the one recovering, she has to dictate the pace of her recovery – all you can do is make it as smooth as possible".

"With our history", despite the grimness of the road that still had to be travelled Shadow could still make light of the situation for now, "oh that's going to go down like Eggman with a lead parachute". Shaking her head at the joke even if she couldn't fully understand it, Lara slapped her knees before heaving herself to her feet, accepting Shadow's help at the level of her elbow before smoothing down her nurse's uniform and facing him for the last time,

"Right, well I best get back to work; I think my coffee break ended fifteen minutes ago", as Shadow raised a hand in a goodbye, attention once again fully occupied by A&E, staring at the door as if his sheer willpower could force it open, force it to disgorge the echidna it had swallowed about half an hour ago, Lara gave her final piece of advice, "just go with the flow Shadow, it's all you can do. I'm sure you'll get on fine". He broke his gaze for the merest second,

"Thanks Lara; I'll tell her you said hi"; with that and a nod of her head, the nurse retreated carefully, leaving behind her another patient, expertly cured.

XXX

He had been so tense, so expecting the door to open and Julie to appear that, when it finally did happen, it took him a few seconds to realise that it was actually the real deal stood in front of him. His first instinct was to race over and he seized upon it; it was perhaps fortunate that his rational mind stepped in before he could do more that stand up; _take it cool, you don't want to panic her – just go easy_. He dragged in a deep breath and let it out slowly, stilling his frenzied heart as he realised that aside from a small plug in one of her nostrils the echidna he remembered so well appeared just the same, physically at least; he forced himself to put one foot ahead of the other slowly and deliberately, taking the first step in a calm, measured manner, though admittedly he speeded up a touch as he saw Julie's eyes widen as she saw him properly – as far as he was concerned the sooner he was with her, making sure she was alright, the better for both of them.

"Hi Jules", his voice was light even if he couldn't accurately predict the words he would use next, "what did they say?"

"The normal", her voice was casual but even this disguise couldn't fool Shadow; he barely listened to a word she said – he was instead focussed on her eyes, the multi-coloured windows to the echidna's soul and saw with icy but well hidden despair the listlessness within them, the lack of zest that had characterised his flatmate previously, "a few bruises, cuts and scrapes and the usual advice; no heavy lifting, excessive movement or getting within a mile of any local beauty pageants".

"You look fine"; his reply was brusque but at the same time heartfelt, an act of reassurance as he reached out, heart ripped once more as the echidna flinched away from him, almost afraid of the potential for contact; _no, I'm not going to let them hurt you like this_; he gathered his resolve, tried to make her meet his eyes – she needed to see that he wasn't, would never be like the cowards who had just attacked her, tried to pull her down to the mire she'd had risen above so majestically.

"Ms Su?"

The voice brought both of their heads snapping around; Shadow stared at the white-coated echidna who had spoken at the same time Julie shrank away, almost as if being spoken to politely was something she was completely unused to. For a second the scene remained stationary until, finally, Shadow was able to speak,

"Yes?" Seemingly ignoring him, the doctor looked past the ebon hedgehog and repeated the name,

"Ms Su?" This time she had no choice but to answer; swallowing her apprehension, Julie stood up tall and answered,

"Yes, I'm Julie-Su doctor"; his face brightened and Shadow had to stop a small smile sidling over his face at this inappropriate moment; _all he needs is the monocle and he'd be a dead ringer – do all doctors look alike or is it just echidnean ones?_

"Well I have some good news for you; you're free to be discharged". Julie's mouth fell open for a moment before she managed to make sense of what he was telling her,

"You mean, I can leave?"

"Yes, from what we can tell there's no damage beyond some moderate bruising, just go easy on your left side, there's a suspicion one of your ribs is bruised, not badly, but the last thing we need to do if aggravate the condition. Basically, put your feet up for a few days and take it easy, your body will do the hard work for…er, are you all right sir?"

XXX

It took Shadow a few seconds to realise he was being spoken to and when that realisation sank in, he was understandably perplexed,

"Wha?" He looked at the echidna questioningly, "of course I am; why?" It was only when the doctor nodded downwards, Shadow's eyes tracking every movement, did he realise precisely what was arousing the professional's curiosity; somehow, without his realising it, his left hand was clenching into a fist so tight he could feel his nails digging into his palms. He could feel the blood thunder through the compressed arteries in his arm and hand, fascinated by the stinging sensations that flooded down his arm as he slowly uncurled his fingers, mute in the face of such an unexpected shock; his own body rebelling against his mind's control for the second time in the day,

"Shadow", contact on his shoulder, Julie's voice in his ear, helping, calming, allowing him to recollect scattered thoughts and logically piece them together once more, "Shadow, what is it?"

"This'll help"; _won't it?_; he heard his lips mumble the words he had never suggested to them, feeling only the vague notion that he was doing something right as validation to his unusual behaviour, "I think". He looked at his hand, scrutinising it though the secret to its erratic actions was somehow scribed into flesh of his palm, but nothing appeared. In his confusion, the hedgehog could only look up again, lock eyes with the Mobian who had first seen the movement he had been unaware of, and ask, almost plead, for an explanation with his eyes. After a second of clearing his throat and settling onto his back foot, apparently sizing up all the factors involved in the case, the echidna gently thumbed his chin before giving his diagnosis, his tone as measured, precise and calm as his manner,

"From what I could see it looked like you were about to undergo a blood transfusion, or something similar to that, maybe a blood-pressure check up?" The surgeon looked up to meet the hedgehog's crimson eyes, still maintaining his professionalism as he made his next suggestion, "are you a blood donor, or have you ever had a transfusion?"

"I…" He couldn't answer; the shock coupled with the stark fact that he couldn't even begin to claim to the know the truthfulness of any words he could put into a comeback meant he said nothing, merely stuttering as his blanked mind struggled to grapple the enormity of these new suggestions put forwards to challenge it, "I, can't…don't really…"

"He has amnesia", Julie's voice once more, again helping him anchor himself to the real world, give his rationality a point to focus upon and claw itself back to something resembling control of his body, "I don't think he can remember that far back". Somehow out of breath, Shadow blinked and breathed in, legs now more shaky than they ever had been before, during or after the fight with the Legionnaires he had just gone through; he shook his head, clearing away the cobwebs in time to hear the answer from the healthcare official before him, spoken after a moment of quiet contemplation,

"I see"; his mannerism summed up far more than should have been possible in two small words, "well, I shouldn't keep you, I'm sure you'd have other places you'd much rather be than here".

"Yeah, you got that right", Julie mumbled, breaking eye contact and, Shadow gritted his teeth as she saw her head fall, her gaze trying to peel the paint off the floor as her pale imitation of a voice agreed, "Shadow, let's go home". _I can't do anything_; much as his soul was screaming at him to do whatever was necessary to comfort the suffering Mobian before him, Shadow knew that he had to bear it for now; _the last thing she needs now is a public scene – I just have to lump it for now, and only for now_. Holding in his emotions for now, the hedgehog escorted her to the entrance of the hospital and, the touch as he tenderly picked her up was almost unbearable, only his respect for Julie's manner prevented him letting go there and then; before his emotions could pin his logical mind down and take over he triggered his jets, taking off in a blaze of speed and soothing both his own mind and Julie's fears by heading for home at a speed that, though much lower than his customary movement, was still enough to shield them from curious, prying eyes that might have wanted to see what had become of the ex-Legionnaire.

XXX

He didn't put her down even at the front door; his keys fell unheeded to the front door mat as, silently pleading for her to take the golden opportunity he was presenting her with, Shadow carried the echidna over the threshold of their apartment. Still she was silent, almost lost in a sea of shock-induced numbness and Shadow felt his spirits fall just a little further; _those bastards, Julie, don't do this, don't lose yourself to that sort of cowardice – I know how strong you are, you've proved that a hundred times – you are so much better than them._

"Julie", he whispered her name as he lowered his arms fractionally, "I'm just putting you down now, got your balance?" He stayed at her shoulder, ready to react to the slightest sway as his flatmate slowly trailed her legs down to the floor, taking more and more of her own bodyweight out of the hedgehog's arms until, at last, she stood tall once more under her own power, as still as a sculpture, breathing shallowly as she tottered forwards, hand coming to rest on one of the walls for support. Shadow averted his eyes because he knew she would never forgive him, not for seeing her like this, but for mocking her about it later and as far as he was concerned the best way to beat such temptation was to never have it in the first place. He had to give her a bit of peace, only five minutes or so, but enough to recollect her bearings without him hanging around and disrupting that process; _got it – good diversion_; he wetted his lips, crossing his fingers that the idea he'd manage to come up with would wash well with the echidna,

"Jules, I'll get the kettle on, make us both a brew; why don't you go take a seat in the lounge, I'll bring it through to you, sound good?"

"Yeah", once more it was that ghostly whisper, the mournful, lifeless parody of her voice that simultaneously riled his anger at the callous way those she had once considered friends had tried to break her spirit and increased his biting fear that they may have succeeded; _they won't have, I'm not going to let them_. He restated that vow as he watched Julie into the lounge, then quickly scuttled into the kitchen, realising the reason behind this delay even if he rushed around to try and reduce it as much as was possible.

XXX

A watched kettle never boils – never before had that phrase rung so true as Shadow waited with mounting impatience, desperate for the steam to come spiralling from the top of the electrical appliance at the same time as appreciate that this extra time was helping Julie try and sort out her own fractured feelings, giving her more time and space to acclimatise to what had happened and the consequences of such an unexpected shock. He half-thought about calling out a few facts that had been divulged from the calls he'd made during his agonised waiting in the hospital wing but decided against it; the silence meant Julie had nothing else to compete with her attention to the very recent past. _Lara was right_; the black hedgehog shook his head, frustrated in his inability to see the right way to go in this instance; _this is a battle she has to fight on her own – I can help and offer moral support but she's got to do the hard work on her own. If I could do any more I'd do it, but there's no way in_; he was so preoccupied with his thoughts that it took the click of the kettle to jar him back to the present. Quickly throwing off all pessimistic thoughts and taking a deep breath, Shadow added the hot water to both the cups he'd already prepared and, after giving each a quick stir, held his head up high and strode towards the lounge.

It might have been a sign of progress, but the sight there tore him up far worse than all her cold actions so far; as he nosed open the door, all thoughts of cheer died in his heart – Julie was sat on the settee, hunched over and shaking violently, fists bunched so tightly against her face he could see her knuckles whitening as she tried to block out the world, make it all leave her alone and fade away. The cups he held trembled as his mouth ran dry; the emotive, empathic part of psyche bellowed its orders and this time he knew he had to act; Julie could fight up to a point but she could not do it all on her own, not even with her immense force of will. Putting the coffee to one side, Shadow sighed and stepped forwards, the footfalls soft until he stood directly in front of his flatmate, she did nothing but rock forwards and back more violently, shivering horribly as the delayed shock turned the screw on her mind; _and now it's up to me to stop that pressure_;

"Jules", his sigh was soft and sincere as he squatted down to her level, reaching forwards; she jerked away at his touch, still not wanting the contact Shadow's brain was demanding he had to give, not allowing him to let up as he reached forwards again, even more tentatively this time, feathering a touch on one of her arms and this time feeling her resistance crumbling away,

"No"; a mewl of misery answered him, Julie's last plea to be left alone, the plea he had to ignore for her sake as much as for his own, "please, l,leave…"

"No Julie-Su", this time his voice had a little more force, just enough to make sure it brooked no argument without making it a threat; Shadow leant in, gathering the traumatised echidna to him slowly, oh so slowly, a sudden lunge would have spelt disaster for her trust of him – he did not finish his statement until he felt his hands link around her back, "I am not leaving, not until I know you're going to be all right".

For a long time he stayed like that, ensuring she was comfortable with his presence, feeling her hitching breath through his own chest, the quivers that raced around her body at her shuddering exhalations; as cramp began to send tingles up his calves her went to his knees, Julie slightly higher than he was now, and then he began to move once more. His arms dropped by fractions at a time, directed by concentration of the highest level that at times made him feel slightly light-headed – at those times he gritted his teeth and reminded himself that this was in no way about him and carried on in his gradual plan. Eventually his biceps brushed her elbows, the hedgehog took a long, shallow breath and then, keeping his eyes on her reactions at all times, brought his arms together, scraping his forearms underneath her own, undermining the barriers Julie was trying to put between herself and the rest of existence. For a second his arms were held fast and he feared for his endeavours, then he felt his fur parted the right way and breathed once more; the crisis point was over. Now he rose once more, peeling her arms aside, the coolness of her metal forearms pressing into his skin as she resisted his attempts to make her open up, break down the wall she wanted so desperately to erect to block out what had just happened; _that's not going to happen, not on my watch._

Distant memories of another echidna in tears after his own woes had smashed through his barriers from the inside galvanised him – he had the opportunity to stop that happening before it even began and he was going to take such a unique chance with both hands. He gave one final upwards thrust, hearing Julie whimper as her hands were pushed aside, revealing her tightly shut eyes and teeth set in a grimace; he tightened his hold after an instant of seeing that picture, bringing her softly into his chest, holding the gap between her and the rest of the world open with his own body, feeling her almost collapse against him, hearing a soft chattering in his ear as her teeth clicked together softly, tears denied as she was not that kind of Mobian. Bringing his hands up her back, trailing them through her dreadlocks affectionately, soothing her through such repetitive, comforting contact, Shadow lowered his cheek onto her shoulder, feeling her do likewise as she didn't have the strength to hold her chin up any longer,

"Let it go Julie", he didn't even have to raise his voice, he knew she would hear him, "if you need to, don't let it build up".

He felt a shudder run right though her body and braced himself; his words must have breached the barrier, slammed through to collapse any kind of resistance she may have had left. Her arms tightened around him and he fought to keep his breath; the stress was making her forget her own strength and he suffered in silence because of it, ignoring the pressure on his spine as he knew he was suffering for a good cause. He could hear her, choked and contrite, start to speak when she could, there was no wetness on his shoulder, her sobs were dry,

"I, I knew", he said nothing – she was the one who needed to talk now, "I heard…saw what, they, planning. Had to f,fight", she sucked down a deep breath, rearing up a little as Shadow rose slightly to keep his contact despite the ache in his legs flaring up once more, "Musa, without him, they'd", the hedgehog felt something thud into his shoulder, the hold around him tightening and he wrapped his own arms tighter accordingly, keeping the contact between them as tight or as loose as Julie wanted it, "I've ne,never been so scared".

Shadow said nothing; there was nothing he could say now that Julie would have been able to take in, her pain was still too fresh in her mind. So the black hedgehog clung on, not allowing even the most sudden and violent pitching of her shoulders to buck him off, nor the most plaintive plea that she could handle it, she would be all right on her own. He never let go, not until he was sure the storm was steadying; Shadow could feel her thrashing settling down into a more rhythmic pattern, her initial trial over and now the venting beginning; _now I need to tell her what she needs to hear_; and, as he held her tighter once more, he knew exactly what that was,

"I saw you fight them Julie, saw for a second when you got that that idiot off of me, and I know you've never been more courageous".

She was listening, he could tell by the way the pressure lifted slightly off his shoulder that she was trying to make sense of his words; seizing the initiative Shadow spoke again, tone factual but reassuring at the same time,

"There's a saying on the world below", he didn't know if it was an actual saying and didn't much care; it was what Julie needed to hear and that was all he was concerned with, "it's all right to be afraid, everyone's scared sometimes; it's a mark of bravery, real, proper bravery, to be able to face down that fear, look it in the eye and go from there; you did that and more Julie, and Christ I knew you were strong to begin with; I've known that ever since the first night you were here".

XXX

He hadn't quite meant to say this much but, as he became aware of how much the echidna he was embraced with was hanging on his words, Shadow knew he had to divulge these thoughts he'd had brewing in the back of his mind for how long he didn't know. He made nothing up save his delivery, the manner in which his words came and the inflection each carried inscribed upon it,

"I knew, when you looked at me and started talking about scraping together your new life, after you'd been in pieces less than a day before, I knew you had to be one of life's natural born survivors. You've been through more, so much more, than ninety-nine percent of people will ever even think about that and you're still here, still hanging tough; I can't even think about how much bottle that's gotta take", he gave an extra squeeze, trying to convey his truthfulness through contact as he ended his words, "nothing can keep you down because you're so much tougher than anything they can throw at you. I said then you shouldn't rush it, had to let this go at your own pace and you do now as well – rushing it would be the worst thing you could do and there's just no point, not because of me", now he pushed himself backwards, looking directly into her eyes, seeing the film of water that covered them but piercing that, trying to hammer his point home directly onto her mind as he licked his lips and said the final sentence,

"You don't have to prove anything Julie; I already know how strong you are".

She was silent for a few seconds, the odd shake showing that she was still suffering, though not as much as previously; Shadow didn't drop his eyes, meeting her gaze head-on, willing with all his force of will for something to sneak back into the echidna's eyes and rise up, fight on and throw back the malign influences the other Legionnaires had tried to place over her. _But there's nothing_; belief drained out of his own mind, anguish rising to claim him as he saw not a flicker of emotion, positive or negative, stir behind those indeterminate eyes; _no, not now – come on Jules, they can't break you, I know they can't – for the love of anything, come back to…huh?_ The pressure on his arms made him glance down, nothing more than that; what he saw there made his take a second, long, shocked look.

Somehow, dredged from some deep aqueduct of strength that even he had never seen, Julie had managed to raise her own hands and place them gently on his forearms; unable to understand, Shadow let his eyes travel up once more, just in time to see the echidna's lips move and, his mind ceased to function for a second; of all the things he'd expected to see in her eyes, fright, anger, maybe even hatred – compassion, no, that had never even entered his mind. Not compassion, and certainly not concern.

"But you Shadow", brought back to his own body by the words, mangled and brittle as they were, the hedgehog had to listen to her own query, "what about you? Back there, fighting, I've never seen you like that, and the hospital afterwards – what happened to you?"

XXX

Suddenly it was Shadow fighting to keep his tears locked away as outright wonderment seized hold of him; had he really thought, had he allowed himself to think he had the slightest inkling about how strong the echidna before him was? To even come through the trial that had just been forced upon her was miracle enough, but to not care for herself, to want to know if he was all right rather than focus on her own recovery – it was a feat he doubted even Amy could have managed and Julie had done so without even seeming to think about doing it, the act had come so naturally. With a gasp that was equal parts astonishment and sudden fear for his own sake, Shadow slowly eased his body forwards once more and this time it was Julie who was supporting him, helping to shore up his barriers and soothe the stress his recent mnemonic upheaval had released in him as, unthought-of and most certainly unbidden, a confession spilled carelessly, heedlessly, from his lips,

"I, I don't know Jules; in truth I can barely remember anything about that scrap and, maybe I should be grateful for that, but", he gave a short, mirthless laugh, the shame tangible in his tone as he spoke next, "I do know this, and it's an awful thing to say but it's true, I know it is", he retreated once more, not meeting her eyes as he finally admitted his guilty secret, "I know that, I wasn't fighting to save you, it was someone else I was trying to save".

The hedgehog gave a long sigh, neither happy nor sad that he'd brought that into the open, merely accepting that he'd been right to do so; he didn't want to lie to Julie, not at this delicate stage – better to tell the unpleasant truth than for that mistake to come back and haunt him at some point in the future. He looked forwards once more, and the flash of fur ahead of him told him, in a rush of relief and deep, heartfelt gratitude that he'd made the right choice in that respect. For the third time the housemates hugged, each weakened spirit helping to hold up the other, allowing the repairs to be made even now as words were exchanged and both took comfort in the fact that, despite their different trials and the separate pains in their past, each of them had someone here that understood, could understand and would be there for them to lean upon, lend that needed shoulder when the situation called for it. Silently, the rivers of time flowing around them unheeded, the two Mobians gathered each other and held tightly and close, thinking not of themselves, but of and for each other, the way all partners should.

XXX

Eventually, it was his own body that ended the embrace; with a sudden shout of pain, Shadow fell backwards as cramp speared up through his leg, the muscle finally voicing its complaint at being forced to stay in such an uncomfortable position for so long.

"Yeaahhh, bloody cramp", he quickly and vigorously pressed into the aching flesh as best he could at the acute angle, trying to get the blood flowing back to the stressed tissue before a sudden noise made him look up; finally, hope exploded in his chest as he saw Julie's smile – shy and self-conscious maybe, but a genuine smile nevertheless;_ I knew it_; he smiled back, pride and relief glowing in his expression as his previous thoughts, no, his previous certainties, were vindicated in the clearest terms possible; _knew they couldn't drag you down to their level_.

"Tell me about it; you are going to have to teach me how to get rid of that the way you do".

"Well", the hedgehog stood up, winking down at the echidna with a sly look in his eyes, "I know one way that'll work for anyone; a really, really hot bubble bath, at least a foot deep". As he'd expected, Julie flumped back onto the settee, eyes half-closed in an expression of nirvanic ecstasy,

"Sounds like heaven right about now".

"Sit there, I'll go start running it", however, just before he turned to go, the hedgehog stood before her one last time, his hand resting on her shoulder as his red eyes glowed with a smouldering fire, "don't let the bastards drag you down Jules; you're so far ahead of them they'll never be able to see your dust". Her smile, still not completely sure of itself but strengthening all the time, beamed back up to him at the same time her hand covered his own, the warmth transmitted from her palm to the back of his fingers at the same time her words kindled the fire in his soul,

"I know; Shadow", suddenly her eyes darkened, Shadow's hold tightening suddenly in fear of, even now, her slipping away towards the dark pit those black-cloaked maniacs had tried to open up for her, "it's not so much who attacked me as the point that I was attacked. Those echidnas, those five, they were my old squad, Xenin", Shadow's face squirmed as he recalled the terrible wound he'd inflicted on someone who by all rights he should have let fall to the deck and left alone past that point, "was my sergeant; I never really belonged there, wanted to be something else, something bigger than they were and they resented that; the fact I'm a renegade was just the chance they were looking for. The big question is", her face fell, the troubled cloud that Shadow had grown to loathe when it was around Julie once more rumbled over her brow, "why was I attacked?"

"It was a rogue move", Shadow said at once, parroting the information Remington had imparted during their hurried conversation; Julie merely looked up beseechingly,

"Was it though?" She ground her knuckles against her forehead once more as though trying to mash an idea through her skull, force the mental cogs to turn through sheer effort, "I don't know what the Legion are doing any more – what if Enerjak's decided to get tough on deserters? Xenin said it – 'you'll make a fine example'; did he actually mean that for his squad or because the Legion wanted to get the message out in style? Am I going to be able to walk down the street again…?"

"You bet you are", the growl made her glance up frightened; Shadow had that killer look in his eye again and for a second she feared as the hedgehog's voice thundered out in a threatening snarl, "I'll walk you into work tomorrow; don't say you don't need it, it's more for my piece of mind than yours. If the Dark Legion really wants you they'll have to send out every damn Legionnaire they've got to get you again – even then, better break out the heavy artillery". Julie blinked at the naked aggression in his voice and the tremble must have run up her paw; Shadow suddenly shook himself and was Shadow once more, not the dangerous monster he had been mere hours earlier, seen only out the corner of the eye before being thrust under the spotlight, when it's dangerous fighting prowess had been needed; _I'm going to have to tread carefully – he's got a lot going on in his head now, especially after that stirring up bad memories._

After a second of silence, echidna and hedgehog both broke apart once more, both making their final goodbyes for a few moments as Shadow left to get the bath running, leaving Julie still sat down, the last residual aches and pains in her side and face still thrumming their merry little tune of agony but now she wasn't inclined to listen to them. There were a lot of things present in how she was feeling, least of all was shock about what had just happened and fear that it might happen again, confusion was also there but, most importantly and strongest of all, Julie felt herself bulwarked by certainty that, no matter what else may befall her on the winding road ahead, she at least had one companion that she could rely on to help her carry whatever burdens she had to bear.

XXX

She sat alone for a little while, not entirely sure what to think so not entirely thinking of anything in particular, heeding nothing save whatever trifling thoughts occupied her mind; the way the slow spirals of steam from both now abandoned cups of coffee slowed and eventually stilled, held in by the congealing black substance that was now surely curdling to the consistence of crude oil within the mugs, what sort of reception she'd be getting from her work colleagues tomorrow, or even if she'd be going to work at all; _ I better be_. Her determination rekindled, she slowly raised one arm over her head, grimacing at the steadily mounting pain until she had to stop with her arm virtually fully extended over her head, the pulling on both sides of the monumental bruise she must have had pulsating along that side of her ribcage overcoming her pain barrier, preventing her getting her arm all the way over her head,

"Now if this was another day", her senses sprang back to the fore and her arm slapped down fast; she knew that suavely mischievous voice when she heard it and it was usually a prelude to her suffering some kind of minor but undoubtedly embarrassing mishap, "I'd have been in like a shot; just because you're suffering I'll let you off". The echidna glared upwards, eyes narrowing as she saw Shadow stood at the arm of the settee, licking the tips of one of fingers before aiming it right at her previously exposed ribcage,

"If you had I'd have ripped your arm off", she cupped her other arm around her own body, gently massaging the injury to her side with a ruefully sore sigh, "once I'd stopped screaming in pain at least". Expression softening as he realised how true that must have been, Shadow offered his hand, allowing the echidna to clamber back to her feet along his arm, pulling herself upright hand over hand ,

"Go on", he rubbed her back once more, a comforting, friendly gesture as straightened tersely, ready to relax at a second's notice from her body that the exertions were telling on her, "everything's ready for you, all laid out and the bath's about as hot as I could get it without turning the room into a sauna, and there's plenty left in the tank if you want to top up later".

"Just the way I need it right now", Julie straightened upright once more, flexing out the kinks in her back caused by her long slouch in the settee, "I'm sorry if I take…"

"Don't you dare apologise", Shadow waved a finger, Julie raising her eyebrows at the unexpected force in his voice as he made this point very clear indeed, "I'm just having a shower later, you take as long as you need, got it?"

"Glad you feel that way, because that is exactly what I intend to do. I'll see you later Shads", she paused at the door, one hand on the frame, supporting her as she looked over her shoulder, voice as compelling as the look in her eyes, "and thank you".

"Julie", he said her name almost skittishly; the words stuck in his uncomfortably parched throat, "you'll never need to thank me for stepping in like that; you shouldn't even think you have to".

"I know", the echidna gave a final nod, her eyes moist for almost the first time as she made to head towards the hallway, "and you'll never know how grateful I am because I know I don't".

XXX

The steam alone was invitation enough; with a grateful sigh, Julie carefully peeled off her clinging clothing, feeling slightly invigorated as she did so, sloughing away the outer layers of herself that had been sullied by contact with the Dark Legion again. However, she had to go slowly; the injuries beneath her clothing were still severe enough to force her to take thing steadily; she had to concentrate on getting undressed, not matter how quickly she wanted to be rid of the contaminated material, send them to be re-sanitised before she wore them again. Even when the last garment fell to the floor, she denied herself for a few more seconds, taking exquisite care to place all the clothing in the washing basket near the side of the bath, trying to stick to her normal routine as much as was possible, limit the disruption to as narrow a spectrum as she could manage to. Only when she was satisfied, when she knew that all was as it would have been even on a normal day, did she finally allow herself the opulence before her and, after tentatively probing the water with a toe, closing her eyes against the heat as she realised Shadow hadn't been lying about the water's temperature, Julie slid slowly, decadently, into the virtually scalding waters.

It was a controlled, measured descent, milked for every ounce of wonderful pleasure she could coax out of it; Julie felt the water swirl around, over and eventually through the fur of her body, touching directly to her skin, kissing away the pain by drowning it with heat and wetness, closing her eyes as she lowered still more of her body into the water, repeating the sensations over and over again until, eventually, she was soaked and sat down on the bottom of the tub, the water covering almost to her shoulders in a tightly fitting, steaming blanket. Within such a cocoon, she was briefly liberated from the concerns of the flesh; her bruises and bumps faded into obscurity with the rest of her body, freeing her mind completely, letting it wander away to oversee the memories of the day from a long distant vantage point – almost immediately following this distancing from the flesh, it came to one very obvious and very true conclusion; _I was very lucky today. Very lucky, and very afraid_.

A ripple spread out from her body, the involuntary tremor sending shockwaves through the water that fear came forwards once more; _if it hadn't been for Musa helping me out, and Shadow showing up when he did…_; she consciously shut out that line of thought – the potential fates her former squad could have had planned for her were so many, and so unpleasant, they didn't bear thinking about; _and worst of all, that's not the worst of it_. There was truth in that thought – as his fists had tried to inflict a savage beating on her flesh, so Xenin's words had contrived to buckle Julie's resolve and hope for the future; _a good example – was it a rogue move, probably, but how can I be sure of that? How do I know the Legion isn't out to get me now?_ Preoccupied by such a pessimistic and frankly terrifying thought, the ripples began to multiply.

A pair of crimson eyes opened in her thoughts and, unconsciously, Julie reacted to them; she had been tempted to ignore Shadow's offer for tomorrow, but now that rush of misplaced blasé, of trying to convince both herself and the rest of the world that all was as it should be, had dissipated she knew she couldn't do it; this time she needed, really, truly needed, someone's hand to hold for this short step in her life. _And he offered his, without considering the cost or asking for anything in return – he just did it, because I was in trouble. Shadow…_; somehow everything he did confused the life out of her – what was she expected to think about this? His poker face and general attitude gave little away as a rule, but she knew he always tried to do the right thing if he could, so did this offer to help her once more hold anything beyond that desire to do good in the world, and if it did how was she supposed to tell? Even as she asked and directed her mind to probe into the questions of her psyche, her body, freed from the reins of such lofty concerns, merely relaxed once more, lulled into a semblance of peace under the softening gaze of Shadow's phantom face.

A short while later, a second series of ripples ran out around her body but this time their cause was instantly more recognisable; caught on the very edge of her doze, Julie felt the messages being sent in from her skin and shivered again, recoiling from the sudden tepidity of the water surrounding her. Blinking herself into a state resembling wakefulness, she idly glanced over, trying to see her watch and work out what time it was, but she could see nothing from this distance. She toyed with the idea of getting out and starting to dry off but her body immediately rebelled against the idea, instantly sealing away all the strength she had left and preventing her from summoning the resources necessary to stand up; it rationed only enough power to allow one of her toes to wrap around the chain of the plug and give a jerk, draining away the cooling water and, after a couple of momentum generating swayings, let her rock forwards to turn on the hot tap once more. She stayed in this position for as long as it took to get the heat of the bath back to the necessary temperature, then she reclined once more, her mind finally slipping the leash completely and, as her eyes drifted closed, disappearing to a place where the Legion couldn't touch her no matter how they tried, where her worries and fears were temporarily held back by a silent sentinel that watched over her restful dreams, guarding them with spikes of steel, and protecting her with hands and a mannerism of softest silk.

XXX

_Man, she's been in there over an hour_; Shadow tore his eyes away from the clock with a shake of his head, recognising it as a useless but nevertheless interesting piece of book-keeping as he knew he'd never pull her up on her tardiness; _still not like it matters, or like I've got a right to tell her to hurry up_.

He ran a hand over his face once more, keeping it there to stifle the yawn that suddenly erupted out of nowhere, his strange weariness unexplainable physically as, despite the fighting, he'd done almost nothing compared to what he'd have done during a full day's running at the C.A – he could only deduce it was the mental shock of his flashback that had worn him out so well. Though his concern for Julie had forced him to divert his attention from his own problems to where it had been more desperately needed, now she was safely locked away and recovering in her own time and space, he had nothing left to occupy his mind save sifting through his own recent experiences and trying to come up with some thing positive; _and ain't that easier said than done_.

Knuckles gouging out a divot in his forehead, the hedgehog saw again and again what had happened, the blows he had thrown and taken equally, but even as he saw he did not feel; his opponent Xenin, the one who was probably now having to consider skin grafts to cover the horrendous char mark his foot had left in it's wake, threw his arms around him once more, squeezing as though trying to crack his spine in half; Shadow could see the burning blue eyes of his enemy, feel the searing hot breath on his neck, but he was detached from it completely. There was no emotional involvement; as the scene flickered before him Shadow could remember nothing of what had been running through his mind during the fight; _if it was my fight_; he cringed, shivered at the brutality of his final shot, hearing the bones give under his fist but again not being able to remember any of his thoughts or feelings at that point; _I may as well be watching a video of someone else scrapping – probably the 'ultimate life-form', whatever the hell that means_. It was that statement that really stuck in the cogs of his brain and made them jar until he could almost feel steam coming out of ears; Shadow remembered the others originally calling him by that title before they realised how badly his memory had been damaged and hadn't really thought anything further of it; _I assumed I thought I was better than everyone else because I was faster, but Sonic's just as quick as I am_; he took in another deep, troubled breath and exhaled it slowly; _but I can't deny what I said – 'you don't mess with the ultimate life-form'. Jesus, who is this jerk, and am I going to turn into him?_

The thought of that possibility, of becoming someone who lashed out and destroyed people and things without compassion or pity, scared him deeply; for the first time since the fight with the Metal Overlord that had taken his past from him, Shadow found himself questioning if he actually wanted his memories back at all. _I've got a good life now_; steepling his fingers under his nose, face a picture of concern and worry, the black hedgehog found himself ticking off a mental list of things that had gone right for him since his clean mnemonic break; _neat job, plenty of people both up here and down in Station Square, and I've got Julie_; the last item on the list made him blink and, after a second, give a nervously accepting chuckle – despite the unilateral amount of grief the echidna gave him on a virtually daily basis, Shadow couldn't really imagine his housemate not being here around him any more, making fun of their situation, his styles and quirks just as he did hers. For a second his mind drifted forwards rather than back, basking in the idea that soon, after the tears and strife of today, things would be back just the way they had been and, much as he loathed to admit it, there was only one reason why that was the case.

Slowly, grudgingly and hoping it was the first, last and only time he had to do such a thing, Shadow looked back into his memories, seeing the actions of the Mobian that had single-handedly pulled Julie from the fires of the Legion, and slowly muttered a virtually silent thanks that such destructive powers had been harnessed to save someone he cared deeply about. Suddenly, a click from the material world sounded and without another instant's delay Shadow was gone from his ponderings, looking forwards to seeing what was to come and turning his back on the brooding, violent ultimate life-form that hovered, still undiscovered but for the first time glimpsed, in the mists that shrouded his memories, not even thinking about sparing such a monster a second glance.

XXX

This time there were no thoughts about adding more hot water; the second Julie's consciousness began filtering back into her body it was jolted violently by the chill of the water around her; the echidna gave one shudder and then almost leapt out the bath, wearily shaking her head to try and clear out the cobwebs as she felt around blearily for the towel, flesh frozen further by the rivulets of water that were now racing down her body due to the effect of gravity. Her hand found something soft and she seized it, tugging the large, pre-heated blanket off the radiator and wrapping it right around herself, the enshrouding warmth helping to banish the iciness of the water and coax her back to the land of the fully conscious. Rubbing the material against her fur to stoke up some more heat at the same time as dry herself off, Julie gave a cavernous yawn, eyes sparking at the twinges of pain such an action generated but unable to avoid such an eventuality – despite the nap she'd recently indulged in, she was still bone-weary and desperately seeking a place to crash for the night, get rid of the last few ghosts of tiredness that were haunting her. Holding her towel steady with one hand, she reached up to try to rub the grit out of her eyes; the only real result of this action was a shocked gasp as she snatched her hand back, hissing at the flare of agony that blasted up around her left eye; _probably got it blackened – what do I look like now?_

The thought was at the same time curious and depressing; in all the excitement, she snorted as the word so spectacularly failed to encapsulate even the least of today's events, she'd never even considered the effect of such attrition on her appearance. The bathroom mirror was a wasted effort; even as she tried to wipe away part of the condensed steam that had fogged it, the resultant streaks of water blurred and distorted her reflection so much it was impossible to tell where her fur ended and the bruise began; _at least that'll help cover it up_. Grateful for her natural colouring, the echidna shook her head once more and glanced to the top of the washing basket, seeing her freshly prepared nightclothes ready for her, neatly warmed by their proximity to the radiator, comfortable and alluring as she slipped them on, wincing slightly as she had to extend her arms over her head but overall encouraged that the pain didn't seem to be as acute as previously. Ready to face the world once again, Julie pulled the plug on the now stagnant bath and unlocked the bathroom door, already planning how she could get a full and an, if not completely accurate, at least less than rose-tinted view on how the fight had affected what natural beauty she had.

XXX

"Now be honest", poking his head around the kitchen door, many of Shadow's previous misconceptions and fears were banished back to the murky realm where the 'ultimate life-from' now dwelt; _she looks a lot happier than before, but it's early days, she could be trying to front it_; "how do I look, and I want your reports warts and all, got it?"

"Okay", bringing his body forwards to size her up properly, Shadow attempted to appraise his housemate honestly at the same time as wording his answer in the most complimentary language possible, "well, your left eye, it looks like you got a clout there".

"Really? Thought as much – stung like a sod when I rubbed my face earlier" Julie explained as Shadow raised an eyebrow before continuing,

"Can't tell how much of it is bruise and how much is fur, but it doesn't look too bad from this distance; the only other thing I can see is your mouth – looks like you've got the world's worst case of chap-lips, but aside from that it's not too bad. Hey, what"; the hedgehog quickly averted his eyes as Julie swivelled to one side, starting to hitch up the side of her nightdress, "Julie, what are you doing?"

"What about this? I can lift my arms up but it still hurts – is the bruise really as bad as the doc was letting on?" Simultaneously swallowing an uncomfortably hot lump in his throat and trying to mentally recite the theory of relativity to keep his mind detached from the scene before him, Shadow brought his eyes forwards around once more, focussing his attention on Julie's exposed ribs, trying to clinically tot up the damage even if he couldn't help but notice her thankfully underwear-covered curves from this side angle. Mostly, however, his attention remained fixed on his errand and, after a couple of the longest seconds of his life, he was able to answer with the minimum of stuttering,

"Er, well, I won't lie – it's pretty dark and swollen and your fur doesn't cover it like it does the one on your face; my advice, don't try sleeping on your side tonight".

"No fear of that", the echidna assured him, letting the material slough back to its proper position before turning around only to laugh at Shadow's suddenly shifty manner, "oh come on, you've seen me in less than that before now".

"Not out of choice mind", the black hedgehog muttered back before raising his voice, "well, aside from a couple of knocks to the bodywork, you'd get through an MOT better than most old bangers your age". Julie folded her arms but, Shadow's heart soared in thankfulness at the sight, a reluctant smile tinged her lips,

"Since when did you become a mechanic – last I heard you were into masseur training, and you'd do well to speed that training up, unless you want a second spin with the girls upstairs…?"

"No, no, I'm improving", images of rampant depravity flitted through the hedgehog's mind and he waved his hands frantically as though trying to brush them aside like a cloud of midges, "I can't rush it though, because if I get it wrong boy will you know about it".

"I bet, anyway", the echidna yawned again, the gesture setting Shadow off a minute later, "I'm going to bed Shads; I know I don't have to but I am anyway", the black hedgehog nodded, knowing that a graceful acceptance of what was coming next would probably work a lot better than a pointless argument of denial, "thank you for what you did today". _No_; Shadow's eyes suddenly hardened; _time to make this clear now and forever_;

"It wasn't me that did it", Shadow said softly, shaking his head until his back spikes chafed, "you need to thank the ultimate life-form, whoever he is".

XXX

_Good_; hearing that admission, Julie felt some of her apprehension lifted, Shadow now appeared to be the same Mobian she knew she could annoy and tease without fear of violent reprisal – she had been afraid that the stressful conditions of his flashback would have had negative conditions in his mind, but as far as she could tell Shadow was still able to tell reality from memory; _and how much I need some fun in my life now_. She turned to leave, already beginning to psyche herself up for the ordeal she knew was to come tomorrow, when Shadow's voice at her back made her pause for a second,

"You know", she glanced over her shoulder, seeing his expression of saucy humour with a slight trickle of apprehension, "there is one good thing to come out of all this". _Must resist_; Julie knew this was probably just a ploy to get the last laugh of the evening in but, even as she tried to bite her lip and not ask, she knew she just didn't have a choice this time,

"That being?"

"I was doing some calling when the doctors were having a look at you", he explained with the air of someone who had a profound conclusion to make, "and I got the word from Remington as I was letting him know what went on".

"Okay, what did he have to say?"; Shadow's air matured into a full-fledged smile,

"He told me to let you know – your D.O is now officially terminated", walking forwards and putting his hand on her shoulder, seeing the supernova in her eyes as the news sank in with his spirits soaring, Shadow gently rubbed the flesh on her shoulder and greeted as though he'd never met her, "you're a free Mobian Jules".

For a second she lost herself; forgetting the tribulations that had passed before and those that were sure to follow tomorrow, Julie was lost in the joy of that statement – no matter how hard the Legion tried they couldn't take that away. Throwing herself forwards, she crashed squarely into Shadow and wrapped her arms around him tight, moisture in her eyes due this time to elation rather than fear; _they can hunt and haunt me all they want_; she felt Shadow reciprocate the hold once more, hugging her in tight but softly, always tenderly to make sure he didn't aggravate her wounds, as her train of thought arrived at its final destination; _but they can't, they will never, take that away from me_.

A/N: So Julie begins her recovery, but is all as it should be even now? What will tomorrow bring, and will the new day dawn good or ill? Next chapter should hopefully follow soon…


	16. Chapter 16 The Fear and the Truth

Chapter 16 – The Fear and the Truth.

A/N: Okay, sorry for the delay but the nine to five grind really is a pain in the…ah, you get the idea? Anyway, this is what I like to see, new reviewers:

Darth Sonic (DS from here on in :-)) – You make a few good points about the centralising of the fic, but hopefully you'll get that in a little while. Anyway, is Knux-Julie really that big – I don't see much of it on this site, and I haven't really got any contact with the Archie comics; I just thought Shadow and Julie-Su had similar personalities – both outsiders in a sense, tough enough to do their own thing and not care about what anyone else thought – they go together. You say you're reading ABR, I'd suggest you read the whole series to get the entire picture, though the first couple of fics in the series aren't as clearly written as later ones, but aside from that, glad you like what you're reading.

UL – Waiting over, hope you enjoy this chapter.

BD – Yeah, for the Shadow/Lara conversation I tried to think about how you might deal with that sort of situation – did I bring out Lara's sense of injustice that because she'd lost Knuckles so early, she'd never been able to sit down and talk to her own child like she did to Shads? Anyway, glad you like the angst, plenty more where that came from!

RGN – What is Shadow in my story – well, that's an interesting question. Hopefully by the end of this fic you'll have a better idea, but I'm not giving it all away just yet!

AM – Slow chapter – blame the nine to five culture my friend! Revel in your early years; they really are the best of your life.

HHH – MPD might be a bit strong; he's had a nasty shock and not quite thinking straight, that's all. Anyway, hope this chapter supplies all the ShadSu you need for the near future.

Whatever choice comments his friends would have made about him, Shadow did have a decent amount of forethought; having watched Julie engorged by the enshrouding walls of the Echidnopolis A&E department, one of the first impulses that had taken him, even before he had been able to consider recognising his own mental turmoil, had been the necessary precautions needed for tomorrow. As he had phoned his work to let them know where he was and the reason behind his sudden absence, he'd had enough clarity of thought to realise it was going to take more than a mere night to be rid of the consequences of this sort of attack; _thus_; he permitted himself a pat on the back as the settee armrests arrested his stretch; _I get a bit of a lie-in this morning_. Even as he inhaled a deep lungful to start up the boilers for the day, he rolled one of his eyes around to check the time from his watch, only to start as he realised how deeply used to his job he was now; _if anything I'm five minutes early – man I need a holiday sometime soon_. Still, he was up now and could use this time to get everything ready for whenever Julie decided to emerge from her pit – he knew from long experience that waiting on her hand and foot would only be sure to get up her nose; she was so used to doing things for herself that it was unnatural for her to have someone do it all for her, but a little bit of help here and there, nah, that would be fine. With such thoughts in mind, the hedgehog rolled to his feet and stretched off a little, a couple of joints popping at the sudden movement until he was fully fit, mobile and thinking about breakfast.

XXX

She knew it was finally coming and, eventually, there was nothing left she could do to hold it back; with a grumpy snort and explosive yawn, Julie finally allowed herself to wake up fully, sleep encrusting her eyes brushed away as she stretched upwards; it was only when belated messages urgently sounded warnings in her still-befuddled brain that she realised that the clearing of her eyes had happened only in her mind – her arm hadn't made it to her cheek as the sudden tearing excruciation around her side had kicked in her body's instinctive responses and ceased all movement; _ow!_ Hissing as the pain finally threw her headlong back to full alertness, the echidna rolled slightly, hugging herself around her wound as if comforting a spurned child, crooning away the agony by gentle contact, feeling the tide lessen until it was finally gone, leaving her alone but awake once more. Still confused by the shock of such an unexpected wake-up call, Julie half-sat up and, carefully this time, raised her fingers to her eyes, teasing the thick, crumbly particles of sleep away from where they had entwined around her eyelashes, wondering how she'd got a…

She froze, trembling as, in trying to recall where she'd picked up an injury that stung like that, she inadvertently turned the key that had locked up everything; every single, tiny iota of maliciousness had been sealed in a Pandora's box within her memory to preserve her from potentially deadly shock and allow her to react when needed in the crisis; now, freed from such restraints, they spewed forth in a river of foulness, of hatred and bitterness that threatened to drown her completely. Instinctively she curled, head falling to her knees as once more she was there, standing before her squad, those she had once counted as friends after a fashion, unable to protect herself, react in any way, as they slashed her unmercifully with daggers of spite, poisoned with promises that this was only the beginning.

It was that thought, that this really was just the start of what was coming, which did the most damage; every time Julie sought to fight back and shake this rat of disappointment from her neck as she had at every other time in her life, she saw the black nothingness rise up before her, the full might of the Dark Legion imposed and set against her, and she quailed against it. _I can't beat that_; she knew better than anyone what her former home and family were truly capable of despite the damage done to them by the loss of the grandmaster Dimitri, and even then she couldn't even begin to comprehend what would happen to a single individual that felt the full force of that military hammer; _no-one can, not even the EST, even with the guardian and the Chaotix_.

Her eyes were finally cleared of grit and dust but not by her hands; she sniffed and fought the threatening tears back, telling herself forcibly that this was just an illusion, that she had been a pariah in the Legion and those she had been forced to squad up with had resented that; this was belated revenge on the renegade that had besmirched their pride and honour within the Legion. Yet her words fell on deaf ears; liquid dripped down her cheeks as her almighty will finally found its match amid the despair and defeat of that single, chilling thought – that she would be marked out, hunted down without mercy by the organisation that had once counted her as a daughter. Teeth chattering, the echidna buried her head in her arms, feeling her forehead touch metal and sickened by the contact, revolted by the steel implants that now seemed to cling to her body like metallic maggots, feeding from her, draining her strength, dragging her down so the rest of the Legion could catch up and finish what had begun in a blind alleyway.

And struggle as she might, thinking as much as she was able to within the walls of fear that sectioned her rational thoughts apart from the rest of her, Julie-Su found herself demanding an answer to this problem, needing to know how she could escape forever, and found even the optimistic part of her mind mute, uncomprehending even the scale of the task before her and crushed by the oppressive weight that now hung from her shoulders, bearing down on her like the crucifix of a condemned criminal in ancient times, and just as prophetic as to the fate that was, even now, awaiting her to fall right into its outstretched claws.

XXX

The trilling of an alarm made Shadow prick up his ears; _must have hit the snooze button by mistake_; slightly concerned by his uncharacteristic slip-up but dismissing it as a slight eddy resulting from the turbulence in his normal routine, the black hedgehog stood up tall and strode nonchalantly into the sitting room, looking for the small alarm clock that rested on the small table just out of arms-reach from where he normally slept; a cunning ploy that meant he actually had to physically get up to shut out the noise, making sure he was literally up and about at the right time. Still, all that that little slip-up meant was that he got to enjoy the first spark of delight he always had in a day; with a gleeful relish, Shadow brought his fist down on the alarm clock full force; he'd specifically brought a timepiece that both required to be hit to make it shut up, and was sturdy enough to stand up to any punishment he was inclined to inflict upon it as punishment for forcing him out of the land of nod. _Well, that's…_; stupid alarm, it was still piping away merrily; _…annoying – shut up_; irked by his lack of progress, he hammered down a second time, this time nailing the thing dead on, but it still continued ringing as though he hadn't touched it. Fearing for a moment it was malfunctioning in some way, the hedgehog picked the device up, rotating it to see if he could locate any obvious fault; it was only as he did so, and noticed that the alarm function on his clock had been well and truly reset, that the pieces clicked together; _duh!_

With a weary laugh, Shadow carefully placed the digital display in its normal spot, almost apologising for his unjust persecution of it a second ago by dint of his careful handling now. Now he actually thought about things, it made perfect sense; it wasn't his alarm that had been going off, it was his housemate's; _man, she needs an alarm to get her up at this time of the day?_ The laugh that brewed up from within him he quickly stifled; though normally he'd have bargained away, well, if not his right arm, at least a couple of fingers for information that sensitive to do with the slothful behaviour of his housemate, this was anything but a normal situation – right now, as Lara had pointed out, Julie needed a touch of TLC to help her over this barrier and he severely doubted that teasing her about the length of her lie-ins counted as lending a helping hand. Still, he reasoned he'd done all he could for now and; _hang on_; a second thought, slightly more concerning in its potential repercussions than his previously jovial mental visions; _it's still going – not even Julie could sleep through that_.

In an instant Shadow had purged all the urges to lampoon his echidnean flatmate from his psyche; it wasn't right for her not to at least switch off her alarm at this time in the morning. Something wasn't right with this and, in the light of all that occurred during the previous day, he was not going to ignore such an obvious sign; quickly but quietly approaching the bedroom door, Shadow raised his fist to the wood, paused for just a second longer to see if the sound would die away at this late stage and then, when the trilling noise continued to sing out and shatter the tranquillity of the apartment, he knocked softly on the door, speaking at the same time with just enough volume to be heard over the alarm itself.

"Julie, you up in there?"

XXX

_Oh no_; she didn't want him to see her like this, browbeaten by a mere figment of her imagination and unable to rally enough to fight her own demons; _he's got enough problems on his plate without having mine as a second course_. She shivered once more, trying to unstick her tongue from the roof of her mouth and make a coherent statement; that she would be fine, up and about in a moment, but her lips remained stuck fast, refusing to allow any words through to allay her housemate's fears. Her eyes cleared just enough to let her see the handle of the bedroom door, pick out in perfect detail every fractional rotation as the handle was twisted, forcing an entrance into her personal haven of misery. She couldn't bear to look, knew what was coming and it wrenched her heart to see it unfold before her; Shadow was too…too damn noble not to stick his head over the parapet for her – he'd said he would walk her to work this morning and she was under no illusion that he'd do exactly that, put himself squarely in the line of fire over some damn fool notion that she could eventually be free of this persecution; _he's risking his neck over some damn fool notion that he can stop the Legion – he has no idea what he's up against, he's putting himself right in the line of fire because I'm the one in trouble…_

…_and isn't that just a wonderful thing?_

The thought came out of nowhere and hit her harder than even one of Xenin's famous left hooks could have; the rogue spear of an idea pierced the hovering black shroud that had overshadowed her mind and stuck deep, sprouting roots and tearing deep into the beast that blighted her, every new angle she looked at it from increasing the damage. _For the first time…_; the Legion's blight recoiled, reaching out to strike at her, prevent her thoughts from reaching such a conclusion; …_I really do have someone, a real someone…_; power begetting power, she somehow felt taller merely by raising her head, staring down, now she was the stronger, the one who would dictate what would and would not happen and the phantom within her, seeing such a change, tried to slink away, conceding a defeat rather than risking total obliteration; _…who doesn't care, never cared, about what I did, or why I did it, but who just cares that I'm all right_. A second key must have been turned, Pandora's box opened for a second time and now, rather than a stream of demons sent to torment her waking moments, something else emerged slowly, beautifully, into the light; memories of the black hedgehog helping, teasing, laughing with her rather than at her, merely being himself and acting so genuinely normal and open towards her – such memories were a tonic to the poison running through the veins of her psyche. A noise alerted her and she was free to look up; no longer did she risk raising her head to the executioners axe, the fear was gone for now – with a fresh breath in her lungs and the lead jettisoned from her heart and spirit, Julie flicked her eyes upwards.

If the result of her inner battle had been in doubt before, the concern and deep, deep fervour in Shadow's face, radiating out a message of virtual pleading for her sake, her safety before all others, settled the contest. The darkness that before had seemed so powerful was reduced to next to nothing, banished away for now by the gratitude that erupted from her; _by the spirits, he really does give a damn_; he must have been able to sense the shift of power as the pulses of worry from his eyes were reduced to a trickle, then shut off completely; _he meant what he said_; Julie had to draw in a new breath, sniffling for a reason other than terror it finally broke through to her just how lucky she had been in this, the aftermath of what could have been a slaughter; _if they want me, he'll do whatever it takes to stop them – what did I do to deserve that?_

XXX

The sight had sent adrenaline coursing through him, nearly paralysing him with the fear, the awful, tormenting suspicion that even now, after the progress of the first evening Julie, the Julie he'd grown so fond of and wanted so desperately to come back from wherever those psychos in the Legion had tried to banish her to, could still slip away from him and be lost forever. Before he'd known what to do, his mind hadn't granted him the luxury of a selection of options but now, as he beheld the shrivelled little figure curled up on the bed with icy claws of despair and terror raking at his soul, the hedgehog found himself with no ideas; for every positive suggestion gabbled at him by his delirious brain, an equal and opposite negative reaction was spelt out in quick succession and all the time he couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight before him. _I have to help her_; the overriding thought pounded in his mind, manifesting itself almost as a physical need that he could not slake, for he did not know how to. Split in twain by the need to help and the lack of experience needed to work out how he could do so, Shadow stayed rooted to the spot, all other concerns suspended until this singular issue could be resolved; _but I can't think how – come on, anything'll do_.

For how long he remained there, agonised and unsure, he could not tell; only his eyes remained glued to their task and did not disappoint him as all other bodily functions were suspended until further notice. And from that dedication to duty came his salvation; he registered Julie raise her head; the sight of tears streaking the downy fur of her cheek caused a feeling like an iron glove had gripped his stomach and given a hard yank, but even then he couldn't bring himself to blink. _Oh God Jules, what the hell have those sons…_; then he was able to pierce the veil of tears; _…wait, you, you're not upset. No…_; miracle piled upon miracle as Shadow suddenly swayed, letting out the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding; _…you're smiling, grinning almost – you're happy about something_.

Relief so potent it was almost poisonous swept over him, around him and through him all at the same instant; the tide of feeling nearly caused him to topple over but, luckily, he managed to recover his balance at the last moment and take a step forwards, eyes still not leaving the other Mobian's face, just as they hadn't when the two had first met. Slowly, silently, crimson once more met iridescence and the pair read deeply from each other, no secrets between their souls as they were invited to look through the organic windows that revealed them, and first found then accepted the reassurances they were seeking within.

XXX

The contact could not last forever; with a sigh that he only half-managed to disguise as a whistle, Shadow broke the stare with his housemate and, seeing the echidna covered by the blanket that was pulled up to her knees, stepped further inside,

"Let me guess", he chuckled, no malice behind the sound as he tracked around the side of the bed and gently switched off the alarm that was still piping away merrily from the lowest shelf over the echidna's head, "stupid little things that don't really matter?" Tingled a little by the reminder, Julie echoed her flatmate's laugh,

"Something like that", feeding on the memories of sadness, however remote and removed from the situation, the blackness reared up again, questing for an opening; put of for a moment, Julie reclined back down a touch, testing the limits of her mobility due to her injuries and shaking her head, "what am I going to do Shads?"

_Less than twelve hours ago Jules, I was in exactly the same boat as you_; emboldened by the recent example and able to see a sliver of a joke because of it, Shadow drew lines between his own situation and the one before him now and smiled slightly, Lara's words echoing in his head; _give more than you'd normally expect to, take a bit less – right, that starts now_;

"Well", he saw her prick her ears at his words; obviously she hadn't been expecting a reply this promptly; she regarded him with something like a raised eyebrow as he licked his top lip slyly, "for a start you're going to get out of bed, then you're going to finish off the breakfast I started preparing a little earlier, and after that you get a run into work, sound like a plan?" After a second of consideration, Julie put a finger to her lips and answered, manner calculating and persuasive as she honed the hedgehog's ideas more to her own ends,

"Not bad, but I think I can improve it a touch"; Shadow settled onto his back foot,

"You, improve on something I came up with – this I have to hear" – she spared him a noxious smirk before beginning her own explanations, every word dripping with potential challenge, daring him to come up with something to better it,

"Well, the one main factor is you're not running me anywhere", Shadow's look of sudden alarm would have been priceless had she a camera to spare; taking a second to ensure such an epitome of stunned gormlessness was enshrined in her memory banks and beat down the smile that it started brewing on her lips, Julie continued, "I'm walking to work; you can, in fact I'd like you to come with me, just for this first time, but I can't run Shadow. You were right earlier, or I think you said something like I can't let this rule my life and stop everything I've done so far; I've got to stand up and spit right back in their face – you want me, come and get me".

_Flaming incredible_; Shadow could do nothing but shake his head as literally before his eyes Julie remade herself – gone was the scared, crying echidna for less than ten minutes ago, superseded by this new, seemingly indestructible Mobian that now sat on the bed before him, piercing the air ahead of her with a laser from her eyes that seemed to dare an invisible foe forwards; _at least three times in her life she's done this – her dad, Knuckles and now this – how the hell does she do it?_

"I also said, last night", she looked up to regard him, deadly eyes deactivated, softened as he finished his heartfelt and blatantly true statement, "that I knew you were a strong woman Jules, and boy", he gave a half-panted laugh as her eyebrows almost disappeared into her dreadlocks, thrust upwards by such high praise, "did I ever underestimate; strong doesn't enter into it, I think unbreakable might be a better term".

"Aww", after a second of digesting his words, the echidna turned her face away slightly with an expression of saucy coyness, "you're just saying that, but", she waited until the hedgehog's shoulders had just started shaking from the laughter before looking direct once more, business-like as she pointed out the most glaring omission to his day plan, "you made a fundamental mistake in your organisation earlier".

"Really? Pray enlighten me"; Julie gave a sly wink and suddenly flumped backwards into the bed, pulling the covers up to her chin and she settled down further under the covers,

"You assumed I was actually getting up", she grinned at Shadow's shock as she wriggled to make herself more comfortable, "shoo, I need about another thirty…" _Not a hope you lazy mare_;

"Forget it", Shadow stooped and spread his arms wide, "I spent hours slaving over a hot stove to rustle up something for you to get up to, and you are getting up to it before it goes completely cold, so", Julie wasn't quick enough to see where he was going; by the time her toes pressed into the foot of the bed it was too late, he'd ripped the bottom of the duvet out from where it had been tucked in and given a huge shake, blasting the echidna beneath it with a wall of cold air as he whipped it up and down, "up and at 'em".

"I'll be up and at you in a minute", all hopes of dropping back off to sleep dashed by the sudden drafts and pretty cheesed off about it, Julie reared up enough to cause Shadow to skip backwards, dropping the blanket as he nipped for the door, "right, you got me well and truly awake; now get the kettle on and believe me if you don't get my brew exactly the way I like it I'll stuff your head in the coffee pot after a stunt like that".

"Ah well, I'd die happy at least"; he shut the door quietly on her laugh as she finally slid her legs out of bed, just about leaning over to start tucking the bottom of the blanket in again as the ebon hedgehog ducked back up the hall towards the kitchen.

As he set the kettle rumbling towards boiling, a sudden irony struck Shadow and, caught completely off-guard and helpless by the sudden flash of insight, he started sniggering, every rerun of the events of the last few moments only deepening his sense of mirth; _the alarm bell rang_; he had to lean on the counter top, one hand clutched over his mouth as he tried desperately not to laugh out loud; _and between us Julie and I managed to avert the crisis – hey, we might fight like cat and dog but when push comes to shove we make a hell of a team_.

XXX

Eventually, having finally finished her grumbling about the hyperactive hedgehog that had turfed her out of bed, Julie finally clipped the top button of her shirt up and got ready to face the outside once more, shaking her shoulders to dislodge the slight ache that resided there still. Pulling open the bedroom door the echidna headed for the kitchen, she breathed in and a delicious scent from the kitchen caught her nose; stirred from its virtual torpor by the aroma, the echidna's stomach quietly reminding her that she'd missed yesterday's evening meal and politely restating the message that it didn't expect to be ignored like that again in the near future.

That singular reminder jarred her hunger completely; by the time she pushed open the kitchen door she was absolutely ravenous; Shadow was virtually ignored in favour of the full fry-up he slipped quickly out of the oven and laid on the table – snatching up a knife and fork Julie demolished the meal with clinical efficiency, not even the gravy was wasted as she mopped up every last drip of liquid with a hunk of bread torn from the loaf on the table. Finally, when her need for sustenance was glutted she slumped back, hands patting her full belly as her eyes rolled upwards and she let out a satisfied groan,

"Ohh, now that was worth waiting for", finally freed from the grip of her starvation and able to look beyond the nearest food source, Julie managed to now recognise the other Mobian in the room and take in how he was regarding her spotlessly clean plate with an almost mournful eye,

"I should hope so", Shadow gave a chuckle as Julie licked her lips, "that was meant to feed both of us"; _what!_

"Oh no", Julie squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment, ashamed for being such a glutton and gorging herself so inexcusably while the hedgehog went hungry, "Shadow, I'm sorry, I should have saved so…you really are a swine at times you know that?"

"Psyche", he grinned at her glowering face; she'd glanced up apologetically only to see him almost doubled over to stop laughing as she was taken in hook, line and sinker by his ploy, "I had cereal; can't take a heavy meal first thing in the morning for some reason, makes me feel queasy all day". Embarrassment deflated by the lightness of his tone, Julie conceded the playful hit with a rueful sigh and shake of her head,

"Luckily I have no such inhibitions", she patted her stomach once more, now feeling almost distended with the vanishing of her former ravanosity, "though I bet my waistline wishes I did".

"One treat every so often isn't going to kill you", Shadow informed her, pointing at the fridge as he tried to set out the next step in his day plan, "right, if we set off in the next fifteen or so minutes you can walk most of that meal off at a leisurely pace; you're about ready to go, I made your pack up, it's in the fridge".

Julie's eyes widened at this news and her head swivelled around as though expecting the fridge door to explode open and drown her in its contents,

"You got me ready to go?" Sure enough, she could see the small lunch box that normally fitted into her bag sitting unobtrusively slightly off-centre in the middle shelf, "thanks a lot, what's in it?"

"Umm"; _now that's a good one_; having been more preoccupied in what was going to happen when Julie finally got up rather than what he was making and placing in the echidna's pack up, Shadow had to rack his brains to recall what he'd put in there, "bag of crisps, a couple of apples, a hickory nut or two; trust me they're great if you need a bit of a pick-me-up halfway through a shift", he explained hastily as her face pinched; obviously she didn't appreciate the somewhat bitter flavour of the nuts as much as he did, "and a few sandwiches, cheese and ketchup". Julie's chin sank onto her fist as she mentally digested that set up and immediately found a fault with it,

"I hate cheese"; it was only when she saw Shadow's expression fall that she realised she'd spoken out loud and the petulance of her words struck her – seeking immediate amends for such a callous spurning of his good-nature, she began her apology, "sorry, I shouldn't have…" She tailed off as he raised a hand,

"Not a problem, I'll remember for next time", to her great relief he gave a small, if slightly long-suffering smile as he finished his comment, "I'd expect you to be a little low on airs and graces following what happened yesterday". Relieved by his lack of offence taken, Julie nevertheless forbade herself from taking the tempting escape route he opened for her,

"That's not an excuse", she spoke half to herself as Shadow raised an eyebrow, "you did me a good turn and I should know better than to criticize something like that – guess I'm lucky you're a bit more easy-going than some. Thanks for everything Shads, breakfast and dinner both".

"No problem", the black hedgehog beamed, grateful for the praise as he cleared the plates, making a mental note to run back here and do them once Julie was at work and he had a little spare time before he had to get to his own work, "now, just go and freshen up, then…"

"Then", Julie picked up for him, seeming to gaze through the kitchen wall and lock her eyes on the front door, sizing up the challenge awaiting her and seeking to unnerve it with her stare as Shadow watched on enthralled, "we go out, and face the brave new world".

XXX

It had begun from the second she'd set her hand on the door handle; Shadow had seen the echidna's shoulders slump forwards slightly as though an enormous weight was pressed down into her shoulders; concerned, he made to reach over, touch her back with his hand but she straightened once more before he could do anything, lend any of his strength to her struggle, throwing her demons away as she yanked the door open, striding out purposefully as Shadow, caught a little flat-footed by the sudden determination of his obstinate flatmate, hurried for a second to keep up. The same thing, though perhaps slightly less pronounced, had happened at the entrance to their apartment block; she had paused for a second, taking time out to recompose herself and her mental fortifications to the gruelling slog that was sure to lie ahead.

Now the black hedgehog knew he could do little if not nothing; he was a bit part player, forced to oversee Julie's long, slow march down a road that had led her to virtual ruin less than twenty-four hours ago. Every footfall echoed in his mind; he could virtually feel the effort she was having to expend as she placed one foot in front of the other, every single one taken by her willpower, her determination not be put down by the thugs that had jumped her; oh how he longed just to sweep her up and race to the finish. He was already gritting his teeth to suspend that very urge, hating himself for not being able to relieve the echidna's burden but knowing for certain that this was Julie's choice, this was how she wanted to fight her battle and denying her that right of choice would be akin to throwing away her chance to kick the Legion right where it hurt, by showing them they had failed to break her spirit. So he walked onwards with but slightly behind her, every opportunity to step in when her pace threatened to stall seized upon and squeezed unmercifully,

"Easy Jules", his words were probably as welcome to his own ears as to hers; by hearing himself he could at least half-convince himself that he was doing something useful, something more that was giving Julie's spirits a boost in the right direction, "take your time, we've got plenty". She never gave an inclination of hearing him but he knew, couldn't help but knew for sure, that the echidna was taking in every word he spoke; the lack of response merely combined with his sense of frustrated helplessness that was bottling him up, slowly suffocating him in a limbo where he knew with iron conviction what he had to do, but also knew with steel certainty that there was no way he could perform this task. _I'd take on the Metal Overlord blindfolded and with one hand behind my back_; he was sure his enamel would be splintering in a second as the scenarios where he'd rather be swam through his mind, and he embraced these bitter thorns as each was true, anything would be preferable to this long, slow, torturous funeral march; _I'd take on Eggman in a sumo match, I'd go ten rounds with Mighty wearing knuckledusters and…_;

"Shadow?"

XXX

The corner was turned and the spectral claws raked her courage once more; ahead of her, her mind wandered down this road, care-freely oblivious to what was about to happen; she had to look away, not able to bring herself to see the attack once more, just about managing to hold in a squeak of delayed shock and pain as there was a virtually-real jab in her ribs, the barrel of Jari's gun grinding into her flank and his soft, sickening breath in her nostrils, demanding her to come quietly or risk paralysis on the street. She could not look at what was going on; only when she was certain that the performance was over did her brain permit her to raise her eyes once more and see the quietly bustling scene before her; _at least they'll have a harder time trying to take me now_; the mere brooding presence behind her was a comforting buffer more tangible, far more tangible, than the movement of the faceless echidnas in the crowd before her; _a stranger among my own damn species – it took another stranger to come and prise me out of wherever the hell I was to start with. But now_; she swallowed softly, trying to rekindle her courage with a deep breath of air as she knew what lay ahead, and even her steel nerves were corroded by it; _I gotta go it alone, one more time_.

"Shadow?" She didn't have to turn around; she could almost feel the shift in his attention, "listen, I need you to disappear for a minute".

"What?" _Dammit_; chill fear crawled all over her skin at the sudden wrenching of his voice, stunned as though he couldn't believe what she was asking; _he thinks I'm kicking him out_; "why?"

"I have to…"; the choking in her throat was almost painful – she had to pause and swallow several time to convince herself that she could speak again, "I…this is where…it happened – I have to try and get…" unable to finish and blinking back the wetness that sought to drown her eyes, cursing herself for making such a mess of what should have been an easy thing to say, she feebly raised her arm, pointing up towards the other end of the street where sanctuary beckoned at her.

"Julie", she heard a footstep as Shadow moved up, virtually beside her now, trying to put his hand on her arm, lower it away from this unmerciful mission she was setting herself, "I don't think you should…"

"Neither do I"; it had to be anger, reason wouldn't work – loathing herself for doing it and praying devoutly that he would be able to rein in his temper far better than she was, Julie snarled and spat her next statement, eyeing the hedgehog in her peripheral vision and nearly crippled by the shock and reproach in his face, "I know I have to do this, I'm not changing for them because it's what they want. I'm going to do this, alone and unaided; wait for me somewhere and I'll catch up". _He's going to blow_; she braced for the explosion as much as she was able to in her weakened state, only to see the anger forcibly ejected from the hedgehog's expression, venting like air being pumped from a punctured sky-ball. After taking a breath to ensure the worst of his wrath was gone, Shadow nodded and jerked his thumb towards the end of the road,

"I'll wait for you down there".

He said nothing more; in her heart of hearts Julie doubted he was able to through the lump she could virtually see throbbing around his throat – in the next second he was gone, the rippling breeze the only memory of his passage. Julie had blinked to protect her vision from such a whipped up air and when she glanced back up the street it was too late; Shadow had disappeared out of sight, not even the residual flickers of flame around his feet marking out his route; _right then – he's out from under my feet_.

The joke didn't make her laugh, in fact it was so feeble it didn't even get a smile as, even in the process of tightening her belt, Julie had to face the awful truth once more; _this time, I'm on my own in this_. Nor, it seemed, was she the only one to realise this; summoned back from its long hibernation by the scent of fresh unnerving, the wraith that had caught her fast in its skeletal hand this morning billowed back to its full dark majesty in her mind, swooping towards her wavering resolve, coming to feast on her courage; _NO!_ With a furious mental battle cry she held herself firm, drawing her whole body up primly to lock stares with this phantom menace, daring it to come and meet her and, for now, it held back, holding its action with the patience of something ancient and malevolent that knows it has all the time in the world to make its move. And slowly, well aware of it's bale eyes lurking behind her, following her every move and waiting for the barest scrap of weakness, Julie put her first foot forwards, driving her body over the first step and into motion, seeking to bulldoze her way out of this dark, deadly alleyway in her head.

XXX

The fear followed her, always at her shoulder, one of its claws tapping the very small of her back with a sharp, icy hammer, trying every trick in the book to break her tunnelled vision; keeping her gaze fixed firmly on the end of the road, Julie marched on, ignoring the nagging worries that pulsed through her with every heartbeat. _I will not be beaten_; the words were her bulwark – as she moved, she used them to highlight the examples of why this walk was going to end, why she knew she was going to make it to the finish line despite the wraiths that flitted mockingly around her mind; _the Legion's never been able to hurt me, no matter how hard they tried – Knuckles had no choice but to hurt me but I pulled through that. Hell, even my own damned father…_; her lips peeled apart in a snarl, a slight growl in her throat as anger flowed over that memory like a blanket of molten rock, preventing the loneliness claiming it as a stepping stone towards locking her in; _…he screwed me out of my life and inheritance, and I pulled through that in one piece, so I can sure as hell walk down the damn street without being scared of my own shadow._ _Shadow…_

Her progress slowed but did not halt; in fact, as she remembered her thoughts of earlier in the day, it became so much easier – for a brief but wonderful moment Julie let all her apprehensions go as she recalled just that, the hedgehog who would not give up on her. _I needed money, I needed a place to stay and I needed feeding_; the more she thought about her list of needs the more amazing his generosity seemed to her; _he gave me all that, and more, like friends who actually like me because I'm Julie-Su rather than the fact I had some imaginary pull with the rodneys, and all I gave him for it was a hard time_. He must have been a masochist; Julie actually sniggered, a feat that mere moments ago she would have thought impossible, as in her memory the black hedgehog rolled around on the floor, clutching his back as though his spine was snapped clean in two, then running the length of the hallway repeatedly, gasping like a fish out of water as her Tabasco sauce took its toll on the lining of his throat. An almost dreamy look settled onto her face as she relived those positive memories; she knew for a fact she didn't need or, for that matter, particularly want much from life, but as long as she had something or someone like Shadow to bounce off, spark up rows with but, above all, call on in a crisis, she could count herself happy.

_But in that case_; a small, sly voice purred into her unsuspecting ear; _why did you send him away?_

The phantom had it's hold; with a stumble Julie stopped dead, eyes darting around every which way looking for Shadow, the one thing she really needed right now, and she despaired even further when she realised she couldn't find him. _You sent him away_; the fear took hold, driving deeper roots into her as it sensed weakness it could exploit, centred around her own desire to prove herself; _because you have to prove you're a big, strong person who doesn't need anything from anyone, oh but isn't that a lie? You needed help, you always need help, because you're not unbeatable, you and I both know that – look at where you are now and that will prove it_. She clutched her hands to her ears, trying to tell herself that this wasn't true, it wasn't real; she was just suffering stress from the shock of the previous day and this was how it was manifesting itself, but despite her brain's logic she couldn't stop her mind seizing the gauntlet, using her head to take the barest glance, the merest hint of a peek out the corner of her eye.

In that second, as she saw the exact location of herself and what had occurred here less than a day before, the fear surged forward and, overrunning her defences by weight of surprise attack, won out.

XXX

Julie stiffened, all muscles locked in terrified shock as she felt pressure down her uninjured side; the gun barrel once more pressed into her ribs, her skin there crawling as if trying to part before the metal protuberance; she knew that if she took a single step forwards, even if she twisted to look over her shoulder, the trigger would be pulled and she'd spend the rest of her life as an invalid; _this isn't real!_ As much as her brain, detached from such fear, the last bastion of resistance against the malevolent influences of the seductive, cruel voice that was trying to lull her into a frightful nightmare of cloying terror, bellowed its orders to the legs to move, they were lost and ignored – her body knew how ruthless they were, how casually they could shoot and leave her on the street half-paralysed. Her vision clouded as her teeth were set bared and grimacing; she knew she had to move but she didn't have the courage to do so – her entire body was motionless, afraid to break out of this terrible limbo for fear of reprisals – even if she knew it was an illusion, she could not help but believe it was the truth.

The fear had started the victory, now could despair follow it; the voice changed pitch, tormenting her not with what had gone before, but, as it had a few hours earlier, with the thought that this was just the beginning; that she would suffer this same fate every time she walked down the street, that she'd have to have one eye over her shoulder every day of her life to make sure she was safe from the Legion's reprisals. This she could still struggle against but, as she was still held fast and unable to move to break out of this cycle of fear, right in the eye of the emotional hurricane, she knew this was a struggle where her opponent held all the cards.

XXX

_She's been gone too long_; flicking his watch up again, Shadow ground his teeth again and stalked once more, not caring about the two or three odd glances he was receiving as his restless pacing was definitely out of place in this street. He'd left Julie less than a couple of minutes and now he was at virtually what he would have called the 'Sonic-stage' – completely unable to even think about sitting or standing still. He must have checked the time a hundred times these past three of four minutes, lamenting at the relative crawl of the time stream compared to his racing mind, already spelling out thousands of possibilities as to what was going on down the street he'd left behind, and absolutely none of them were positive possibilities. _Come on now, focus_; once more he tried to distance himself from his pulsating, pessimistic doubts; _this is Jules we're talking about, nothing can put her down – but you can't prove that, after what happened, her own squad attacking her, then you going all Hannibal Lector suddenly, how can you even guess what's going on in her mind now?_; once more he was destined to fail. His eyes were virtually stinging as they roved towards the edge of the road; no matter how much he rubbed them it only made the sensation worse until, finally, with a half-annoyed, half relieved huff, eh stomped bad-temperedly towards the corner of the nearby building and stuck his head around it.

A split-second later, in the instant it took his brain to piece together the fragments of what he was seeing and how it impacted on him, he'd taken off.

XXX

Her arms were nothing; no matter how high she raised her guard the crushing despair flowed over it in a revolting black blanket, threatening to smother her completely as the Legion's presence held her motionless with a gun to her back. She leant backwards, away as much as she were able to in the circumstance; something seized her arm and by instinct she jerked away, not wanting to feel the slimy tendril of liquid horror as it tried to ooze around her, pull her under for the third and final time. Suddenly the pull was irresistible, and real; Julie's eyes shot open as she was ripped forcibly out of the grasp of her ghosts, just in time to see a white mark floating in a sea of ebony fur – the next second she'd crashed into it like a wave into the shore, arms like fortress gates circling behind her, locking out all her concerns as the voice she valued above all others right now flowed over her like liquid silk,

"Julie", she heard the hedgehog's moan, felt it rumbled upwards through his chest and held herself in tighter, just for a moment, wanting to be as close to the source of that noise as possible as Shadow ended his lamentation, "you stupid echidna, I told you it was too soon, even for you".

XXX

She didn't reply; in all honesty he hadn't expected her to; from the second he'd seen her virtually whitened face, the way she was nearly hunched over as though almost doubled up in pain, right then he'd finally had an inkling how deeply Julie must have been suffering in silence, and how well she was hiding away from everyone, still keeping up the appearance of it all being beneath her. Now though, now he knew how much it must have hurt, now he could finally start, he drew his arms up even closer, siphoning off some of her stress through his own body, earthing it away from her, to lance that boil of betrayal and excise the toxins the Legion had seeded in her. He did nothing, merely stayed where he was to buoy her up in this moment of weakness until he felt her start to push against him, struggle to stand on her own feet once more; the movement gathered momentum until, at last, he was confident in his own mind to let her push off from him – for a second Julie swayed before blinking, coming to a complete rest before bringing her hand up to her eyes, rubbing them as though she'd been asleep for a long time.

XXX

_Not good_; thankfully, as they had been the other time in her life when she'd felt flashbacks before, in the weeks following Luger's forceful and immediate dismissal of her years of hard work, the memories of what had happened mere seconds ago were mercifully short and stifled; all she had left were her body's reactions to such a scare; _I didn't feel this bad last time – maybe these ones will be more frightening but not last as long?_ Putting those thoughts on hold for the moment, the echidna looked forwards once more to see eye to eye with her flatmate and, for now, her rock as well.

For a second neither spoke before, with a rueful shake of his spiked head, Shadow sighed,

"And there was me thinking trying to convince Amy not to do something she thought was a good idea was tough", he rolled his eyes upwards before settling his vision on her once more, more relieved than his expressions let on as he saw most of the terror in her manner had drained away like water, "if I have to break through to you again remind me to break out the axle grinder". For a second he was doubtful but then, as he had half-hoped and half-knew it would, the smile sidled over the echidna's face, giving her back her normal spark of life as he parried and then riposted his words,

"Forget that, try the sledgehammer", somehow, with Shadow around, it was so much easier to laugh, such a breeze compared to walking alone with only her own insecurities, no matter how deeply entombed, to keep her company; _I still need my independence, it's just not me to cling on, but this time, just for once_; she had to choke back her pride and make the acknowledgement; _he was right, it was a move too soon_; "first time's always hardest".

"I know; the first few nights were a killer when I was out of Station Square"; Shadow's memories of his homesickness were thankfully half-forgotten but still foul enough to sour his thoughts as he sympathised with her current plight, "there's nothing wrong in leaning on people Jules; hell, if I hadn't been with the gang downstairs I shudder to think what would have happened to me by now".

"You think it could be worse than what I'm seeing?" She smiled in the teeth of his nearly playful scowl before the previous seriousness of her situation, the thought of that spectre lurking in dark places to ambush her again, sobered her back up, "but you got it right, I, ah…", it was going to kill her pride to say this but she had to say it anyway, had to hear the words from her own mouth to make sure she said them right, "I need, a bit of, er, a helping hand?"

Shyly, conscious of what she was actually offering someone almost for the first time in her life, Julie extended a single hand, one that nearly trembled with the weight of emotion that filled it, hoping for something else to come along and offer to carry that burden with her.

XXX

For a long and, to Julie at least, tormentedly undecided second, the situation remained stuck as it was; she couldn't dare to look up and see Shadow's face for fear of what she'd see there and how she'd react to it. She merely stared straight ahead, looking hard at her own hand as she waited, always waiting, right on tenterhooks for the hedgehog's answer.

"Praise the Lord", she still didn't dare raise her eyes even as the mirth in that voice send sweet chills running all over her body, "I finally drilled something through to you; I am the last Mobian on the planet that would look down on someone for asking for a hand. Well, now that's finally settled, come on, let's go or you'll be late".

In later years, that moment would forever stick out in Julie's mind, a second of shining brightness between the two great patches of darkness that threatened to drive the two Mobians apart; as Shadow's hand took her own unashamedly and she took another step on the road before her, the echidna felt somehow tired but at the same time elated, as though she'd run a marathon but had satisfaction of knowing that she'd done so, taken on a huge challenge and, if not beaten it, at least proved that under the right circumstances she could do it. So she allowed herself to be led, looking forwards now, not back towards where the sulphurous shade coiled in its brooding darkness, lamenting its lost opportunity at the same time she tried to engage another question; _something feels different here_.

There was a definite niggle lodged in her mind, something she simply couldn't put her finger on; no matter how hard she much she thought about it on the move it just refused to reveal itself in plain sight before her. No matter how firmly she racked her brains or how many avenues she chased her way down searching for the answer, the source of this faint feeling of difference always stayed one step away from her, refusing to be cornered at the same time as continue to needle her; _argh, what is it?_; she half-shook her head as she walked in tandem with the hedgehog beside her, all the time trying to see what was now present in her current state that had been absent before; _oh this is just going to bug me all day_.

XXX

_No matter how hard it was getting here_; Julie had to raise her hand to her lips to keep her smirk obfuscated as, having taken a single dismissive look at who'd walked through the front door, Yesa's brain seemed to have actually registered her and his head snapped around again; _it was worth it just for the look on your face_.

"Julie?" _Well state the obvious…_;

"Where?" The former Legionnaire whipped around as though someone had been sneaking up behind her, "oh, wait", virtually ironing out her facial muscles to ensure she wasn't going to giggle, Julie turned back around and looked down at herself as though shocked at what she was seeing, "you meant me?" The shock must have been more than she'd imagined; speech seemed to have temporarily deserted the desk sergeant and all he was able to come up with was a stupefied nod. In fact it was only as she was virtually level with the front desk that he seemed to be able to recover; Julie paused at a froggy whisper from the side of her,

"Julie", she was about to sigh and pull the same trick again when he managed to tack on, "what are you doing here?" She stopped just long enough to glance over and raise an eyebrow,

"At the moment I'm talking to you"; scarcely able to believe the opportunities he was leaving open or her Julie layered the gentle sarcasm on with a spade, "but now I've gotta go to work; see you at chucking out time, bye". With that, she moved off, checking the clock above the desk and seeing with some relief that she still had a couple of minutes before she was quartered for being late; behind her, Yesa finally threw off his surprise at this particular arrival and, after controlling his fumbling fingers long enough to hit the right buttons, immediately sought to alert his superiors to this breach in EST policy.

XXX

"Just a fish slice, easy on the marinade"; as the chef nodded at her order, Honey quickly checked behind her – excellent, he hadn't moved so there was still a chance to nab him long enough to figure out what was going on. Well, actually that was a bit of a misnomer; Shadow's absence, and especially the reason behind it, had been the only talking point throughout the entire C.A the whole morning – everyone had their own theories as to why he'd been mixed up with the EST and how the Dark Legion had been involved and, to Honey's great annoyance as she thought she had a clearer idea about what had happened than most, was frenziedly trying to share their idea at every available opportunity. No, she wasn't interested in getting a seat near the hedgehog because of what had gone on the previous day; _I need to know why_; holding her tray high and praying no-one brushed against her, the smaller echidna tried to shimmy and shoulder her way through the press of bodies and chairs; _you've been as jumpy as a cat on hot bricks all this morning_.

XXX

It had been a long, hard struggle, but Shadow had finally managed to assure himself that Julie would be safe within the monolithic structure of the EST headquarters; now he could turn his mind to other, less immediate but still definitely unsettling concerns that had reared up their ugly heads following the events of the past week. _She shouldn't have to live in fear like this_; his teeth ripped a chunk out of the bread he had dunked into the sauce still covering his plate, barely tasting it as he assuaged both his hunger and his frustration on the same morsel of food, Julie's words still ringing in his ears, magnifying his inability to do anything about them; _I need to get to Knuckles, he'd have a better idea than the EST – it better have been a rogue move, but if it wasn't, what then?_ The potential answers to that question were too many and frankly too frightening to even consider; if the Dark Legion really was out to clamp down and retake those who had deserted their ranks he didn't fancy the EST to stop them, and he couldn't be on hand all the time – the mere thought of Julie having to live like a fugitive all her life, constantly jumping at loud noises and afraid of strangers was enough to make his skin shiver. There had to be something he could do to find out the rationale behind the action of Xenin and the rest of that squad but he couldn't see it if there was; in fact, all he could see when he thought about the echidna Julie had identified as her former sergeant was his own inner demon, the one who called himself the ultimate life-form and that sickened him almost as much as the Legionnaires themselves. His brain raced like a hamster in a millwheel, never ceasing in its quest to locate the Holy Grail of the answer he sought but at the same time not able to break out of the same pattern of thought, running over the same old ground, finding only the same old fears…

"Hey Shadow", the cutlery present somersaulted as the unexpected voice in his ear made him jump and sent his thighs crashing into the underside of the table, "this seat taken?"

XXX

He was sat by himself, apart from the rest of the office and apparently unaware of the whispered remarks and corner-of-the-eye glances that were being lanced in his direction as he seemed to simply stare forwards apparently in some sort of trance as only the occasional movement of his hand to his mouth betrayed that he was even conscious at all. _Must be worse than I thought_; Honey licked her lips as she cautiously approached the table Shadow was sat at, hoping to avoid his blindside as she didn't really want to alarm him too much. Quietly she set her own meal down before daring to pipe up,

"Hey Shadow"; she darted back as he virtually leapt up startled, twisting to see her at the same time as breathe in raggedly, trying to dispel his shock as she finished tremulously, "this seat taken?" Speech having seemed to temporarily desert him, the hedgehog managed to nod stiffly, pointing at the chair opposite him as if offering it. Going slowly to let him get over his shock, Honey took her place and set out her condiments, taking a first bite of her fish meal to keep up the casual act before glancing up and asking,

"So, how's things?"

Shadow seemed to be struck by the normality of the question,

"Err", he spluttered for a few seconds, trying to put his scattered thoughts into a coherent form, "sort of, unsettled?"

"And the rest", still keeping her tone light and casual, Honey looked up from her food and faced him directly this time, speaking to him face to face and pointing out a couple of truths he seemed to have missed, "you've been on a different planet all this morning, you completely forgot to sign off most of your receipts this morning and", with a slight laugh she pointed to the plate he'd abandoned, "you've left your mash; if that doesn't prove you're not with it nothing does". Following her finger the hedgehog saw with consternation that it was true; now a muddy brown colour due to the gravy it had soaked up like a sponge, the dollop of mashed potato was now sat on his plate like a mole hill. _Damn, that's the best bit about Thursday afternoon_; silently ticking himself off in his head, Shadow realised what the echidna in front of him was saying was perfectly true; _I haven't had the best of days it must be said_;

"You might just be right Honey"; _finally, breakthrough_; she had to hold in a hiss of triumph as the hedgehog ran a hand over his eyes tiredly, "I've got a fair amount on my plate"; it was only at her badly-repressed snort of laughter that he hastily added, "in more ways than one".

"Tell mehehe, about it"; _come on, come on, this is serious now_; finally managing to cork up her laughter again, Honey managed to look up again and inject a little steel into her next words, "how is she, and more to the point how are you? I'm not even going to pretend I've got the foggiest about what happened; I just want to know if you're coping with it all right".

XXX

The last clause of the contract was a welcome on; Shadow really didn't want to rake over his memories, especially those memories, right now – the other part of her question, however, was far more welcome,

"How are we?" Shadow's smiled for a second before lowering his eyes, clouded as they were by his own doubts and fears, "rattled, both of us".

"Thought as much", Honey commiserated as she put aside the last remnants of her meal, appetite having dissipated at the sudden news before her, "you look like someone who really doesn't want to be at work right now – ask for a day's leave, surely they must owe you some by now". Shadow gave a gruff snort,

"Probably do, but I need something to take my mind off what's going on; sitting still would be the worst thing I could do, I'd go more nuts than I already am. Besides", the thought of Julie's monumental courage earlier in the day, even if she had needed some help at the end, was enough to spur him on and forget his own problems, "Julie went in today; I walked her there, that was why I was late". Honey whistled,

"You said she was damn near unbeatable…"

"She's not", he cut her off with his growl, a sound of frustration more than aggression as she listened now rather than spoke, "she's hiding it, she always hides it; she tried to walk down the street where…it happened, on her own, she sent me away to do try and do it. She's trying to be stubborn, make it look like they haven't hurt her but she's worried, I can tell she is, so am I come to that", the intensity of his gaze was so much that Honey could virtually feel him looking right through her and probably the wall behind as well, "we need to know why, why did they go after her now? We're almost sure it was just her old squad trying to get their own back, but there's no way of being certain and that's the killer – if the Legion really wants her, chances are they're going to succeed one way or another".

The tone of his voice, the way he'd blended concern and anger together so seamlessly finally allowed Honey to confirm what had been a suspicion in her mind ever since Shadow had walked into work one day with the vapid, faraway look of someone who'd just realised that most blindingly obvious but most deeply hidden truth,

"Man Shads", the echidna chuckled as she remembered the exact second that very same revelation had hit her smack between the eyes, "you must love her to absolute bits to be this cut up about what's going on with her". There was a pause at her words as she'd expected there would be; somehow it never sank in until someone pointed it out for you, before the hedgehog gave a bit of a laugh and shrugged,

"Maybe", his tone said far more than the actual word did and Honey had to hold in a reproachful sigh; _why can't men ever just come out and say it first time – Micah was just as bad, no in fact he was worse_; "anyway, I've got something resembling a plan, I'll just see how we get through today before trying anything else. I can handle the danger of the Legion being after her Honey", that didn't surprise her, she'd had Shadow down as a man of action from the day he'd had her hauled up in front of the boss under suspicion of aiding and abetting theft and fraud, "it's the uncertainty that's killing me, and probably her as well".

XXX

The unexpected nudge in her already bruised ribs levitated her onto a new plane of agony; Julie screwed her lips together, just about avoiding papering the echidna sat opposite her with a mouthful of half-masticated cheese sandwich. Nesi, completely unaware of what she'd just done, pointed forwards and gabbled quickly,

"Jules, I think he's after you"; following her work colleague's arm with swimming vision, the former Legionnaire made a blurry outline of a figure stood just on the edge of the canteen, the fuzzy leather brown article on top of the red blob's head giving her a clue as to who was looking at her and, as the waves of pain finally began to recede and her vision grew sharper, she realised was actually beckoning her towards him; _oh if he wants a witness statement it can wait until tomorrow_. Slowly, well aware of how much grief her newly damaged side was now sending up towards her brain, Julie slowly pulled herself to her feet and shuffled around the end of her bench, heading towards where the leader of the EST was apparently waiting for her. He didn't even attempt to hurry her, merely standing and waiting until she was just about before him,

"Let's get somewhere private Julie"; she nodded, knowing what was coming and really not wanting to air this dirty laundry in public, and followed the head of the EST out of the canteen towards, she recognised, one of the interview rooms; _at least it's not as far as his office_. She trailed in his wake, not really looking at where she was being led until, at last, she saw a sweet sight before her and collapsed with a grateful sigh into the chair Remington pulled up for her. Taking a second to get her breath back, the former Legionnaire looked across the table to where her superior was now taking a seat,

"Right, do I need to give my name and details", she pressed on at Remington's raised eyebrow, "or is that already on the tape?"

"What? No, no", he waved a hand, shaking his head to dispel her illusion, "this isn't an interview Julie, there's no need for that". _How come?_;

"How does that work? I was attacked, surely you need me to give evidence?"

"Not this time", even now Remington could easily transfer the look of unconvinced shock on Julie's face onto his own as he sat in on the interview that had circumvented Julie's need to give an account of what had happened, "one of your assailants gave a full, frank and very detailed account of the action of both himself and his squad, placing all the blame on their collective heads". A spark of hope caught light in Julie's mind and she seized upon it,

"It was Musa, wasn't it – the name of the Legionnaire who gave the confession", she elaborated as Remington drew a blank look, "where is he now?"

"He and the others have been transferred to Necronopolis; the escort arrived very early this morning, hence the bags", Julie had to give a sight smile as she was the evidence of a very early morning etched onto Remington's face, "and the transfer went smoothly; we have been given the assurance of Enerjak himself that he'll deal with them personally".

"He can't have a go at Musa"; _I'd never have made it out alive if it hadn't been for him_; "he wasn't in on it like the rest, didn't want to be there – you've got to let them know about that". Popping a pencil out of his hat brim and scribbling hastily on a piece of paper, Remington made a quick aide memoir before facing her again,

"Right, I'll deal with that when I've dealt with you; no, you're not in trouble", Julie blushed slightly as she realised her sudden spike of fear must have erupted onto her face, "in fact, if anything this is a commendation".

_Now this I like the sound of_; interest piqued at the thought of such high praise, Julie leant forwards as Remington steepled his fingers under his chin and continued,

"First off, I'm both impressed and humbled you showed up for work today; that shows the highest respect for your colleagues and stiff moral fibre"; _helped out by a seriously close friend_; the thought of how close she now felt to Shadow, especially in the light of what had just happened, made her fight to stop her cheeks reigniting, though thankfully Remington didn't seem to notice, "but, despite this, there's a company policy on hostage situations; know about it?"

"Not really – it's not something that tends to crop up in the office, unless you count Kadu going on the rampage with a water pistol".

"Point taken; well it states that all EST operatives involved in a violent kidnap or a hostage situation will, without exception, spend the next three days recuperating with friends and family"; _that rule probably saved us a lot of damn good cops from total burn out_; once more Remington thanked the echidna who's job he had inherited at the same time as Julie finally managed to put two and two together and come up with three,

"Three days R&R? That includes the weekend right?"

"Yes – due to the nature of this particular, ah, incident, I can extend the time if you wish…"

"No, no", now in the cold light of day, having felt the flashback on her walk into work, Julie could finally see the sense in Shadow telling her to avoid work for a few days, sort out her head before throwing herself back into the rat race; _but too long and I'll contract terminal boredom_; "three'll be fine, nice long weekend, that'll be just the ticket, but…" She tailed off, not quite sure if she wanted to know the answer of her question in case it was the word that would shatter all her prospects for a long term future; she only looked up again at Remington's gentle reminder,

"But?" _Damned if I do, damned if I don't_;

"The Legionnaires", after screwing up her courage, Julie had to finally spill the beans, "did they say who'd given the order to attack; was there a hit ordered one me? Xenin said I was an example for the rest of the Legion, the perils of desertion – did that actually mean the Legion's actively hunting down everyone who slipped the leash or was he just trying to convince himself he was doing the right thing? Are they really out to get me?"

Even as she asked her question, Julie scrutinised the other echidna's reaction studiously; even from his body language the signs weren't convincing – Remington's generally shifty body language was a dead giveaway but she had to hear the words, make completely certain what was going on before she planned her next move,

"We, ah, we don't know for sure Julie"; she was simultaneously uplifted and crushed by the ambivalence of his answer – she was still lost in uncertainty, not sure what she could do next as Remington continued, "none of the Legionnaires, not even Musa, the one who gave evidence, would compromise Dark Legion security. We're looking into this development as much as we can but, in the meantime, all we can do is try to see the admittedly very few positives about this whole sorry episode; the fact you were attacked proves without doubt that you have truly severed ties with the Dark Legion, that's why your D.O was cut. Anyway, enough of this looking back", he clapped his hands once, breaking Julie's thoughts up abruptly and causing her to shake her head, "you've got tomorrow off as you say, oh, and I took the liberty of arranging something like an escort to get you home tonight; I know your flatmate doesn't finish work until later than you do".

"An escort", Julie rolled the word around like a ball of chewing gum, faintly disturbed by the very slight smirk she could see brewing on the other echidna's face as she finished, "what kind of escort?"

XXX

It wasn't until he was pointing directly as her, victorious grin painted on his face, that the blood well and truly froze in her veins,

"Tada".

"No", Julie informed her in no uncertain terms, eyeing the monster stood by the side of her workmate with extreme distaste, "not in this lifetime".

"Oh come on", Kadu was not to be dissuaded; _Remington gave me this mission personally – she's getting on this bike if I have to tie her up and sling her over the saddle_; "it's perfectly safe".

"It's not the bike I'm worried about", the former Legionnaire managed to take a shaky step down the front of the EST building, "it's your current driving record that scares me". Kadu crossed his arms with a dismissive snort,

"There's nothing wrong with my driving; that traffic bollard jumped out at me and I couldn't swerve in time, could've happened to anyone. Now come on, get your helmet on", as he extended a bike cap by its chin strap, dangling it toward her as she approached ever closer, "I'm running late, got a date tonight". Unable to countenance the thought of walking home alone, Julie was left with a distinct lack of options; with a strained grimace and a groan she accepted the offered helmet and gingerly placed it atop her own head,

"Ohh, this is a horrible, horrible mistake".

"Not yet it's not", Kadu nipped around to the other side of the bike before throwing his leg over the saddle and getting on properly, offering his hand to pull her up, "come on, in a few minutes it'll all be over".

"One way or another"; with a final silent plea and a deep breath, Julie gripped her workmate's hand and used the leverage to vault up behind him, gripping him around the middle as he kicked the throttle into life and, after a second roared off.

It was perhaps fortunate that the realisation hit her when it did; muffled by her helmet and whipped up by the wind, Julie was certain no-one heard her gasp of utter shock mixed with outright celebration; _that's it, that's what's so different – Shadow's hand_; now she could so clearly see the difference. When Kadu had helped her up onto his bike, she'd taken his hand and it had been the focus of her attention – the second she'd been able to let go she had, but earlier in the day, when it had really mattered, that hadn't been the case. Only now did she remember that for the walk following her seizure, Shadow had walked hand in hand with her the whole way, and neither of them seemed to have realised the fact; _it just felt natural. It felt right to hold on like that – it just, I just felt…safe_.

Lowering her helmeted head onto her rider's back, Julie finally realised what was going on; no-one had ever before made her feel as secure, and as welcome, as Shadow had in all the time she'd known him. _What would I do without him now?_; the answer occupied her the whole way home and, as she hopped down from her ride and unclipped the chin strap of her helmet, she finally realised that, after years of not being able to believe or trust in anything and going it alone, now she couldn't answer that question – if she didn't have Shadow around to look out for her, to annoy and be annoyed by her, then what did she really have? Somehow, without her even realising it, that manic black hedgehog had somehow wormed his way under her normally tough exterior and coiled up right around her soft centre, somehow making everything seem that little bit brighter, that extra touch more secure; _and me just that smidgen more_; she turned the key in the lock, opening the door to what she now considered her place of rest to be; _at home_.

A/N: So it seems all is well, but who can be sure what the Legion is planning next and what lengths will they go to to find out?


	17. Chapter 17 A Friend, And Maybe More

Chapter 17 – A Friend, and Maybe More?

A/N: Sorry it's been so long – aside from work, I now have the pleasures of trying to arrange a mortgage to occupy my time; if it wasn't or the few hours of writing I manage to cram in per week I'd go completely nuts. Anyway, reviewers first:

TG – Hectic weeks – how well I know them! Anyway, glad you enjoyed the previous chapter – hope you like this one too.

DS – Yeah, I know some of the other couples seemed a bit obvious, but come one; SonAmy, KnucksRouge and TailsCream are all classics. Shadow, however, needed something a bit special, a bit out of the ordinary; enter Julie-Su (I also did the same thing with Big – have you read Iron Skin, Golden Heart yet?)

The rest of the day had been as frustrating as the morning had been; he'd been twitchy every minute, as though a particularly vicious horsefly had been trying to get a nibble from him all day. The annoying thing was that this time the problem had nothing he could actively oppose; he knew only about the Dark Legion now what Julie had let him know and she was first to admit she wasn't the font of all knowledge on that front. This time he was completely on the back foot and that rankled something chronic; everything he'd done, or at least read that he'd done, up to now had been him and possibly a couple of the others coming up with a workable solution to an immediately-obvious problem; _oh look, Eggman's come up with a plan to take over the world, how can we stop him this time?_

He paused on the walk home, leaning against the wall, tapping his fingertips against the side of his head as though trying to scratch an itch in the centre of his brain, a maddening irritation that had been nettling him ever since he'd come face to face with the full enormity of what he and Julie were collectively up against this time. Compared to Eggman and Metal Sonic's rampant megalomania and psychosis respectively, the Dark Legion was enigmatic and secretive, slinking around in the darkness, seen only in the corner of the eye, coiled like a spring and striking just when you weren't expecting it. _They do as much damage as they can in the shortest time possible_; starting off again, the hedgehog turned his head aside from the vision of Julie nestled in that other Legionnaire's arms, nose dripping with blood and looking at what had become of her assailants with horror in her visage – that single snapshot of memory jarred him with equal parts anger, shame and jealousy; _it was more luck than judgement that let us nab those five – Julie thinking on her feet and me figuring out what she was trying to tell me in the nick of time just about prevented a bloodbath_. Now the name of the game was getting over, and helping Julie get over, the repercussions but therein lay the problem; _how can you fight something that you can't even begin to understand? The Legion can be all smiles for the public camera, but there could be daggers in their smiles and I'd bet my house they'd give one hell of a bite when they choose to snap_. He'd made some progress, no denying that; all his hours of worrying and thinking continually on the move hadn't been completely fruitless; he at least knew the problem he had to answer. Somehow, by hook or by crook, he had to get a straight answer out of the Dark Legion – was it just a one-off attack or will there be others like it?

That, at least, was the question; the answer to that question, now that was a completely different kettle of fish; aside from the very obvious problem of pinning down someone who'd have enough know-how in the Legion's inner structure to actually be able to give an honest answer, he'd have to know for certain that they weren't lying to him – he had to be completely sure in his own mind that he was getting the truth right from the horse's mouth. _Of course_; he was forced to concede a dry chuckle as he realised just how big a mountain that was to try and tackle; _going by what Julie clued me into, that would involve taking someone of at least officer status and making sure I could tell the greasy little sod wasn't trying to pull a fast one, and somehow I reckon the Dark Legion would notice me lugging a lie detector through the main gates of Necronopolis, assuming I can actually find the damn place_. The thought alone made him smile, an expression that had been hard to come by recently in the turmoil of the last couple of days; quitting that train of thought while he was on a high, and reminding himself that come the weekend he'd be able to take a step, maybe a small one admittedly, but certainly a step along the path to the truth.

XXX

"Hey Shadow", his ears were keen to her voice as she called through from the front room and he breathed a little easier when he realised she at least sounded normal, "if you're putting the kettle on make me one as well".

"Sure thing", his first instinct was to check how her day had gone but with a mental exertion he reminded himself that normality was the key; a few seconds later he'd hit the switch for the electricity and was waiting for the pot to boil, getting the cups ready at the same time as shout back,

"Good day at the office?"

"Certainly interesting", her reply was a shade longer in coming than he'd anticipated and Shadow tuned in accordingly; _sounds like she'd got something to say_; "learnt a bit more about the company policies than I'd ever bothered reading up on".

"Um", completely bamboozled in trying to make sense of that statement, Shadow sought further clarification, "come again?" Luckily his sigh of relief was drowned out by the sound of the kettle boiling; the sound of the echidna laughing at his apparent stupidity was a sweet tonic indeed to counter the sights of Julie virtually falling apart in his arms early this morning,

"The EST's got this rule, Remington told me about it at lunch – apparently all EST staff, front line or otherwise, have to take at least three days off following a direct part in a kidnap or hostage situation", her laugh broke off suddenly as she finished, "and I don't think it gets more direct than being the one snatched". _Uh oh, that quits now_;

"Probably not"; hastily scooping up the coffee he'd poured and biting his lip as some of it sloshed over the side of one of the mugs, staining his glove and starting to scald his fingers as he shuffled quickly but carefully into the front room, "hey, look on the bright side; three day week next week you lucky get – I haven't had anything even remotely resembling a holiday yet". Shoving the door open with one of his hips, the hedgehog slipped into his front room and immediately took a long, searching look at his flatmate.

XXX

_He better not be like this forever_; even as her independence snapped at this demeaning treatment she shushed it, remembering with regret how much she'd leant on Shadow so recently and with deep gratitude how willing he'd offered himself as moral support. Despite her longing for things to be restored to normal as quickly as possible Julie knew, in fact after the events of the morning she had no choice but to know, there would be upheaval before things could even hope to be back to how they were before. Thus it was she sat placidly, allowing Shadow to see her for a long second and reassure himself all was well; she tried to portray a picture of composure and resilience, and compared to this morning she was certainly that, but there was still a faint flicker of doubt in his maroon eyes; _damn, still not there yet – well, at least I'm more composed than I was last night_. It wasn't exactly a cheering thought but, she gave a soft, almost silent sigh as Shadow seemed to give himself a shake and return to reality, she supposed it was better than nothing.

XXX

For an instant he couldn't look up; he felt unworthy to even glance at the Mobian sat before him – as she had shocked him last night by sparing him even remote consideration in the teeth of her own woes, so she shocked him now by being able to maintain her outward strength now, the wobble he'd seen earlier today lost in the past and cut off completely. _How much must it take to do something like that? Jesus, how the hell could anyone toughen up so much?_; he lost himself only for a moment, the twinge from his right thumb where it had been soaked with hot spilt coffee reminding him of the refreshment he carried for the pair of them. Handing her the coffee he'd made, he slumped down next to her and drew his legs up to him, tucking them in and looking over at her directly,

"So, what did Remington say, apart from the extra holiday entitlement?" She didn't answer for a moment; he assumed from the look of wistful decision on her face that she was trying to come up with a logical progression to her thoughts before replying. Taking a sip of the drink he'd provided and licking her lips, Julie tried to explain,

"Well, for a start they were all rounded up; apparently Musa, the guy that was on our side", Shadow nodded as he logically deduced Julie meant the Legionnaire who'd silently offered to clear up the organic mess in the immediate aftermath of the fight, "well he gave a full confession before the Legion were contacted; Remington said a copy of that went to Necronopolis with the Legionnaires – I know what you're thinking", she saw the sudden angry glint in the hedgehog's eyes and headed off the demand that was sure to be coming, "we've got a sort of agreement running with them; anyone we catch we hand back – I know that sounds bad", Shadow was just about breathing smoke by this point; her quick shout the only thing that defused the explosion brewing in his face, " but we've had operatives from our side passed back to us completely unharmed, just not able to remember anything about the Legion when they infiltrated it – they've proven themselves upright on that count at least and we have to repay the favour".

"Shame"; her shoulders shook at both Shadow's slight chuckle and the look of distaste on his face before she continued,

"Yeah, but even war's got rules these days", Shadow gave a theatrical roll of the eyes before nodding at her to continue, "but anyway, he said that he'd been informed Enerjak, the real, real big man, grandmaster of the Legion", the ebon hedgehog's eyes flicked upwards as he took in the way she raised her hand as high as she could reach without pulling on her ribs, a single nod showing he understood the significance of such a gesture, "he's going to deal with them personally". Shadow shook his head, snorting with both disgust and repressed frustration,

"That could mean anything; for all we know he could be patting them on the head and wishing them better luck next time"; _what the hell are you saying you moron – who are you talking to!_; he suddenly remembered where he was and went brick red, ashamed at even bringing up the prospect of a second attack right in front of his flatmate, "I mean, I hope there's no…come on, there can't be, can there?"

"Probably not"; Shadow squirmed, furious with himself for dropping that first-class clanger right in the open with absolutely no chance of redeeming himself; _now she's on a downer, and she was all right before that – way to go there Einstein_; "but like Remington said, no way to be sure – not even Musa would say what their orders were, or even if there were any to start with".

So it wasn't as bad as he'd first feared but that was no excuse for screwing up the way he had; no matter how irritated he was by this whole mess he had to remember that at all times in this Julie came first, no exceptions. Shadow cursed himself fluently under his breath as he saw the light in the echidna's eyes dim; once more she was stuck squarely back at stage one – not sure if she was safe or not. Without actively thinking about what he was doing, merely desperate to atone for his earlier mistake, Shadow reached over; Julie looked up, the spark supernovaed in shock at the contact as his fingers grasped her shoulder, giving a tight but soft grip as he gently alternated the pressure transmitted through his fingers. For a second nothing altered, until slowly, as quiet and as gradual as a stalactite elongating itself from the ceiling of its birth, Julie brought her own hand up, nervous at her own daring as she slowly placed it on the back of Shadow's paw, tenderly trapping his own hand where it was on her shoulder, ensuring that he couldn't stop the touch that was gloriously eroding through the iciness Remington's stark pronouncement had left, however unwillingly, in its wake around her spirit. Sipping drinks with their other hands without tasting what was in the cups, echidna and hedgehog communicated silently through contact and unspoken languages; for this kind of talking, words were definitely surplus to requirement.

Only when the skin and muscle around her shoulder started to go numb from Shadow's repeated drumming did Julie wince away, releasing her flatmate's hand and watching it fly back to him like a returning bird as she shrugged some feeling back into her massaged joint. Giving a slight stretch and yawn, Julie gave a slight smile tipped off with a slightly sly wink,

"So", Shadow sensed the coming of a storm, revelling in the almost electric sensation even as he braced for it, "any idea what I should do with myself tomorrow? On my day off?"

"Swap with me?" Shadow tried an imploring look but, as he had expected, Julie merely laughed, swatting it aside almost contemptuously and rejoined with an immediate counter,

"No way; the guys in the office keep saying the C.A staff are lazy good-for-nothings and I know how true that is – don't want to pick up bad habits". _Right, you asked for it_;

"And there was me thinking you were trying to collect the full set", her eyes hardened but before she could speak the hedgehog had made up her mind for her – a single, simply glorious idea had screamed its way into his thoughts and he knew there was nothing he could do to alter its course, this had to be what was going to happen, "but anyway you're not going to get the chance – I know what you'll be up to tomorrow".

"Really?" _Not sure I like the sound of this_; it wasn't so much the sly look that had slid greasily over her flatmate's face that alarmed her; after such a long exposure to said expression she was virtually inured to its effects – it what the utter conviction in his voice that had her worried, "and that would be…?" She made an impatient gesture with her hands, only for Shadow to tap the side of his nose,

"Ah, ah, it'll be a surprise; a nice surprise", he smoothly amended as old memories made the echidna raise an eyebrow, "trust me, you will enjoy it". Running her tongue along her teeth, Julie tried to predict what the hedgehog had in store at the same time as ask all the right, nit-picking questions,

"Is it dangerous?" _I know what you're up to_; Shadow made a point of exaggeratedly holding his chin, apparently taking a few seconds to make up his mind,

"It shouldn't be".

"Is it to do with the rest of the crew you know?"

"One or two".

"Is it illegal?" At this peach not even Shadow could fully master his emotions; with an ill-disguised snort of laughter the hedgehog bucked forwards, hand over his mouth at the same time Julie finally deduced and convinced herself that yes, he was sincere when he said his idea was a good one and there were no unpleasant surprises awaiting her,

"I sure hope not"; _not unless he really gets going_; the hedgehog knew he was going to have to let the Mobian he needed to call in a few minutes in on that query; _but first, time to put a lid on this one_; "listen, it'll be a real eye-opener; I'm saying no more, got it?"

"No, but I'm sure you'll give me it one of these days"; the hedgehog winced as the comeback lanced him horribly, shutting him off from even the thought of a retaliatory strike as Julie smiled, smug at her victory in the eternal war of words raging between them.

XXX

_Okay, bit of peace, time to make that call_; though he'd been hoping he'd done enough to get the matter to drop, Julie was having none of it – all night long she'd pestered and probed away at his defences, trying to squirm through his resilience and reach the heart of his plans but, luckily, he'd managed to hold the line thus far. Also by a fortunate quirk of fate it was his turn for a bath tonight; just the cover he needed to make sure he could pull his idea off – turning the taps on full to make sure the rushing water aptly drowned the noise, Shadow swiftly pulled out his phone and keyed in the numbers he needed; as he put the appliance to his ears, all he could do was cross his fingers that this would work.

A few minutes later, as he reclined luxuriously in the waters of his freshly poured opulence, the former ultimate life-form breathed a sigh of mingled triumph and relief; _so typical – most of the time you forget they even exist at all, then right when you need them, bang, they come through. Okay Julie_; recalling all his memories, such as they were, of the livewires he'd fixed the echidna up with tomorrow, he set her a mental challenge; _if by tomorrow night you can look me in the eye and tell me life's out to get you I'll eat my shoes, laces and all!_

XXX

Luckily he'd managed to evade her all last night; despite her repeated attempts to pin him in one place and wring his ideas out of him, Shadow had managed to keep his plans a secret and, as he splashed milk quite liberally over his full bowl of cereal, he rejoiced internally as he knew it was all going to come together very soon. The excitement made even him more hasty than usual; before he'd done much more than recognise the taste in his mouth he found himself looking down at an empty cereal bowl, wondering where all the grub had gone; _wow, good thing she never saw that – the number of fat jokes she has to get through_. Though he knew there was no way anyone with half an eye could label Julie as even slightly chubby, she seemed to have a problem recognising that she was fine the way she was, all the exercise videos she taped for herself and went over were just not necessary; she seemed to have some loony idea that she aught to be shedding some weight she didn't need to lose instead of just accepting that her body was just right for her. _I aught to tell her that someday, but…_; as he did every time he fixated on the echidna's fitness regime, Shadow ran up against the same brick wall; somehow the vision of Julie either taking offence at him sticking his nose in or falling apart laughing at the comment wouldn't leave his mind and was enough to divert him from his course of letting her know the truth. Shaking his head slightly, he returned his attention back to his earlier task and swiftly rinsed his dish out under the cold tap, leaving it on the draining board as he snatched up what he needed for lunch out of the fridge and packing it away in his bag – he didn't like the canteen menu on Fridays. With that, and a last quick check to see all was as it should be on an average day, the ebon hedgehog flicked his eyes to his wrist, saw he had about two or three minutes left and, deciding to see if he could surprise his impromptu guest, headed for the front door.

XXX

"Ah, there you are", seeing Charmy jump slightly, Shadow simply waved to show he was harmless before quickly crossing the apartment block lobby towards where the bee was now standing, having just entered the building, "just in time".

"Going by your time I'm actually a little late", caught out a little by Shadow's accelerated sense of timing, the youngest member of the Chaotix was nevertheless able to muster a rapid response from his reserves of humour, "should have guessed when you say 'on the dot' you're on a different page to the rest of us".

"Something like that, but anyway", dispersing the humour, the hedgehog beckoned the bee closer, dropping his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "so, here's the plan, I need you to make sure she has a damn good time out there, let her know not everyone in this city's after her". Charmy's face brightened as he realised what the hedgehog was angling towards,

"Okay, cheer up mission, piece of cake".

"Sure?" Despite knowing how uplifting Charmy could be at times, Shadow couldn't help but feel slightly sceptical as he sized up the challenge, "she's not the easiest person in the world to please". Charmy gazed up at him square, a half-serious expression on his youthful face as he spelt out the truth,

"Shads, you're talking to the Mobian who cut his teeth on dealing with Esp; believe me if I can occasionally tempt a smile out of the wall-crawler Julie is going to be a cinch". He put on his most wining expression as the older hedgehog faced him down with a penetrating gaze before, with a slow answering smile, Shadow's hand retreated into his pocket,

"Right, here's the keys to my place; it's locked at the minute, please make sure it still is when you get going, and oh, maybe you've got the firepower to knock her over", Charmy's eyes shot to the size of pie tins as with a crisp crackle, something was forced into his open hand, "a little heavy artillery never hurt anyone".

"Shadow"; _I've only ever seen one of those once before_; Charmy found himself gasping for words as he beheld the scrunched up twenty crest note in his hand, "that's…"

"Enough – listen, I don't care about the cost Charm", this much at least was true, Shadow had carefully worked out next month's finances to make sure he had enough to cover this little expense, "I just need you to, you know, spoil her a bit? Because I can't, I gotta go make a living". Charmy raised an imploring eyebrow,

"You think I don't; I had to surrender any T.V remote rights I may have had for the rest of my natural life to Mighty to make sure she'd cover my shift and free me up, but hey, anything for a friend right?" Won over by the bee's irrepressible nature, Shadow chortled and quickly whipped his hand over, ruffling his friend's antenna before quickly rushing away to work with the parting words,

"You bet, keep any change you bring back", as he span on his heel, the hedgehog called over his shoulder, "go knock her dead".

Just about keeping himself on the ground in the face of the hedgehog's slipstream, Charmy blinked his eyes back open before turning to the stairs; _right, the mission starts here_; a timely mnemonic reminder recalled Shadow's words over the phone last night – he distinctly remembered the black hedgehog telling him to make himself at home until Julie woke up; _right, T.V, ice-cream, feet up on the settee and we're sorted!_

XXX

She yawned, but a sharp reminder from this time yesterday morning prevented her stretching out to full length straight off; instead, Julie forced herself to take the movement slowly, reaching her arms up inch by inch, testing the threshold of her movement as she gingerly felt the effect of her body's natural self-repair mechanisms; _not too bad, a little higher than yesterday – wonder if my black eye's gone yet?_ Making a mental note to check the bathroom right after she got dressed, denying her stomach for another couple of minutes, the echidna quickly whipped her folded clothes off the back of the nearby chair and slipped them on, half an eye on the closed door that led to the hallway even if she knew there was no-one there about to burst in on her. Even taking into account her reduced speed due to her injury, Julie was bale to slip into her everyday gear with minimal effort, already thinking about what she should do for the rest of the day; _I need to go outside_; despite the cold slush that seemed to slop into her insides at the very idea of facing the world outside this quiet, safe apartment, Julie refused to let her fear drag her down – this time she was going to be sensible about it rather than rush in all guns blazing and end up half-mad through fear; _just a couple of quick, fifteen minute strolls, places I know well, nothing to it. Actually…_; now that was an interesting thought!

With the idea fresh in her mind and already helping to prevent a repeat performance of yesterday's dire dirge of sorrow, Julie pulled open the door her temporary bedroom and checked her phone both for battery and credit; it was as she was doing this and heading towards the bathroom to see if her eye was healing that the shout stopped her dead in her tracks,

"Hey Jules, that you up and about?"

Though the shock sent adrenaline coursing straight through her veins, the fact that the voice was one she both recognised as a friend and respected as an ally made such a surprise pleasant; the shade of fear that had been driven into hibernation since yesterday slunk back again, denied another opportunity of attack by her rapid placement of name to voice. Shaking her head as she knew she couldn't be mistaken; _how did he get here, and for that matter when did he get here?_; she pushed open the kitchen door in time to see Charmy, apparently up to his elbows in washing up water, turn around and beam at her.

"Buzz-boy?" His nod confirmed it beyond all reasonable doubt; now that slight stumbling block was over, she could get on to the meat of her confusion, "why, what are you doing here?"

"Ah", he raised an eyebrow; somehow, even with both hands covered in soap subs, he could manage a half-convincing attempt at suave seduction, "what reason do I need bar you, my dear Julie-Su?" _Don't laugh, do not laugh_; it was a truly epic struggle not to fall for his irrepressible humour but Julie's willpower was just about up to the challenge,

"Okay, enough with the flattery", she had to pause for a second; Charmy's disappointed pout was the final assault that nearly broke the back of her resistance, "straight answer, what brings you to my, very humble, abode?"

"I'm here as your guide", sweeping his arm round towards the vague direction of the nearest window, he continued as she was confused, "there's a whole wide city out there and I'm going to show you some of the sites, places I doubt you've even heard of. Get your coat Jules", this time not even she could help herself answering his mile-wide grin, "the tour leaves in fifteen minutes, and there's no refunds if you're late".

XXX

Gripped by the whirlwind of promise he managed to generate, Julie found herself somehow walking down a street she'd never even known existed before now, her still inherent fear of the outside rather left behind by her guide's blistering pace. With the majority of her mind still engaged in trying to work out exactly what was actually going on in this set up, Julie tuned in with half an ear to Charmy's next announcement,

"That one there", his finger pointed out yet another building that, almost as if aware of his attention, seemed to spring forwards into the road, thrusting its wares forwards eagerly for him to inspect, "apart from Nate's, we'll be going there towards the end of this walk by the way, best cream scone in all Echidnopolis", he smacked his lips, exaggerating the look of supreme delight on his features as he finished, "absolutely sublime, just melts in your mouth".

"Like most girls would in your hands", this time it was Charmy trying to cut back on his sniggering as Julie finally thrust aside the issue of why she was being led around the city and decided instead to kick back and enjoy the sights the bee was enlightening her to, "how the hell are you not attached yet; the spirits alone know you'd have been beating them off with a stick if you'd signed up in the Legion". _Wow I said it_; luckily Charmy was too busy trying to contain himself as Julie made that observation, blinking as somehow the word didn't seem so oppressive and sinister this time, the circumstances throwing back the fear, knocking it away from its footholds, loosening the grip it tried to clutch her in. A slow, almost victorious smile began edging over her face as Charmy, the corners of his eyes almost soaked with tears of mirth, finally managed to look up again, running a set of fingers down his jaw to the point of his chin,

"Hmm, well if they're that desperate for a bit of fun and games…?"

"Fun maybe", trying to quash the idea she'd set up, Julie hastily dispelled the bee's illusions, "games definitely not – did Shadow tell you what the staple game of choice was in the barracks?"

"Yeah, he did mention", Charmy looked like he was giving the matter some thought before playing his ace; gesturing to his own mostly unclad body, the bee winked up at her, "reckon I could get the fit ones to join my handicap?" Julie's shoulders shook; _damn, he reminds me far too much of Musa_; for some reason that name hurt more than the group he was still affiliated with – sparing herself some pain she decided to set that thought aside for now and concentrated instead on answering her diminutive companion,

"You probably could", she waited until the look of anticipatory glee gleamed in Charmy's eyes before gently knocking her forearms together with a musical clink, "bear in mind though, these aren't the only things the Legion can upgrade, if you catch my drift?" Judging from his shudder and the look on his face, an expression akin to biting on a lemon pastille after someone had convinced him it was strawberry, Julie reckoned he'd managed to. With a smile the echidna moved on, just about managing to pat the bee on the head and engaging her selective deafness as he began chastising her for sullying his beautiful dreams.

XXX

As he picked out yet another store shop and exchanged another of the seemingly endless pleasantries he must have carried around in some extra-dimensional space only he could get into, Julie finally gave in to curiosity,

"Charm", she came to a dead halt, hands on hips as she tried to size up the reason from his frame alone, "how do you do it?" Looking particularly perplexed, the insect could do nothing but scratch the side of his head before seeking further clarification,

"Do what?"

"All this", she swept her arm back along the street they'd come down, indicating the places he'd told her about to hammer home her point, "how do you know all these people, get the gen on the places you know – if I had a mortgage I'd bet it that you're more streetwise than half the cops of the EST put together, and you've been here what? A year, if that?" The more she thought about it the more impossible it seemed that Charmy was less of an outsider to her own land, a more familiar stranger to her own species, than she was; the thirst for knowledge almost demanded slaking as she finished in an almost plaintive plea,

"How do you just blend in?"

For a few seconds Charmy was silent, bringing a finger to his lips in thought, almost as if trying to size up the right words to say to this question; Julie waited on with heart in mouth until, slowly, he lifted his face to look up at her once more,

"Ah"; _oh yes, answers_; she silently let out a breath as he held up a finger like a wand, ready to make a single sweep and banish away all her problems, "try this Julie-Su; watch…" the finger pointed surreptitiously to the other side of the street; turning, Julie had to look back and raise an eyebrow as she saw the echidna Charmy was indicating; as far as she could tell he was nothing out of the ordinary – seeing the confusion in her eyes the bee gave a wink and started to move out, "and learn. Hey dude"; Julie tried to shrink back into the concealing shadows of the street as Charmy's raise voice caused a few heads to turn, least of all the head he'd pick out and was now waving at as he crossed the street.

"Err, yeah?" The other echidna, a fairly stoutly built guy Julie would have guessed was in his late twenties, regarded the stranger with a wary eye as the bee bowled up; though she couldn't see his face she'd have guessed he was all smiles as he asked a seemingly innocuous question,

"Yeah, I was wondering, could you give me a hand?" Before his target could reply he'd made his inquiry plain, "I wanna go flying later; seen a weather forecast recently?"

"Umm, no, no not for today", the echidna replied after a short pause, apparently trying to recall back into earlier in the day before, it seemed to Julie as she watched on captivated, he was hit by a sudden brainwave, "but, if you go around that corner there", bending so he was level with Charmy's shoulder and pointing with one hand, the echidna made his directions clear, "and take the second right after that there's a T.V repair shop there; they've always got all the channels on so you'll get an update from there".

"Really? Cool, thanks a lot; hey", collaring the echidna before he could disengage, Charmy apparently beckoned his target forwards, "if you fancy a bite to eat, I recommend the place just across the way there; best cakes in the business that place does".

"I'll check it out; anyway, must be off", after taking in the location Charmy was pointing out the former stranger straightened and gave a final farewell, "have a good, umm, flight?"

"Sure will; keep watching the skies"; Charmy waved until his gossiping partner was lost to sight before looking both ways and crossing back over the road to where, not entirely shocked by what she'd just seen but certainly impressed by it, was waiting for him; apparently anticipating her question, the bee simply smiled and shrugged,

"Easy when you know how" and carried on walking, gesturing for her to follow; falling into step with him and thinking quickly he fell back into his tour mode and she lost his attention, Julie flicked her gaze at him from the corner of her eyes and sighed, stating the off-putting but heartfelt truth as he looked up at her,

"I don't get you Charmy".

"In", he had obviously tried to make sense of what she was saying and failed as he shrugged up at her, "in what way?"

"How many ways do you need; look, you're what, fourteen, fifteen – I know for a fact you're not as old as Espio and the rest of the Chaotix".

"Yeah, fifteen's right"; Charmy quickly slid that statement in edgeways before letting Julie carry on in full flow,

"Right, you're fifteen years old; I don't know many fifty year olds who could look after themselves as well as you can – I know for a fact I'd never have been imagine leaving the Legion when I was your age. I don't get how you fell in with the rest of your mob so young, or how you can just breeze through meeting people like that", she gave a slight chuckle and spread her arms wide, "help me out here; tell me what your secret is".

To her surprise, the bee wasn't taken particularly aback by her request; instead, after a second where he appeared to decide on the best way to phrase his answer, Charmy carried on walking, glancing to the side as he answered her, apparently not having to look where he was going as his street smarts came back to the fore,

"Believe it or not you're not the first to ask; I've had to explain this to a couple of other echidnas in the past, you lot as a whole still don't know a lot about the world outside Echidnopolis, though I have to say from the reports Tails feeds back to us occasionally you're all making up for lost time". Julie smiled,

"I know I have; those two days I spent in Station Square opened my eyes more than the previous two decades I can tell you".

"I'll bet", Charmy agreed before carrying on with his explanations, "anyhow, the thing is I'm an insect, plain and simple, it's what the man upstairs decreed I was going to be born as. Now what you have to understand is", Julie leant in to pay closer attention to his next words, perturbed and intrigued by his slightly more serious voice, "we work different to mammals, or monotremes like you echidnas; basically we grow up a lot faster, in some ways anyway; it's a bit hard to explain".

"Sounds it, and what's a monotreme?"

"An egg-laying mammal, i.e. you", Charmy filled her in before carrying on, having a slightly clearer picture of what he needed to say next, "so as I was saying, we grow up quickly, in the physical and mental sense, compared to you furries; I've been this height since I was eleven and I don't think I'm going to go through a growth spurt any time soon. Insects also learn a lot faster, just the natural way of things; we do the equivalent of high school at the age of nine to twelve; by the time we're sixteen, we're officially adults". The echidna gave a wondering whistle,

"Man, talk about a short childhood"; Charmy gave a snort of laughter,

"Yeah, but I reckon that's what makes us talkative, able to get with all sorts; asking loads of questions, and not being afraid to ask them, is the only thing that lets us learn as quickly as we can. But I digress; in my case I got hit by the wander-bug when I was thirteen and left home; don't panic, my folks were cool with it", he hastily tacked on at Julie's widened eyes, "mum was just the same, set off on her own straight after school. I was actually fairly forward thinking about it; I knew where I wanted to go – some spiders, ever seen one of them?"

"No", Julie had to reply in the negative after a few seconds of remembering them, "but I've seen pictures and Shadow's met a couple, explained what they're like – do they really spin silk out their…?"

"Yes they do", a few gross examples from his past sent shivers through Charmy's memory and he quickly thought away from a couple of his schoolmate's pranks involving a funfair and a suspiciously young-looking candyfloss seller to continue his story, "well some of them, if they want to get away from home, they basically spin themselves a silk parachute, wait for a decent breeze then whoosh", he threw away an imaginary wrapper to convey the image convincingly, "gone with the wind".

"Just like that huh?"

"Just like that", Charmy affirmed, seeing the doubt in the echidna's eyes; _guess it must be hard to wrap your head around first time – I'm sure Nate still doesn't believe that bit either_; "but I planned where I was going, local town sort of thing, no great shakes really, just wanted to set myself up then plan my next move from there. Believe it or not I got there in one piece; it was just as I was getting some digs sorted and crossing the street to get a look at the local estate agents, there's a screech of brakes and I grab some sky just in time to avoid becoming road-kill; next thing I know a couple of frantic reptiles are all over me, checking I'm okay and sweating bullets that I'm about to sue them. Of course, three guesses who those two actually were", somewhere between the sniggering Julie managed to convey the impression that she'd figured it out as Charmy finished, "and I sort of tagged along to their place, stayed over the night and never really left; Vec coined the name Chaotix and we sort of went from there, doing our own thing in life".

"Yeah, I've heard; you were detectives once right?"

"Yep, not very good ones like, but we scraped by until Knucks sorted us out up here".

"I imagine he's grateful for the help, even if he doesn't say so often", Julie chipped in to support the bee's aspirations of himself before tapping him lightly on the shoulder, "anyway sounds like you get a pretty sweet deal; if anyone had said some people got through puberty in a few years I'd have either begged to know how or garrotted them for getting away so lightly". _They all say that_; once more Charmy saw Nate and Teri, once they'd finally believed his explanations about insect development, say similar things – somehow, he could also see Julie reacting the same way as they had when he pointed out the other side of the coin,

"Maybe, but well, it's all swings and roundabouts isn't it? I mean, he takes with one hand and gives with the other doesn't he?" Cut off in mid-jest by Charmy's sudden melancholy, Julie regarded him with something bordering on concern,

"Sorry you've lost me". The bee looked up, a half-sad, half-resigned expression marring his normally ecstatically happy face,

"Put it like this; if Knuckles was offering a pension scheme for us, I'd be the only one in the Chaotix to opt out of it"; _okay, point it out…_; he had to wait until the realisation was just starting to dawn before making his next words crystal clear; _…now_; "insects just don't live as long as other Mobians, or humans for that matter – I'll be lucky to clock fifty years before it's time for the long, deep sleep; no, don't look at me like that", if there was one thing he hated about this it was sympathy, or even worse than that, pity; he'd realised this was how it was going to be a long time ago and it was pointless trying to deny it – what bugged him was the fact that Vector especially, damn him if he wasn't a real softie under those thick scales, had simply refused to believe and spent over a fortnight worrying about such a fate before Charmy had finally managed to convince him that it was just one of those things and there was nothing to be done about it, "it's not something anyone can change, we just live with it".

"Or not, as the case may be; I'm sorry for my appalling taste but", Julie held her hands up at Charmy's look of distaste, "hey, better to laugh than cry about it right?"

"Something like that but", discussions of death definitely not on his agenda for the day, Charmy's nostrils luckily came up with the perfect way to change tack, "luckily I've got enough taste for the two of us; come on, take a good lungful of that sweet stuff". Pointing her nose to the wind even if she kept her gaze levelled at where Charmy was scenting the air, the echidna took in a slight sniff; this was an action she immediately regretted as her stomach, grudgingly mollified this morning with a measly offering of a couple of slices of toast, demanded a more elaborate sacrifice and pointed out that a veneration of bacon was just the thing. Quickly swallowing her sudden excess of saliva, Julie tried to battle back her suddenly voracious appetite,

"Oh, er, not bad, but I'd…"

"But!" Charmy whirled, looking mortally offended at the mere notion that the meal they were smelling was anything less than perfection, "what but? There's no buts about it; listen, can't you hear the oil singing your name", he cupped a hand to his ear, voice a sing-song chant, "Juuullllliiieeee, it's saying it loud and clear, come and get iiiiiiiittttt!" His plea was breaching the barrier of her will; she knew she needed to stick to the plan but that smell, oh her imagination was having a field day picturing what the dish would look like and trying to lead her into self-inflicted temptation; _resist, resist!_

"I'm not listening", she clapped her hands over her ears and tried to hold her breath simultaneously, trying to preserve her weekly calorie count, "I can't, I mustn't…" She couldn't hear what the bee said next but, as she kept her eyes on his lips she was accomplished enough to understand the main gist of his words,

"Come on, you know you want it", she was on the point of breaking; the damage had been done by that poisonous but so alluring perfume wafting from the open door ahead of her; it was at that point Charmy dug into his pocket and then seized the tool to tip the balance irrevocably, "I'm paying". _Well, the flesh is weak…_;

"Oh alright", she had to force herself not to smile as Charmy rejoiced, quickly darting ahead to grab a table as she growled and glowered, stalking towards the all-day breakfast bar in a fine temper even as she tried to justify her actions to herself, "I've got some exercise sessions on tape, I can rattle through a few of them to burn this off, and I'll skip the end of week treat. Dammit", her griping grew into a low shout as she fixed her smouldering eyes on where Charmy was now smirking, pulling out one of the outside seats from its table and patting it expectantly, "I know it's bad for me, but I just can't say no to this guy!"

XXX

_Oh well_; it looked better than it had smelt, though Julie held herself back just long enough to get a single positive point out of this over-indulgence; _at least I'm getting one of the five portions I need – technically tomatoes are fruit_. That was about all good news her mind could pick out before, just like the mouthful of sausage she'd popped into her mouth and was now sucking the juice out of deliciously, it simply melted away, subsumed by the exquisite tastes fostered upon it by Charmy's persistence. She rolled her eyes across to see the bee virtually slather his own all-day breakfast in brown sauce before diving in with a will, smacking his lips as he quickly wolfed down the bacon and fried mushrooms the meal came with,

"So", the echidna wiped her lips on the napkin provided before asking, "how long did it take you to find this place; two hours or three?"

"Actually, you got Vec to thank for this one", Charmy laughed before taking another mouthful; swallowing it down, he carried on, "ol' TGG's got a nose for the local food courts – that's Tall, Green and Gruesome, by the way".

"That's a bit harsh; he can't help being the way he is".

"Ah, he doesn't mind", the bee wafted away her sticking up for his older team mate with a raised hand and welcoming smile, "he gets away with calling me buzz-boy, and Mighty doesn't mind if we occasionally call her shelly after all".

"Fair enough"; _bit like Shadow letting me get away with Blackie_; that thought stuck with the echidna for a moment before she realised Charmy had cleverly left an omissions from his Chaotix role-call, "but what can you call Espio?"

"Sir"; the rapier quickness of his wit caught her and she had to chuckle at his deadpan tone and serious manner, "nah, seriously, he doesn't mind wall-crawler too much – mind you, if he does take offence to anything you never really know about it until certain, unpleasant, things start happening". _I almost dread to ask_; despite having met the chameleon for only a couple of minutes Julie was almost shuddering as she pondered what sorts of revenge schemes a mind as cold and calculating as his would come up with; a_lmost…_;

"Such as?" Charmy seemed to think for a second before his eyes sparkled and, after looking left and right, he leant towards the table and beckoned her in,

"What I say next doesn't leave this table, okay? If Esp thinks I've told this one…"

"Okay, you got my word"; somehow Julie could see Charmy's exaggerated hanging of himself coming uncomfortably close to the truth is she was careless with her tongue in this instance. Apparently satisfied, the bee started talking in a low whisper, eyes darting around as though expecting to see ears sprouting out of the nearest walls,

"Well, a while back, we, by that I mean Team Chaotix, well we had a bit of a falling out with, you've met Amy right?"

"Yeah, she's as straight as they come", interest piqued with this intriguing information, Julie tapped her fingers together, "what got you lot at loggerheads with someone like her?"

"Never mind"; _it took us all how long to stop blushing when we figured out we'd cocked up?_; "anyway, point is Esp got his tail kicked by a girl – Amy quite literally hammered him", having seen the Piko Piko Hammer, Julie winced and the gesture was enough to galvanise Charmy into divulging the next bit of his story, "and, well boys being boys, Vec and I ribbed him something rotten for it. This one morning, just as he's getting out the bathroom, I've hidden in a cupboard, got one of those big, inflatable mallets with me, you know the sort, get them at funfairs?"

"Yeah, I know what you're on about".

"Right, well I've painted it pink and, yep, you guessed it", Julie was by now shaking with suppressed laugher, picturing the scene perfectly in her head, even down to the ferocious war shout Charmy must have unleashed as he'd come bounding out the cupboard towards his unsuspecting prey, "Vec and I were all over the place; his face was absolutely priceless. So I spend the day jibing Espio about how ninjas shouldn't show fear and all the rest of it and I get away with it, or at least, I do until I go to sleep".

"Young kid, asleep", Julie shuddered at her own imagination, "what's coming next is legal isn't it?"

"Probably, though I wish it wasn't", the bee griped, having to blink to stop tears forming at the mere memory, "all I remember was waking up and feeling my eyelids glued together, so what do I do, I give them a quick rub. Next thing I know I'm in agony, feels like someone's thrown bleach in my face and I can't see a thing through the foam and the tears – evil git had only gone and smeared toothpaste over my eyes, and shifted a couple of things in my room around, just so I couldn't get to the bathroom quickly to wash it off; I couldn't see straight all day, it's not funny", he demanded as Julie nearly doubled over, a couple of peeps of trembling laughter forcing their way through her lips before she managed to reassert something like control over herself,

"Now that's an original use for toothpaste, and that's coming from someone who's patented most of the toothbrush gags going", Julie mentally raised her own standing of the chameleon very slightly, nowhere near enough to move him even out of the distrusted pile, but a small step in the right direction nevertheless, "you were all right though, afterwards like?"

"Everything but my pride", he admitted grudgingly, reluctantly huffing acceptingly in the face of Julie's mirth, "anyway, if you've quite finished laughing at my misfortune, ready to move on – plenty of sights left to see yet".

"Okay, give us a couple of minutes", Julie relaxed in the small metal chair that held her, slouching down comfortably as she explained, "not everyone's got your sort of energy".

"Shame, thing's would get done much quicker if they did", the bee quipped back, signalling for the bill before leaning across, "you get enough change for the tip, I can cover the rest – yes I can", he cut off the echidna's fledgling protests before they could get off the ground, "this one's on me".

"I owe you one", she grumbled, not used to charity but put off arguing further by the steel in the insect's tone, "so, what's next in this place Charm? Somewhere I can work off that huge, but I may add exceptionally tasty, breakfast?" _Uh oh_; the thought she may have mentioned the exact wrong thing struck her as Charmy looked over the table at her, a strange, cunning gleam in his eyes,

"Funny you should as Jules; come on, you'll love this…"

XXX

"So, get you in for a bit of a dip next year then, when it opens properly like?"

"You bet, looks like a blast", having seen the facilities the Silver Sea, the reservoir that served as both drinking water and, by means of the hydroelectric dam that had created it, power for the population of Echidnopolis, offered in terms of recreation, Julie was suddenly eager for summer to roll around and let her take advantage of them, "shame all the boats were full though".

"Oh definitely", Charmy slid his gaze around and Julie braced herself, "nothing like a romantic row on a sunny afternoon to get the old feelings hyped up". The former Legionnaire shook her head,

"You're incorrigible, you know that?" Scratching around his antennae, Charmy looked nonplussed,

"No, because I don't know what it means, but anyway", he pointed up ahead, "one last hurrah, then we better look to heading to our respective homes, unless you had…?"

"I didn't; wishful thinking will get you nowhere", Julie flattened any real aspirations the bee may have been harbouring, then smiled and winked cheerfully, "but don't stop trying on my account. Anyway, this place another one of your locals?"

"You bet it is; hey Nate", having pushed open the door of the Fy Café, Charmy promptly seized his favourite table and shouted across his order, "a strawberry frappacino, extra sugar, whatever the lady wants and whatever issues of Time Spiral you happen to have lying around, any time you're ready please". With a laugh, the echidna the bee had identified as Nate quickly loaded the frappacino onto a small tray and quickly paced over to the table where Julie was now just sitting down, setting the drink down in front of the insect, Nate smiled at his customer,

"Well, the drinks I can do, but as for the comics", Julie saw him tip the bee a sly wink, "well, there's been a development in that respect".

"Really"; _nervous, but hiding it_; Julie totted up her younger friend's reaction to this news and decided that, though not a hundred percent, he wasn't too bad at concealing the effects of ill news, "what would that be then? Oh Nate", his voice degenerated into a mortified moan as he followed where the other echidna was pointing, "I'm wounded".

"And I'm free", Nate sang with a gleeful flourish, glorifying once more at the sight of the rack of mints on prominent display on the front of his counter, "I'm not completely reliant on you for the mint fix any more, although", he gave a gruff snort before fishing a notebook out of his pocket and the nub of a pencil from out behind his ear and turning to Julie, "put it like this; if those things I'm selling are watered-down mocha, your stock's a pure, quadruple distilled shot of expresso; keep it coming and we'll all be the happier; just got the latest issues fresh off the press for you".

"Well then", looking much happier than he had a few seconds ago, Charmy clapped his hands and dug into the knapsack he carried, "what are we waiting for, go exhume them to receive thy reward". Nate held up a finger to forestall him

"In a minute, customers first", he focussed his attention on Julie and; _yep, there we go_; as she'd known it would, his attention fixed on her metal dreadlock for a few seconds before he reactivated his manners and spoke to her, "er, not wanting to be forwards, but would you happen to be Julie-Su?"

"Yeah, that's me"; _what, am I some sort of celebrity now?_; confused as she knew for a fact she'd never been here before now yet this Nate fellow seemed to know her name, she asked quickly, "how'd you know me?"

"Charmy and a couple of the others mentioned they knew someone from the Legion, an ex-Legionnaire, if you will", he amended smoothly as Julie knifed the bee with a very sharp look, "not a problem with me, we all make mistakes, but anyway, ordering anything?"

"Just a coffee, strong as you can make it, no sugar or milk".

"Not a problem, be right with you"; as the proprietor of the establishment disappeared to coax and cajole the order out of his aging machinery, Julie took a seat and, despite the way this trip had gone, was somewhat grateful for the fact that after this she'd been heading for home – elation could only carry her so far and she was footsore and not a little exhausted by the trek Charmy had seemed to bounce along with ease. _And I thought I was fit?_; somehow the bee, without really realising it, had completely blown away her own feeling of physical adequacy, though she was mollified by the memory of what Rouge had told her once; _I suppose everyone is built different – after all, in a straight fight I'd wipe the floor with him, not that I'd ever want to_. That much was certainly true; Charmy was just too likeable not to get on with, his whole mannered seemingly geared around getting on with people and brightening his own life with friends, not really paying any heed to the light he carried into their own existences. As the scent of freshly brewed coffee stole through the air towards her and she gratefully accepted her cup from Nate, Julie had to smile despite her natural cynicism – Charmy was living proof to the testament that there genuinely are some decent, honest people in the world.

"Right then", unaware of his companion's scrutiny as he set up the tone for the deal, the bee brought out a small, clear plastic bag from his satchel and placed it gently on Nate's tray, "that's my end; now, you say these are new copies yeah?"

"You bet, only me and Teri had our hands on them before now", the echidna replied, trying to balance the tray on one arm as he fumbled to open the bag of mints Charmy had given him. At the mention of the name, the bee looked up again, a tinge of concern flavouring his next question,

"How is Teri anyway? I haven't seen him for ages, something up?"

"He pops in now and then, not as often as he used to mind", Nate replied after a few seconds of thinking, "not got as much free time as he used to at school has he?" Seemingly reminded of something, Charmy exclaimed his next words,

"Ah yeah, forgot he'd made it with the cadets; Julie", struck by an idea he turned to her, "there's a thought; if you get a spare minute or two you could look up one of the new recruits, name's Teri-Le – he's a buddy of ours", he explained, jerking a thumb at Nate as the other echidna stepped in to throw his weight behind the proposal,

"Yeah, we'd like to know how he's finding it in there – I was worried he'd be a bit overawed, but he seems fine whenever I see him". In the face of so much expectation, Julie knew she could only really give one answer,

"I'll do what I can; no promises though", she added, though truth be told she was almost certain she could find something out about anyone in the EST through the grapevines that must have run through the entire organisation. Nate smiled,

"Thanks, anything you can get will be greatly appreciated. Here", he placed something on the side of her saucer with a small clink, "compliments of the establishment; if you need me Charm I'll be in the back, gotta balance the books for the month".

"You crunch those numbers as well as you crunch those mints it'll be a two minute job".

"I wish – anyway, see you both some other time". With that farewell, the owner of the Fy Café quickly took up his tray, ducked back behind his counter and through the door to the back rooms, quickly lost to sight from the front of the shop.

_Nice enough guy_; Julie thought absently as she sipped the coffee he'd provided, turning the last couple of minutes over in her mind; _didn't make a fuss of my dread, nah, he seems okay_;

"So, how long you know this one?"

"What, Nate?" At Julie's nod Charmy, caught out by the sudden question, was able to give a fairly coherent response, "oh, Rouge actually introduced us, took all of us here in about the first week we were on the island; since then Vec, Mighty and I stayed on as pretty much regulars. Teri's a mate of mine, he must have been in the most recent crop of recruits you lot got lumbered with – he wanted to join up since before I knew him and I guess he must have taken his chance".

"Must have done; I'll see if anyone knows about him", Julie assured the bee before casting an eye down at the powdery white lump now resting on her cup holder like an oversized snowflake, "so what's this?"

"Oho", Charmy's eyes had lit up, "that, my friend, is a mint lump; taste it, go on – you've had things like these before, but try to imagine what something like that would have tasted if you'd never heard of mint before now". Popping the sweet into her mouth and breathing through her nose, feeling the wonderfully warm, almost spicy, sweet taste flood over her recently coffee soured palette, Julie smacked her lips as the fluffy treat dissolved on her tongue and she was quickly left with nothing; _must have been a real eye opener if you'd never thought about anything like that existing before now_.

"Yeah, God bless Tail for his Tornado; he flew the mints up here for me from downstairs", he elaborated at Julie's raised eyebrow, "they basically financed my comic collection; traded them to Nate, Teri and a couple of others for any spare issues they had lying around; with these", he slid the issues Nate had passed him neatly and carefully into his satchel, making sure they weren't likely to be creased before finishing his statement, grinning from ear to ear, "I'm all up to speed on Time Spiral, good adventure this one, shame to see it end really. You have things like that in the Legion?"

"What, comics? No", Julie shook her head, "all we had to read were changes of agenda and new drilling notes, plus any changes to rules and regulations that happened to be steamrollered onto us. Urgh, crystallised sugar", looking for a way to simultaneously change tack and complain about Charmy's seeming determination to ruin her figure, Julie groaned as she fixed him with an accusing glare, "why do you hate my dieting?"

"Because it's a waste of time, you don't need it and the sooner you get that message the happier you'll be".

XXX

Though he was surprised by the sheer volume of shock he could see his response had caused in the echidna he knew he couldn't afford remorse now; if he chose his words right and made a couple of references he may be able to finally get it through to Julie that she should be fine with looking the way she did.

"I don't get it myself", he pointed to her across the table, indicating certain areas that, to him, didn't seem anything like out of the ordinary, "from what I can see you're in no way overweight, in fact you're a good deal fitter than most, in more ways than one". That quip was the one; Julie finally burst out laughing, muffling her mirth with both hands, not able to look up as Charmy's humour reduced her to ruins and she could do nothing but laugh until the vein of laughter was exhausted and she was more or less herself again,

"I swear", she managed to gasp, scratching just under her eyes to make sure she wasn't about to cry with laughter, "the girl that finally manages to nail to you to the floor will be one lucky lady".

"Don't change the subject you", the sudden sharpness in the insect's tone brought her back to earth and she looked across the table to where he was pointing at her with a finger like a gun barrel, "I can't understand why you're so desperate to lose weight – as far as I can see there's not much there to lose".

"That's because you're not looking in the right places; just as well or I might have to blacken your eyes", she smiled over at him but, as she saw his face sink into rigid immovability, she realised there was no chance of avoiding this now and sighed, "but then again, you never met my half-sister".

XXX

_So that's it then_; Charmy knew from the second Julie's eyes glazed over that she was somewhere else right now, seeing someone he'd never met and in all probability, now she'd left the Legion, never would; _she's got a role model in her head_. Still, he listened in as Julie spoke on, eyes still not completely clear as she spoke on, half to him and half to herself,

"She was a bona fide babe, and I mean it", she gave a slight shudder, though whether this was from humour or some sort of fear he wasn't sure, "she had the sort of body that, well, one snap of her fingers and men would worship the ground she walked on; most of them did anyway. She knew it as well", a nasty laugh broke the silence, "she was absolutely rampant, took what she liked, who she liked as often as she liked, nothing anyone could do about it either".

"And you want to be like her?"

"No, no", it wasn't so much the question that broke her train of thought as the apparent disgust that perforated the bee's words; she had to set him on the straight and narrow, "I know she was a real bitch, but she was an attractive one; I just thought that, if I worked hard enough…"

"You'll kill yourself", the bee broke in on her ideas sternly but not unkindly; Julie merely huffed,

"Yeah, but try to imagine it", though she knew she couldn't give too much away if she wanted to avoid awkward questions, Julie knew she had to get the point across, "I know I'm related to this bloody goddess, but I'm nothing like her, not even in the same league body-wise, but because I have to see her every day, I'm reminded of it every time and it drives me up the wall".

"I can guess; like me, Rouge and Knuckles", with a laugh, the bee flexed one of his arms and managed to raise something like a couple of muscles, "I'm trying to get better at fighting and they're training me – it's a long old slog because, well, you've seen what they can do compared to me, but I won't give up either". Rolling her eyes, Julie drew the lines between their situations and on impulse tapped the rim of her cup against the top of his frappacino holder,

"A pair of strugglers then, but that's why I'm trying to drop a couple of pounds; I'm not going all out, I just prefer my own front room to a gym because of", she tapped her dreadlock with a single finger, "so I just go for a couple of hours a week, and a few walks on top of that, I try to keep in trim".

"Fair enough, just as long as you don't go mad"; _hold the phone!_; a sudden idea imploded in Charmy's mind – he quickly examined every facet he could think of and, seeing no obvious flaws, made his mind up and crossed his fingers; _he can thank me for this later_; "and that's not just me talking there either".

"Really?" Julie drained the dregs of her coffee, smiling despite the bitterness of the drink, "someone else I know after me?"

"Of course", Charmy spoke with supreme confidence even if internally he was sweating bullets, "it's Shadow's point of view as well".

The room went completely dead, as though it had phased out of tune with the rest of existence, timeless and removed from the world around it. Julie's cup quivered and she set it down hastily, not wanting to run the risk of a coffee stain on her clothing as her tongue, suddenly desert dry, managed to form a few words that sounded even to her own ears numbed by shock,

"Shadow?" The hedgehog's name alone seemed to jam the gears of her brain together immovably, "what's he been saying?"

"Almost the same things I have, I reckon that's why he recruited me for the day", Charmy said off-hand, trying to fix the echidna in the corner of his eye to make sure he was reading her reactions right, "he's been really worried ever since, well, he came over after work yesterday, just needed to blow some steam and generally whinge about you having a head like a bullet, trying to take on too much at once. He phoned me about eight last night"; _just after he said he knew what I'd be doing today – he planned the whole thing_; "and we cobbled something together – I think his exact mission briefing for me was", the bee looked her dead in the eye, searching incessantly for any hint of deeper feelings other than shock,

"Spoil her a bit?"

Julie's head sank onto her hands and Charmy's heart stopped dead in its tracks; _did I say the wrong thing – oh no, I bet she feels really awful now, knowing Shadow's run around after her, I should have…_;

"I see", her voice, hoarse now but seeming to gain strength about as quickly as he previously ashen face was now regaining its former vigour and life; she actually managed a light chuckle before she finished, "what else has El Spiko been whinging about me?"

"Umm, not too much, though he also can't see the point of you dieting", Charmy made a bit of a show thinking, then, summoning every scrap of acting talent in his considerable resource pool, he tried to make his last remark seemingly innocuous, "he's mentioned a few times that, under the right light, you could look quite stunning, but then again anyone with half an eye could see that". _Yeah, that'll do_; as he quickly stopped himself running away with his ideas by forcing himself to finish off his frappacino, he snuck a last look over at his companion and decided to leave the line of thought there; _let her make up her own mind from here on in – with any luck she'll never know the 'light' Shadow mentioned was a total eclipse!_

XXX

Amnesia must have been catching; somehow she had only the vaguest recognition of bidding Charmy goodbye at the very door to her apartment block, the walk home completely forgotten and was now lounging on the bed of her apartment, feeling whirling in her stomach like a flight of disorientated moths, her rational mind a butterfly collector with a net trying to catch and sort them into the correct order. Somehow the thought that Shadow had planned this whole thing on his own back, and that Charmy at least had decided to go along with it and given his heart and soul to make sure she, no-one else but her, had been immersed in a day to forget her recent troubles, was more than enough to banish her feeling of tormented anguish cause by the fact that she was relying on other people and forcing them to adapt to her; _they did it because they wanted to, not because someone was telling them to_. That was the biggest culture shock of the lot; before the only way anyone else would have gone anywhere near her was if an officer told them to, and even then they'd make it obvious they'd sooner be anywhere other than in her presence, but this was so different, so natural, she could barely believe it was possible for people to behave in this manner, accept her for who she was.

She rolled over, burying her head in her pillow as she contemplated her dilemma; completely unused to such feelings, she was by extension completely unable to deal with them; toughing it out, now that was something she had a lifetime's experience dealing with – this sense of peace was totally alien. She had a vague idea of what would be a good next move but, beyond that, she'd be flying blind, no light to help light her way as she fumbled from one crisis to the next. _Story of my life_; she smiled a little at the thought before focussing on the one definite landmark that reared up before her, the one thing she had to do as soon as eight o'clock or thereabouts rolled around – a strange warm glow lit her up on the inside as she thought about what could happen next, a glow that was soon matched by her cheeks as her imagination got perhaps a little too overexcited. Try as she might though, no matter how often she tried to roll away from the issue and turn her mind to something else, there as no denying what was being rebuilt, despite the attempts of her over-cautious voice of experience screaming that this was a sure-fire way to get hurt once more, from the former ashes of her hopes and aspirations. As she delved into hr pocket and popped the lid off the thickest pen she could find, Julie decided, just this once, she'd go with hope over experience; _right now, cross finger, hope and pray he's feeling the same things I am_.

XXX

Walking down the street towards his home, not feeling the sudden nip in the air through his thickened quills, Shadow couldn't quite wipe the lingering traces of his smile off his face; just as the skin of his scalp was still tingling merrily from where it had been recently subjected to his first ever head massage, so his spirits seemed to shiver with delight at every recounting of the class just gone. Much to Micah and Honey's evident delight, not to mention most of the rest of the class, they'd finally finished on back work for now and had moved up a couple of feet; initially sceptical as species differences prevented him from properly understanding how the positions of dreadlock roots could affect the treatment he administered, he had quickly been set on the straight and narrow by his working partner; _just as well he went second_; the sudden thought crossed his mind and a stretched his grin even wider; _I'd have never taken anything in if he'd have gone first_.

He had to admit Andy had grown on him since the first night Honey had introduced him to the club; initially dismissing him as somewhat odd due to the fact he never seemed to be quite in tune with the rest of reality, Shadow had since come to see the echidna as someone not too dissimilar to Big – he took his time mulling things over, consulting all the different angles and in general planning his moves much better than most did, and consequently the results were much better than someone who just plunged in headlong; _such as moi. Anyway, he's also pretty determined_; with a slight blush Shadow mentally wished his partner a swift recovery – despite having his hand skewered by the top of Shadow's head as someone had knocked into him, Andy had merely anointed his fingers with a couple of plasters and got back to work, not registering a hint of complaint despite Shadow's repeated apologies. _Stubbornness_; just this once the ebon hedgehog found himself agreeing with his blue counterpart back in Station Square; _must be an echidna thing._

XXX

The massage lasted until he reached his front door and the importance of what had gone on in the day struck him right between the eyes – he dragged his palm down his face as he realised he'd completely neglected to ring Charmy, see how the day had gone. It should have been a breeze, or at least Charmy had assured him it would be so, but at the same time he knew fate had a nasty trick of turning the simplest aspects of his life into complex knots involving equal parts destiny, difficulty and sheer dumb luck; _just play it by ear – there's no reason she should had been upset, especially with Charmy, and I've got the idea for tomorrow – worst come to worst I could always mention that_;though that was the absolute last resort – Shadow had an idea of what to do next, an absolute peach of an epiphany that had struck him as he'd been running in the morning and had, in part, helped get him in the good mood he was currently enjoying. If at all possible though, he wanted to keep that a secret; I would be a great surprise to spring on his flatmate if it came off right and might just break the spell the Legion had over her completely and forever. With that plot in mind, he pushed open his front door and, not hearing any noise but taking in the darkness of the apartment, deduced the echidna must have turned in early; _thank goodness – if anything's on her mind she normally can't sleep_. Taking this as a good sign, the hedgehog slipped inside and thought about something to eat.

XXX

So engrossed was he in checking that the fish slice was flipped at just the right time that he didn't realise he had company until he was forced to jump; from out of nowhere, a pair of arms slipped under his own, meeting just over the white mark on his chest. Heart pumping but comforted as he saw how the blue flames of the hob reflected mesmerising form the metal on the forearms, Shadow let himself relax backwards, the back of his head sinking into something soft as a voice whispered into his ear,

"Hey", he made a greeting noise in his throat and, seemingly encouraged, the voice continued, "have a good night?"

"Yeah"; _just got better since I got in_; "how did the day go?"

"Fine, in fact, better than fine", it might just have been his imagination but he thought Julie's hold became slightly firmer as she continued, "Charmy, well he's a bit of a chatterbox isn't he?"

"And the rest – as long as he's on his own, none of the other Chaotix, about he'll talk for Echidnopolis". Her answering giggle was music and he relaxed as it slipped around and over him,

"Tell me about it, but", normally he'd have been on his guard as Julie's voice developed and ever-so-slight sly edge, "he mentioned a couple of things, about you".

"Oh dear", Shadow managed to laugh back – he wasn't really worried as he knew she'd already seen _that_ picture and couldn't really imagine the bee knew anything worse than that involving him, "when am I likely to stop hearing about it?"

"As soon as you answer a few questions, like, is it true you planned the whole day?"

"You bet I did; figured out what you needed just after you let me know you'd been given time off", Shadow spoke candidly, not really bothering to conceal any aspect of the truth as there didn't seem to be any point in trying, "if there's one thing Charmy does well it's keep your mind off things; I'll bet you've been all over this city and back keeping up with him, basically forgetting about…"

"More or less"; she was not about to ruin a virtually perfect day by even daring to think about what the whole point of today had been trying to forget had happened, "he did his job so well, I walked down the street without realising it".

"Really?" The admission shocked the hedgehog slightly but he still didn't turn around, feeling more relaxed now than he had done all night, including during his scalp massage, "how'd you feel?"

"Fantastic, I didn't even realise I'd done it until I got back; I laughed", she did so again, the sound once more thrilling the hedgehog's emotions and recent memories, "but the thing is, you did that".

"Forget it; I've said it before Jules", he knew, or at least he had a good idea what was coming next and knew for a fact he didn't need to hear it, "everyone needs to get out there sometimes, when they're not feeling a hundred percent, can't do it alone, pointless trying. However, you being you and completely immune to the workings of argument, logic and even name-calling, needed a degree of subtlety to get it right; simple rule of thumb, just don't you an option and you'll have to fall into line".

Julie didn't reply, or at least, she didn't speak; Shadow instead felt a warm, light pressure on his shoulder, nuzzling into his neck and pulsing as the echidna breathed in and out gently, each exhalation toying with the hedgehog's feelings and helping to send them spiralling upwards to a point he hadn't even considered they could reach. With his eyes half-closed he reached up and behind him, feeling his fingers sink through a couple of dreadlocks; _go for the roots, just like it was Andy_; he felt skin under his glove and his hand reacted on his own; the pressure on his neck lessened slightly as he heard a slight gasp near his left ear, Julie reacting to his massage, turning her head into it, her arms trembling as the feeling from the top of her head subsumed everything else.

For a long time the scene remained as it was, each Mobian drinking in a source of pleasure, be it from contact of fingers or warm, sweet breath, until eventually, Shadow felt the pressure around him lift, the arms withdrawing and slipping away back to their owner. He half-expected Julie to say something else, but was slightly disappointed in this; with a barely audible swish and tapping of footsteps, Julie was gone once more. Shadow merely stood where he was, a dreamy half-smile on his face as he relived the bliss of the last few seconds, nothing disrupting his fantasy as he stood by the stove, unmoving until the abominable stink of burning fish finally forced its way into his nose and he was forced to break out of his memory to turn down the heat.

XXX

_This time_; elation had buoyed him up all night, not even the charred meal he'd had to choke down could bring him back to earth as the single thought raced around his mind; _you really got it right_. That certainty and the fact that tomorrow it was only going to get better meant he could barely wait to get the night out of the way; with that in mind he quickly slipped into the bedroom, moving quietly to avoid waking Julie up as he knew by unspoken language that she'd have dropped out like a light following her exertions earlier in the day. Placing his watch on the bedside table and climbing in, Shadow laid himself out prone and then, almost of its own volition, his body gave a victorious shudder, celebrations that now he knew Julie was going to be okay, after the admission that she had walked down the street without flinching, meant it was only going to go up from here, taking over. _That bloody irritating, argumentative, bloody-minded echidna who makes my life miserable with innuendoes and double-entendres is going to be back soon_; he shook his head hard, quills nearly catching in the pillow as his exultations moved from beyond the mental realm into the physical one; _and I can't wa…what?_

He paused, considering the strange noise he'd just heard, then just to be sure, shook his head again; no he definitely wasn't imagining it, something near the side of his head gave a parchment like crinkling noise. Perturbed by the sudden strange occurrence, Shadow flipped over, trying to decipher a shape in the darkness, probing the soft pillow with his fingertips as he located it – there it was, but, that meant it had to be actually inside his pillow case. Quickly despite the blackness around him, Shadow delved one hand into the side of the pillow and felt around inside, tongue poking out the corner of his mouth as he slowly wormed his way inwards; something gave a crisp crack and he seized it, drawing it out slowly as his other hand moved back to the bedside table. Clutching his wristwatch and pushing in the button that caused it to glow, he brought his prise up before his eyes.

_What…?_; he didn't understand – why was there a twenty crest note lodged inside his pillowcase; _I certainly didn't put it there_. He marvelled at it for a moment, so out of the ordinary that for a second he couldn't understand, then the light fell onto the bottom left corner of the currency note and he sighed, resting his head on his hand and grinding the note against his forehead. She just had to come up with something like this; he pulled back, drinking in the sight once more, a strange bobbing sensation in his chest as he read the six simple letters in Julie's handwriting;

_Thanks._

The small X underneath the message finally did it; Shadow knew then, all thoughts of partying died down in his head and replaced instead with certainty, that his path had been decided earlier in the day – like it or not (and if push came to shove he had to admit the idea had merit – not that he'd have ever let Julie find out), his lost memories had made the decision for him when they'd compelled him to crush those that would harm someone he…;_ go on, she's not going to hear it_;… he loved. Bunching the note into a tight ball in his fist, Shadow let his head fall onto his pillow, almost demanding his body to sleep so that, come the morrow, he could rise and take the next step on the path of finally pulling Julie completely clear of the Shadow of the Dark Legion.

A/N: Phew, that was heavy going – work really piled it on, thought for a second I'd never get this one posted. Still, hopefully should come on a bit more smoothly now.


	18. Chapter 18 A Mind Made Up

Chapter 18 – A Mind Made Up.

A/N: Yippee, new chapter up, but before the reading can begin I have to ask something:

DH – HELP! This site doesn't let URL links over its private message system – I can't get to that artwork! Please, I beg you, contact me through my e-mail address (should be on my profile) and let me find a way to see it; I'm desperate here!

VH – Thanks for the support – heh, never thought I'd see anyone call Shadow cute!

TG – Good news, no long wait this time; hope you enjoy more of the couple in this chapter.

RGN – Hmm, juggling's an art of balance; at the moment I can't write as much as I'd like to, but I can still manage thus far. Hopefully the conclusion's not all that far away (five or so chapters, maybe a few more), by which time Shadow's background should be a little clearer (maybe, if I'm feeling nice :-))

DS – Hmm, the comments; well, put it like this – bearing in mind the game of choice in the Legion is strip poker, don't you think Charmy might be at a disadvantage playing in his normal attire?

He'd had it all planned since dinner time the previous day; he was going to get up at a reasonable hour, take a leisurely breakfast of whatever he fancied and then he'd just enjoy a relaxing stroll to visit the guys he needed to see. It was all going to be controlled and unhurried, primarily because he didn't want Julie second-guessing his intentions by seeing him clattering and clanging around in the kitchen at the crack of dawn, but also because he both knew and respected that recently married couples often had a way of spending Saturday morning that had nothing to do with getting out of bed early to beat the Saturday queues; _in fact_; he ceased his restless pacing for a second, mind undergoing a very temporary diversion through some gentle smut;_ it often has nothing to do with getting out of bed at all…_

He was cut off again by a growl of frustration, unable even to deviate his thoughts from the one virtual obsession that was pounding through his psyche; heeding such a burning desire, his own body was rebelling, restless at this forced inactivity – he knew for a fact what he was going to do and that was the certainty that chafed him relentlessly; it was a complete paradox that he knew there was little time to lose but at the same time he was forcibly stopping himself taking off to respect his friend's privacy. His whole body was alive with anticipation; if this really came off he'd really be able to ensure the housemate now soundly asleep in the bedroom was blighted by her former home no longer – once and for all Julie would be free of the Legion. Shadow was sure he was virtually humming with tension, pacing like a caged animal striving for its freedom, eyes ceaselessly roving towards the clock atop the kitchen wall, mouth sneering and cursing in equal measure as time, sensing his unease and anticipation as it invariably senses most things, had dragged its speed to slower than a snail's pace, crawling past in millisecond increments, each reminder shaking the stick embedded deep in Shadow's anthill of delayed yearning. So desperate to be unleashed, nothing could alter or steady his course; all food was tasteless, no drink it seemed could slake his thirst and he didn't dare set foot outside, think to relieve some of his impatience by lapping the city a few times – to yield to temptation by even such a little way would have been disastrous. So, teeth grinding and arms crossed, eyes closed even if his ragged, forced breathing belied the impression he was actually asleep, Shadow sat waiting at the kitchen table, glowering at the time being lost to him even if he could see that, no matter how slowly, the waiting time was slowly being eroded away; _eventually_; one vermillion eye slid open, the hands of the clock had barely twitched and it snapped shut again, a snort of disappointment echoing around the kitchen;_ I'll get my answers_.

XXX

Maybe it was a delayed effect of forcing himself to sit still for so long; when his self-appointed deadline had passed and the minute hand's executioner's blade finally fell on half-past nine, rather than jet off as he'd half expected himself to, Shadow instead stood up very slowly and deliberately, taking abnormal care to check around the kitchen one last time and see that everything was as it should be before he marched, still with the same sluggish but purposeful stride towards the front door. It was as though being subjected to self-inflicted frustration for as long as he had had purged him of all random, instinctive desires, leaving behind only cool, relentless certainty to direct his actions. Making sure his front door key was held securely in his pocket, the black hedgehog took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he did so to see the scenes that had driven him to this course of action once more; _forget it_; again the macabre picture show, Julie in the arms of another Legionnaire, scared of him, and later, trying to be so strong but having her fears overtake her, did enough to convince him that what he was doing was for the best; _I'll never see this again, I'm going to make sure there's no reason for this to ever happen in the future_. Mind made up unshakeably and body having been denied action for too long made a dangerous combination; without consciously realising it, Shadow went from stationary to lethal missile, speeding heedlessly through his apartment block, the local roads, the not so local routes until, mere moments after having set off, the former ultimate life-form plunged headlong into the wilderness outside of Echidnopolis.

XXX

Perhaps fortunately the rush burnt itself out; not even someone as used to high-speed travel as Shadow could keep up such a blistering pace for long, especially as he continually had to duck under low branches and keep his wits about him to jump over twisting tree roots; no matter how tough you are, tripping over whilst travelling at just under the speed of sound is not something to be actively encouraged. Leaning on a handy tree, Shadow recaptured his breath and caught his bearings at the same time, checking off a couple of landmarks to make sure he was going in the right direction; _I owe you one for that batgirl_; making a mental note to give Rouge a pat on the back for pointing out the quickest route from Echidnopolis to both the shrine and the guardian's home, he set off again, pace a lot more controlled, little more than a light jog by his standards. As his legs were occupied with the run, so was his mind also active; having blown off all his previous ire at not being able to act until a reasonable time of the morning, Shadow was once more free to think about other, slightly less obvious problems that he had to solve before he could try to break the virtually impervious bone of contention that was finding out the Dark Legion's true motives, at least as far as Julie was concerned.

The first of these smaller challenges was simple enough, at least on paper; he had to actually ask Knuckles if he knew anything about what the Legion was up to these days, get whatever information he could and go from there. However, as with all things, there was a very big difference between planning to do something and actually doing it; as far as Shadow knew, the guardian was in the dark about Julie being pounced on by her former squad, so he'd undoubtedly be curious as to why Shadow had developed such an interest in the Legion – somehow the ebon hedgehog had visions of it all going downhill from there. He knew for a fact, and for that matter had good reason to be grateful for the fact, that Knuckles was extremely protective of those he counted as friends, Rouge as well to a lesser degree; there was no telling what the fiery-tempered echidna would do when he found out and the last thing Julie needed now was well-meaning but cloying support – he knew she just wanted to get on with it and forget it had ever happened. Messages of sympathy and goodwill, nice as they were meant to be, were only going to stir up those memories again; _it's a ticklish little problem this one_. Lips pursed and brow furrowed in thought, Shadow tapped a single fingertip against the side of his temple softly, trying to plan out the best way of breaking the news en route to the guardian's home.

XXX

Waking up, in Julie's humble opinion, was definitely not the best way to start the day; in fact, given the choice, she'd have gladly opted to spend her life in a state of hibernation.

Unfortunately, however, she couldn't ignore the call of the early bird forever; with a cavernous yawn and stretch that pushed against both arms of the settee until they creaked, the echidna rose up and swayed to a standing base, stretching off again to loosen her joints off after a long night of immobility.

"Brr, right then", she said to no-one in particular, shaking her head to separate her dreadlocks before they could knot up too badly, "plan for the day; eat, drink and get the hell out this flat and into the city". Ideas set firmly in her mind, drawn there from the plan she'd had set there since last night, she casually sauntered down the hall and into the bedroom; Shadow, she knew from experience, would be long gone by now so there was no question of modesty involved. Quickly opening the wardrobe and, after looking over the suspended articles with a critical but keen eye, she opted for casual wear with just a hint of smartness if you looked at the right angle; unhooking her clothes, she quickly changed and then moved out towards the kitchen, thinking about breakfast and, engaging her forwards planning, a bit beyond that as well.

It had sprung from seeing Charmy at work the previous day; his easy-going and almost totally open manner with people had come as a real shock when she compared his attitude and, more importantly, his successful interpersonal skills, to hers. Compared to him she was as social as a paranoid oyster, closed up and cloistered, everything she did hidden from the eyes of others in case they saw it and sensed weakness; _there's no excuse for being weak_; the mantra rattled around in her head, demanding, strong but at the same time, strangely empty and devoid of real meaning; _the Dark Legion is strong, and I expect you to be the strongest in the Dark Legion, do you get me?_ She remembered that day so well, the way Xenin had shone his soulless excuses for eyes right along the line, sizing up the echidnas who would be his new squad before taking a step back and making that announcement; like the others, Julie had answered yes because the words had made sense. Weakness, that was a shameful thing to have, unthinkable to admit to because, by doing so, you undermined the foundations of the Dark Legion, held back the divine mission to save all lives. But now, as though looking at the past through a misted mirror, she could see how stupid that sounded; outside the sheltered wall the Legion enclosed its members behind, that style of thinking just couldn't hope to cope with the pressures of life – what was the saying someone had coined, Charmy had mentioned it, no man is an island?

The main difference was simply that; weaknesses or, she corrected herself, how people dealt with having weaknesses out here. In the Legion, exemplified by Xenin's strict obsession with performance, weakness was simply not tolerated; those who fell pray to its enfeebling claws were looked down upon and scorned, so no-one spoke of their own inner demons. Out here, this was a whole different universe; in the big wide world, interaction and mistakes happened all the time – miscalculations and misinterpretations that would have been met with a very stern talking to by one of the Legion's officers were dismissed with a trivial apology and resolve to do better next time. Hindsight being the perfect vision it always is, Julie recalled how stupid she'd felt when she'd missed a deadline for one of her files just under a week into her job; she'd been prepared for an official dressing-down, only to virtually fall over in shock when, rather than the tongue-lashing she'd been expecting, all the officer sent to collect the file had done was smile, take the paperwork and show her how to access the calendar function on her computer, allowing her to keep a better timetable of deadlines. All around her, work colleagues were talking about little, irksome things that were irritating them; rather than suffering ostracism, there was always a kind word, a pat on the back as someone had a solution or a group collectively put their heads together to plot the best move. Charmy, with his lightning tongue and heart of pure gold, just exemplified the difference between the cultures and left Julie seeing, despite the leaps and bounds everyone assured her she'd made, how much further she had yet to travel to fully integrate into this new life; _and no time like the present to make a start on it_.

Julie was a doer; while others might rationalise if something really needed to be done, work out if it was worth doing and then draw up a timetable to make sure it got done eventually, Julie was one of those people who got on and did it. She'd set herself a target; by the time she went back to work on Monday, she was going to able to surprise Charmy and find a back street store he didn't know about, somewhere new to take him out to next time she had the chance. Of course, to find something like that, the only way she could get the information was word of mouth; to do that she actually needed to speak to people more – killing two birds with one stone, that would fulfil her objective at the same time as sharpen her conversation skills. Throwing back the rest of her coffee, the echidna stood up suddenly, smiling at the thought of a challenge and resolving to meet it head on; leaving her washing up on the side with a thought of doing it when she got back from her walk, Julie moved towards the front door, unhooked her coat in case the weather took a turn for the worse and finally let herself out, planning where the best place would be to go; _if I remember right, Charmy and I went in the direction of the dam – if I go the other way, that should get me into virgin territory. Okay_; making up her mind, she put one foot in front of the other, the first step in the journey; _let's get going!_

XXX

Since he'd turned his mind to it directly, he'd actually recognised just how convoluted the task of informing his friends was, or could potentially become. Still, as the small building where the guardians dwelt hove into view, Shadow reckoned he had a rough idea of what he needed to say; he could finalise it depending on the reactions his news provoked. Brushing a couple of twigs out of his fur, doing his best to look at least semi-presentable, Shadow squared his shoulders and approached the front door, noticing with a smile the ornamentation now adorning the top of the frame; whereas before the wood had been smooth and unadorned, now it was carved with words scripted in, he noticed, two very distinctive styles. The first of them read 'Beware of the Husband'; _that's just pure Rouge_; whilst its twin quoted 'And The Wife's Just as Vicious';_ nice one Knuckles_; Shadow rolled his eyes as he realised that, even through near-death, marriage, hell and high water, some things were just never going to change. Still, he could only delay the event for so long; with his few lines well mentally rehearsed, the hedgehog stepped up, raised a hand and rapped the door smartly, the sound echoing out through the clearing.

"They're out; be back sometime later this morning".

"Right, thanks", Shadow acknowledged the voice dismissively, disappointment rising in his throat like bile as he realised his quest would have to be detained for a little while longer, another deadlock for him to deal with. He was so overtaken with his own thoughts that it was only when he was halfway back towards the tree line that he recognised the voice was now laughing; _what? Who…_; as he realised what had happened, almost against his will an embarrassed smile crept over his face and he sank his head into the palm of one hand,

"Okay", he said resignedly, the laughter seeming to redouble as he did so, "how much is it going to cost me to keep this quiet?" He slowly turned around, scanning the immediate area until, as he knew he would, he picked out the giggling bat perched in the low boughs of a nearby tree, lancing him with the finger of gentle mockery as she grinned down,

"Let's just say bring your chequebook". With a slight push off, Rouge extended her wings and glided softly to earth, Shadow sidestepping to ensure her a clean landing, blush still tingeing his face as he realised how badly he'd been suckered by his former team mate, though as he noticed what the bat was carrying his swift thoughts immediately coalesced into a revenge scheme,

"Ah, that's what I like to see", at Rouge's raised eyebrow the hedgehog smiled sickly-sweet, "the little wife harvesting the berries for her big, brave hubbiiieee…"; Shadow sidestepped quickly to avoid being rapped on the head by a bushel of hickory nuts as Rouge took an ill-tempered but fortunately for him equally ill-aimed swing with the fruits of her labours,

"Be warned Shadow", Rouge quoted, snarling and recocking her makeshift weapon as Shadow gave a gleeful wink, "the littlest women often have the biggest tempers on them. Now then", almost instantly the tension was gone, by mutual but unspoken consent the humour ended and the serious business began, "what brings you out here on a fine Saturday morning?"

"Actually I was hoping to catch Knuckles", the former ultimate life-form confessed, looking around as if the name alone would summon the guardian from thin air, "is he around, or at the shrine?"

"Neither", the answer made him blink; seeing his surprise, Rouge carried on, "you must have passed him on the way out; he's with his mum, just catching up on what's been going on and how she's feeling – did you know she's still at work now?" _Err, funny you should mention that_;

"Actually, yeah, I did know", Shadow scratched the back of his head self-consciously before deciding that, with Knuckles out of the picture, he'd have to go with Rouge; _at least I can talk to her better than I can Knuckles_; "in fact, she's part of the reason I'm here; look", realising that probably wasn't going to make a lot of sense, Shadow decided not to try flowering the words with catchy phrases and just come out with the honest truth, "I don't know if you know, but Julie was attacked earlier this week".

Judging from the way the air almost tangibly chilled around him and how Rouge's eyes dilated, a hand clapping over her horrified mouth, Shadow took an educated guess that she hadn't been informed,

"No", the ex-spy's normally suave voice was a mere whisper of its normal velvety tones, "no-one told us – who, oh God is she okay?"

"Yeah, yeah", quick to play down any potential histrionics before they could materialise, Shadow held up both hands in a placating gesture, "don't panic, she's fine". Apparently, however, that wasn't enough information to placate Rouge; getting over the shock quickly, the bat looked him square in the eye and said measuredly,

"What happened? Who attacked her, and why?" For a few seconds Shadow was silent before he gave a rueful smile and gestured for her to sit down,

"Somehow I knew this was going to happen; take a seat", he fell into a cross-legged sitting position as Rouge also made herself comfortable, though her eye never left his face as though she could scan the answers she wanted right from his face, "it's a bit of a story". As Shadow began his recounting and time lengthened away into the distance, Rouge quickly realised he hadn't been lying.

XXX

For a full half an hour, the black hedgehog spoke, never interrupted once by his seemingly spell bound audience, though a couple of times, especially when he'd described how broken down Julie had looked in the night and how frustrated he'd felt because of that, it looked like she'd had to almost physically bite down on her tongue to keep her silence. Eventually, however, his throat starting to chafe from speaking so much, Shadow began to draw the events to a close,

"…so that's why I'm here now", he looked up to give a weary yet determined smile, "I'm trying to get some answers, by hook or by crook, and I thought Knucks would be the Mobian to ask. But you said he's not about, so do you have any ideas, or information, which would be a hell of a lot better given the current situation". He looked up, hoping to see a spark of recognition in the bat's face, a sudden sign that something she'd seen or heard was coming into play; what he actually got, however, was something rather more unsettling – Rouge was regarding him with a strangely keen but piercing look. Not entirely sure what the reason was, Shadow endeavoured to keep his face neutrally blank, a mask behind which he could think unimpeded by this unusually close scrutiny. This silent war of nerves and tension ran for a few seconds before, breaking contact with her eyes, Rouge was the first to move the struggle into the verbal field,

"So", her voice was factual, restating some of the points he'd made, "you stepped in to save Julie?"

"You think I should have let them take her?" Rouge just about stifled a groan in the fact of Shadow's unnecessary sarcasm,

"Of course not", she assured him before moving on to the meat of her issue, "what I'm saying is you stepped in – why?" _She always was sharp like that_; beneath the casualness of the questions Shadow could see a bigger question brewing and, with a gruff half-cough, answered it,

"I was protecting someone, but I don't know who or why; Lara said something similar when I ran Julie to the hospital and I was a bit shook up about what I'd just done, but anyway, forget about me", the bat glanced up alarmed at Shadow's sudden, forceful declaration, "I don't count here Rouge; I can get over it, the question needs to be if Julie can. She's worried Rouge, deep down I can tell she is"; _there's something else here_; seeing those bloodied eyes crystallise into rubies that seemed to glow with inner fire, Rouge felt her tongue suddenly dry up, half-excited, half-scared about what this could mean; _that was how he looked before, when he spoke about…her_; "she knows better than anyone how relentless the Legion can be. We need to know why they went for her, and why now; the real bugbear she's got is if this boss of theirs, Enerjak or whatever name he goes by, has decided it's time to get tough on people who slipped the leash. She can't live like a fugitive, I can't…" His voice choked off and he had to look away; Rouge restrained herself from putting her hand on his arm, training from her former occupation telling her that to offer support would turn her into a support for Shadow, dull the sharpened edge that was driving him to cut through the mists of this question; _and he needs that edge right now – doesn't mean I can't answer his question though_;

"I understand that well enough Shads; having to change your life completely's bad enough without having skeletons in the closet jumping out and going boo just when you don't need them to".

"I wouldn't know", with maybe a hint of self-disappointment Shadow tapped his temple, "my closet's still off-limits mostly". Rouge wrinkled her nose and looked away as though trying to ignore a bad smell,

"Gaahhhh, I didn't need to know that; the mere thought of what your socks must be like now's enough to give me nightmares".

"Why do you think I sleep with my boots on", Shadow quipped, snickering as Rouge gagged before sobering up, slight diversion into humour over and done with as he remembered what he was here for, "anyway, any ideas? Had any Dark Legion problems recently?"

"No, not even one".

At his expression of stunned disbelief, Rouge shook her head and shrugged,

"Julie was the first, last and only Legionnaire that's ever come sniffing around out here; they tend to keep to themselves, holed up in that base of theirs, Necrosomething. Everything they seem to do is behind the scenes, politics and the rest of it; we see next to nothing of them".

"Which is the whole problem", Shadow grated as once more he ran into the same old brick wall, "I can't get an answer because there's no-one to ask who'd have a clue that isn't wrapped in tinfoil and black cotton". Silence greeted this most recent outburst before, in a strangely high voice, as though trying not to laugh, he heard Rouge reply,

"That might be true, but just between you and me", perturbed at the bat making light of such a serious situation, Shadow opened his mouth to reprimand her before seeing her knowing grin, "I wouldn't call Spectre's helmet tinfoil to his face".

_Spectre?_; that made no sense – Shadow knew about the Brotherhood but, since the circumstances that had thrown them all together in the melting pot that had been the Bloodstone and, shortly afterwards, the wedding of the now two guardians, he hadn't seen any of them.

"But, they're in Haven, underground", he stuttered, trying to remember anything that might contradict what he was saying, "how would they know anything?"

"Because Spectre advises the main council of Echidnopolis sometimes, especially when they're dealing with the Dark Legion", Rouge filled him in, the idea filling her now as she suddenly saw a way out of this mess for both the hedgehog in front of her and an echidna she'd grown to be friendly with, "and the rest of the Brotherhood aren't just sitting on their whatsnames doing nothing; they're trying to infiltrate the Legion just like it's trying to find where Haven is; personally I reckon they think that's where the Master Emerald's kept, so they're trying to get to the Brotherhood for two reasons – either that or Enerjak's angling for an invitation to one of Athair's barbeques". Shadow looked up shocked,

"They let Athair…ah"; Shadow took Rouge's expression of shuddering terror at face value and decided it would be wise not to probe any further into that occurrence; _but anyway, why am I still here – there are answers out there now_; "right, the Brotherhood, next port of call". He threw himself to his feet, the action mirrored by the bat opposite him as Rouge dashed between the hedgehog and Haven's location, not content with letting him go until she had some answers of her own,

"Hold your horses, I'm not done with you yet", choked from his take-off, Shadow stumbled as Rouge demanded, "first off, how's Julie now, where is she?"

"I'm not sure; she wanted to go out on her own and I left first thing this morning", he quickly explained, holding both hands out to plead his innocence, "anyway, she's been a lot better since yesterday; Charmy took her out for the day, just loosened her off a bit, took her mind of things for her".

"Oh that's where he went", Rouge snapped her fingers as a few things from the previous day now made sense, "I thought Mighty was working a long day for some reason but she never said why – smart move", she complimented her former team mate as he gave a wry smile,

"No-one in the business better than the buzz-boy – he worked her out good and proper, she was a different Mobian last night – say nothing", he said in the nick of time; just from the gleam in her eyes and lingering mirth in the corners of her sudden sly smile he knew the sort of comment she was about to come out with, "I'm just glad she's a bit more like the old Julie", the fun in Rouge's mind died as Shadow's expression became more drawn out and forlorn, "believe me batgirl – seeing her crying on the settee, cut up and in pieces like that, I've never felt worse than that in my life; I'm not going to let it happen again, no matter the cost".

"I guessed as much", seemingly satisfied, Rouge stepped to the side, allowing Shadow a clear exit to the ancestral home of the guardians, "go ahead, I'll talk to Knuckles when he gets back, call you if he knows anything – any idea what time you'll be back?"

"Afternoon-ish maybe – say about three?"

"Right, I'll call you around about then", Rouge assured him with a nod – when the scene didn't change for a few seconds, the bat crossed her arms and pointed, "well, what you waiting for, someone to kiss you goodbye?" _Oops_; somehow she knew she'd said exactly the wrong thing as Shadow raised an eyebrow and an a hand through his head quills,

"Well if you're offering…"

"Get going", the bat demanded, dropping into her fighting stance and glaring, "before I give you the mother of all kick-starts". With a last short laugh, the black hedgehog took off, whistling past the stationary bat and disappearing into the tree line once more.

_Well, that settles that then_; as soon as he was out of sight, Rouge relaxed and bent down to pick up her harvested hickory nuts. Shadow's speech and explanations had said so much more than the mere words alone would have had you believe; for someone as well educated as the former spy was in reading hidden messages other people may have been trying to hide, Shadow had just supplied her with an encyclopaedia's worth of information, and, in her eyes, all of it was good stuff. _I said Julie would know what it was like to have a close network of friends pretty soon, and that Shadow was getting close to her – I guess I was right, and that means_; the thought of her next minor victory in her eternal competition cheered her immensely even if she had to figure out how to delicately explain what had gone on to her husband; _Knuckles, you owe me five crests!_

XXX

_Strange_; cocking his head to get a better angle to the sound, Thunderhawk paused in his normal walk, wondering if his hearing was starting to pack up – no, as he strained to pick out the sound, he cemented in his mind that he was definitely not hearing things, that was the elevator on its way down; _no-one mentioned Knuckles was coming, unless Spectre's come back ahead of schedule. Oh well, I better check because I'm closest_; setting off at a brisk walk, the lavender echidna almost immediately regretted it as a flaring sharp pain sprung up from his recently crushed foot;_ ow, that was a mistake_; leaning against a wall and gradually putting more and more weight onto his foot to test if it could stand his mass, the warhorse of the Brotherhood gritted his teeth, seeing again and again the way his fingers had slipped over the weight he was carrying to slide onto his latest weight bar; _that wouldn't have happened a couple of years ago – by the spirits, I hate getting old!_

Hobbling along the corridors as best he could, Thunderhawk reasoned that the guest was in all probability Knuckles; the absence of a mental message ruled out his own father getting back early and as the youngest guardian had yet to completely develop his bloodline powers, the purple former guardian decided he could afford to slow up a touch; if nothing else Knuckles was polite enough to wait by the lift and receive the traditional greeting of the Brotherhood; _unlike that missus of his_. A slight chuckle forced its way out of Thunderhawk's normally gruff exterior as he remembered how much of a breath of fresh air Rouge had been to these dusty old tunnels beneath the surface of Angel Island; it seemed to him that, every time she and her husband turned up something unusual happened. Last time they'd come down, Rouge had somehow managed to drag Knuckles into Athair's training room and pretty much locked the pair of them inside; the sight of his sixth-son's blazing red face when he realised that, using one of Locke's inventions, Spectre had managed to force the door and had been peering inside for the past five or so minutes, the rest of the Brotherhood craning to get a look over his shoulder and Rouge, completely unabashed, sniggering snidely in the background, was still enough to make him smile now. _A sixth-daughter to be proud of, and…_; Thunderhawk mused as the thought struck him – following his overseeing of a recent sparring session the grizzled old veteran had to agree with the bat's comments; _… she's right about Charmy – he may well be something else in the not-too-distant future_.

That was most certainly true; he'd sparred with the bee on his last visit to Haven, about a month after Mighty had become one of the Chaotix assistant guardians and the improvement from what he remembered of the bee's meagre techniques had astonished him. Though the younger Mobian hadn't made it past the minute mark, it had been a close run thing; more than once Thunderhawk had felt his fur part as Charmy's potentially deadly back end had swung into the fray, stabbing in an attempt to paralyse his opponent – having been on the receiving end of it before, albeit accidentally, Thunderhawk had been in no mood to repeat the experience, if only to avoid being turned over to the less-than-completely tender mercies of his medically able fourth-son. These thoughts, couple with the occasional flare of pain that sprang up around his toes every so often, kept the sixth-father's mind pleasantly occupied as he approached the only entrance to the ancestral lair of the Brotherhood; therefore, when he finally got a good look down the corridor all his previous guesses were thrown up in the air.

First things first, it definitely wasn't Knuckles; _but_; confronted by circumstances as far out of the bathtub as he could possibly conceive, Thunderhawk's brain froze up and left him to flounder; _Spectre never goes around without his robes, or his helmet for that matter_. The sight of his own father standing in the elevator completely devoid of his normal attire was a real shock; for the first time since he could remember Thunderhawk saw his own father in the fur; _but, hang on, I don't remember that white bit, and how did he get his hair to stand up like…?_

"Thunderhawk? Is that you?"

"Yes", the voice finally confirmed who the visitor was; despite the jokes and occasional snide comments the younger members of his family might make, Thunderhawk's memory wasn't so impeded that he couldn't recall a name for that voice, "sorry Shadow, I thought you were my father for a minute". The hedgehog chuckled, stepping out of the descended elevator as the echidna approached,

"Spectre; come on, even I've got a bit more fashion sense than him – black just doesn't go with a shiny helmet like that. Why does he wear it anyway?"

"Don't know", Thunderhawk shrugged, approaching within arms-length of the hedgehog and extending a hand which Shadow shook, "personally I reckon it's to stop his brain escaping, don't tell him I said that, but he's always had it for as long as I can remember; he was wearing it the day he came back for me". Shadow's eyes widened; _as long as that – and I don't even know how old Thunderhawk is exactly but he's gotta be over a hundred_; deciding to leave that thought where it was, Shadow was about to ask his question when Thunderhawk piped him to the post,

"Anyway, what can we do for you – it's been a while. Knuckles was saying you'd moved on to Angel Island, into the city – going alright?"

"Yeah, I've got myself rooted eventually", Shadow answered dismissively before carrying on, "but the one I'm after is Spectre himself, however the fact you thought I was him doesn't inspire me with confidence he's around". _Damn_; as he'd both expected and feared, Thunderhawk nodded, face a little crestfallen for the hedgehog's sake,

"'Fraid not; he's over at the council, discussing strategies to strengthen and enlarge the dam, Locke's with him with all the technical details, I wouldn't be expecting them back until late", Shadow was on the verge of tearing a couple of his quills out – only the thought that this behaviour might cause a few raised eyebrows stayed his hand as Thunderhawk asked, "why are you after him anyway? Is it to do with that Dark Legionnaire that was with you a few months back?"

Shadow had been prepared for virtually anything but that; his skin shrivelled into goose-bumps as freezing slush sloshed wetly into his stomach, nothing but a few meaningless squeaks escaping his slackened jaws as his brain had to attempt a desperate reboot; _how did…I never told the Brotherhood…_; sensing rather than seeing movement to the side of him, Shadow glanced his glazed eyes over to see Thunderhawk give a knowing but slightly sympathetic smile,

"Don't worry, we haven't tapped your phone or anything; Remington informed us, it's part of his job to keep us up to date on all developments to do with the Dark Legion. A while back Sabre came running in to the main meeting area and called us all there, let us know that the EST had been in contact regarding a Dark Legionnaire gone rogue, trying to get back into Echidnopolis society. Nothing too unusual there until he told us Remington had mentioned one Shadow Hedgehog, who'd given details of his address saying the Legionnaire was bunking with him temporarily. Spectre, blessed as he is with a virtually infallible memory, realised who it was most likely to be and a call to Knuckles, asking if you were moved up here, confirmed it, as did", despite the fact he knew Shadow must have been writhing internally anyway Thunderhawk just couldn't resist it, "reports we had following your little excursion downstairs and with the Chaotix; sounds like a bit of a game girl, this Julie-Su". Back on a topic he felt a little more comfortable with, Shadow finally managed to get his tongue back on line in time to speak,

"She's something close to that", he said in answer to the elder echidna's unasked question before looking at him more squarely, eyes a little clearer as he recognised a potential pitfall here, "but did Knuckles tell you how he knew her in the first place?" The laughter seemed to drain out of Thunderhawk's face as he looked away slightly, voice slightly more contrite as he answered,

"He did mention, and we were a little concerned, both for him and Rouge and for the Legionnaire; never an easy thing, being turned down like that"; _luckily enough, I wouldn't know_; Shadow counted it as one of his blessings that he'd yet to experience how painful those wounds could be, though Thunderhawk raised a hand as he carried on, "though she shouldn't feel ashamed in any way; when it was my time to go into the city and, ah, continue the line", he said delicately, Shadow acknowledging the now obsolete guardian traditions of raising a family as an example of grim necessity rather than barbaric abandonment to set the older Mobian more at ease; seemingly satisfied, Thunderhawk continued, "I had women throwing themselves at me left, right and centre, a fair few a lot less low-key than Julie's approach; must be the crest, the most potent aphrodisiac known to echidna-kind, especially", he shot Shadow a sly wink, "as it seems to work on hedgehogs too".

"Shut up", the former ultimate life-form growled, face again starting to go pink as he recalled the only aphrodisiac involved in that scene had been far too much alcohol and the sleep-deprived imaginations of a vengeance-craving fox, "you were there as well remember?" With a laugh, Thunderhawk slapped him on the shoulder,

"Better to laugh than cry about it; I've had so many embarrassing things happen over the years I wouldn't get out of bed in the morning if I was afraid people would jibe me about them during the day. But look at us, standing around here like a pair of old men"; _don't say it, remember what his unique gift is_; stinging slightly for revenge Shadow nevertheless held his tongue as he grudgingly accepted that pointing out that Thunderhawk's age made most old men look like spring-chicken whippersnappers would probably be more painful than it was worth, "let's get to the meeting room, Sabre can meet us there".

"Sabre?" With a resigned glance, Thunderhawk looked down at his still sore foot,

"Need the quack-boy to patch up my fourth left metatarsal; felt it break earlier, one of the weights fell on it as I was setting up the bar. Well, come on, the sooner we get there the sooner we can sit down"; _sit down?_; though he knew next to nothing of osteopathy Shadow had enough common sense to realise that walking on a broken toe should have been causing a lot of pain at the least; _shouldn't you be rolling around in agony? Note to self, Thunderhawk's a lot tougher than he looks, really don't tick him off._

A short time later, Sabre looked up from where he was carefully binding his fourth-father's broken toe to both its adjacent neighbours to enquire to Shadow,

"So then, Hawk mentioned you were after Spectre"; _how did…oh yeah, forgot that telepathy thing they've got going on_; once more the ebon hedgehog found himself questioning how much the Brotherhood collectively knew – it might just have been him, but there was something innately disturbing about the way these six echidnas could swap information almost at will, "anything we can do to help?"

"Maybe; you were right by the way", Shadow went slightly off the beaten track, causing Thunderhawk to raise his eyebrows as the hedgehog nodded in his direction, "I'm here because of something to do with Julie-Su, and no, before you say anything, she's not giving me any sort of trouble I can't deal with".

"Glad to hear it; Knuckles sounded keen about the two of you after your trip to Station Square", Sabre said mildly, blithely unaware how Shadow's eyes glittered for a moment as flames that could have been embarrassment or annoyance at the guardian's concerns were lit behind them, "well, don't keep us in suspense". Taking his cue, Shadow huffed down a slight sigh and decided to come clean with the whole truth,

"She was attacked, earlier, by the Dark Legion itself", he saw the faces opposite the table fall, the chill in the air around him letting him know that, whatever else Charmy might be called, the bee was at least discreet, "she's recovering now, Charmy helped that process yesterday, but the main problem, the one that's really eating her, is why did they attack? She's afraid that Enerjak's decided to send out a message to everyone who's run away; one of them, the sergeant of her former squad, said she'd be a good example while they had her. If they're serious, we need to know – any ideas?"

Having laid his cards on the table, Shadow sat back; everything else was out of his hands as he saw the two guardians share a glance, or what he could see was a glance, before Sabre, easily the diplomat of the pair of them, stood up, pulled out a seat for himself and spoke and Thunderhawk started to put his sock back on,

"Hmm, well asking for Spectre was the right idea; if anyone outside the Legion had an idea it would have to be him, he sees them a lot more than we do", the surgeon said encouragingly, though Shadow had a sinking feeling that these words were a classic case of good news first, "I reckon I can get him to look into it, next time Enerjak comes to the table to talk politics, see if he can slip something in about your friend's experience, but as of right now…"

"You're as in the dark as I am", Shadow finished for him, not so much angry as bitterly disappointed as Sabre was forced to give an eventual nod in assent, "fantastic". Virtually sensing the disappointment steaming up from the hedgehog Thunderhawk, much as he would have loved to do otherwise, had no other option but to compound that bad news,

"Sorry Shadow, but the Legion can be as independent of everything else on Angel Island as they choose to be; heck, even Locke has trouble getting through their computer defences sometimes", he jested weakly, though he doubted he was making much headway, "though I will say this; Spectre speaks highly of Enerjak – of course he doesn't trust the oversized tin can as far as he could throw him, but so far he's been given no reason to suspect foul play. So if I had to give an answer I'd say there wasn't a policy change; thus far there's been no hostile action, covert or otherwise, from them".

"But you don't know for sure", Shadow reiterated; comforting as Thunderhawk was trying to be, without being a hundred percent certain the black hedgehog couldn't relax or stop the doom-mongering scenarios in his head rolling around and around, chilling the marrow in his bones. Sabre sighed,

"Sorry Shadow, but getting answers right from the horse's mouth isn't an option; I don't think the way of dropping right into Necronopolis, demanding answers the lord of the Dark Legion face to face and living to tell the tale has been invented yet, unless you can catch my third-father when he's feeling suicidally brave", he added at the end, remembering Sojourner's unique gift in the nick of time and realising that, yes, if you really were that desperate to get somewhere that would get you there. _But then again, Sojourner might be antagonistic, but he's certainly not reckless_; better than anyone the monocled echidna was acutely aware of his ancestor's many personality flaws, but for some reason Sojourner had improved over the past couple of months, though he had no idea as to why. With a last joint sigh the pair of guardians looked up, excepting to offer some last condolences before the hedgehog departed.

What they did not expect to see, what caused each of them to flick his eyes to the side and reflect each other's worried glance, was the sight of Shadow slumped in his seat, completely blanked out with eyes glazed and unfocussed, panting as though he'd run a thousand miles.

XXX

He was having an out-of-body experience; that was the only rational explanation as to what was happening – logically, he knew he was sitting opposite the two echidnas ahead of him, so why did he feel like he was looking down on them, suspended in the air as though Mighty had chinned him with a first-class uppercut? The effect of Sabre's words, and the sudden realisation that he was wrong, had almost literally blown him away and now he was virtually flying free with the knowledge; it was only when he saw Thunderhawk's lips move from atop his elevated position that he sought to reunite his body with the spirit that had abandoned it. With a monumental jerk Shadow felt himself drop, a sense of vertigo pervading the pit of his stomach as he suddenly became aware of the feelings from around his body, the breath hissing past his lips in fits and starts, though all the feeling was muted, everything subsumed to the single, glorious idea percolating its way right through to the core of himself; _I need to think, get it right – can't afford to blow a shot…huh?_; a hand on his shoulder and another on his forehead snapped his attention back to the physical world; _Sabre?_

"Hmm", the hedgehog listened dreamily to what the much older echidna was saying, trying to pick the right moment to interject, "no, no fever or chill to the flesh, I wonder"; next second Shadow was slapping his hand away as it nipped right towards his right eye,

"Hey, what are you up to?" The glanced up half-annoyed, only to stymie his indignation at the sight of Sabre's concerned expression,

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Shadow watched as a hand was waved in front of him and, after a second of double checking to make sure he was right, answered,

"Four?" Before his eyes two of the fingers retracted into the fist,

"And now?"

"Two, and on the world below that's a very rude gesture", the hedgehog managed to quip as, seemingly satisfied, the surgeon took a step back, surveying Shadow as he might have done a particularly perplexing patient case,

"Hmm, well I was going to ask something else but as you can recall something about the world downstairs I'll assume you've not blanked; I was worried you'd had a sudden flashback"; _thanks for the concern_; deferentially nodding, Shadow forced himself to listen to the rest of Sabre's concerns even if he was now screaming to get away, get to work on this new goal he'd set himself, "I really needed to check for pupil dilation to be sure, but you cleared up so fast I'm almost certain it wasn't".

"In that case", came Thunderhawk's deep rumble from just behind his fourth-son, "what was it?" Sensing an opportunity to minimise delays, Shadow gave an embarrassed cough,

"Just me I'm afraid; lost in thought for a second".

"Lost in something", the eldest present grunted; Sabre sighed,

"Pay no attention to him Shadow"; _Oh God no_; he was hoping he'd have been in and out quick enough to avoid this, or at least with Spectre for the duration – as it was, Shadow cringed as Athair came bobbing merrily down the passageway, as always in his own little world as he sculled lazily around the table, "grandfather Thunderhawk's well known for his linear thinking because if he tried to think any other way we'd probably lose him for good".

"If it's a choice between you and lost, hand me a map and compass any day of the week," the hot-tempered elder retorted tartly, ignoring his third-son's raspberry with supreme distain as he jerked a thumb towards the exit, "come on Shadow, let me lead you out of this mad-house". Athair sprang up at once, putting a hand around Sabre's shoulder as the third-guardian looked up bemused,

"How dare you; my son is not mad, he's just very well educated"; _help meeeee!_; Shadow could feel his mind starting to bend under the pressure of Athair's unique viewpoint of reality and forcibly choked down the laughter some of his statements elicited, standing up to match Thunderhawk and following the sixth-father out of the central chamber of Haven, Athair's indignant rantings echoing behind them,

"How dare he; oldie or not that's going too far – no-one calls my darling son mad and gets away with it…"

"Father, I'm sure he was joking…".

"Well it wasn't very funny; come on Sabre, thinking cap on – we need a plot to get back at him. Hmmm…" Maybe he was a glutton for punishment, maybe it was some demented part of his make-up that took control for a split-second or perhaps it was merely idle curiosity, but Shadow found himself just having to sneak a peek over his shoulder as he left; the sight of Athair pondering cross-legged in mid-air, Sabre to the side of him with his hand held long-sufferingly over his eyes was enough to send splutters racking around his body helplessly. Hastily disguising his discomfort as a sneeze, the former ultimate life-form high-tailed towards following Thunderhawk and leaving the presence of the self-perpetuating insanity that was Knuckle's third-father.

XXX

"So", looking over his shoulder Thunderhawk found himself sharing a sardonic smile with Shadow, "going to be watching above your door for the next few days then?"

"Not a hope of that", the elder guardian would have dismissed the concerns without as much as a sneer had it not been for some small, over-cautious voice in the back of his mind that compelled him to add, "if anything happens I'll drape the entire ceiling with flypaper – that'll put paid to his ideas of a nasty prank".

"And force him to get back at you; you're just as bad as each other"; _actually_; the hedgehog paused for a second as a thought struck him; _sounds not too dissimilar from a couple of other Mobians not too long ago, and I don't mean Sonic here pal_;

"Maybe, but anyway", Thunderhawk conceded, thankfully not noticing the black hedgehog's sudden inner conflict, "you need some fun down here or you'd go as mad as he is. But as for you", one finger on the elevator button, the lavender echidna spun around to look Shadow square in the eye, "are you sure you're fit to be let back out into the real world after…?"

"Yeah, trust me I'm fine", that was a lie; he was better than fine, even more so as the reminder sent yet more waves of pure gold flowing around his system, "I've just got a lot on my plate at the minute, and not just with Julie". Thunderhawk didn't reply for a minute, seemingly content to deliver a piercing gaze as though trying to X-ray his passenger with his eyes alone; for his part, Shadow stood stock still, knowing that the slightest twitch may sow seeds of doubt in the guardian's mind but at the same time dying to move, knowing he needed to vent the nameless power that was going to send him blasting through the roof if he didn't let it go soon.

"Okay", he let out the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding, the sounds of the descending elevator like a choir of angels descending to sing praises on the earth as the door slid open, "have a safe trip back to the city. What should I tell Spectre?"

"Oh, him, er"; _cover against suspicion – got it_; reacting to instincts of subterfuge, Shadow snapped his fingers, "he'll be around tomorrow right?"

"He should be; he hasn't got any plans I know of".

"Right, well in that case can I get to him then – as far as I'm concerned this is one of those sooner the better things".

"Shouldn't be a problem; I can't see a reason for him not to have you here – I can get Locke to call you if that changes though".

"Thanks, so I'll see you tomorrow, and how is he, anyway"; a certain pang of conscience made him take an interest in the condition of Knuckle's father – though he hadn't seen Locke since just after Dimitri's downfall Shadow had gleaned enough to know that Locke had doted on his ex-wife and her remarriage would have probably hit him very hard indeed. _As I _expected; Thunderhawk's face, the manner in which he tried to put a brave face on things after the primary expression fault, said more than the words did,

"He's coping, that's about all I can say about it. Aside from that though, you should get going; it'll reset in a couple of seconds".

"Right, see the rest of you tomorrow", forewarned, Shadow hopped onto the elevator, already certain what his next move was going to be and gearing himself towards it with all his concentration and stamina.

XXX

About fifteen minutes later, and having virtually lapped Angel Island in a frantic race that had strained every ounce of speed and endurance he possessed out of him, Shadow half-collapsed, staggering in an area outside Echidnopolis, though he could tell by the way the plants around him had been artificially thinned that he had to be in the vague vicinity of the plantations that almost fenced the city in. Gulping down air, the hedgehog quickly sat down before his trembling legs gave way, extending them as far ahead of him as was possible and giving them both a quick shake to try and avoid cramp. _Ahh, that was sore, but I needed it_; despite the attrition now taking its toll on his body, Shadow still couldn't drop the inane grin that had lit up his face ever since he'd been on the way up from Haven, finally uncorking the internal merriment that Sabre's unwitting comment had sent shooting into his mind like a soda stream from shaken champagne. The run he'd just put himself through had served a dual purpose; primarily it had simply been a primitive, emotional response to the answer for his question, the desire to symbolically run as fast and as far as he could towards his destination made manifest, but it had also helped burn off some of his excitement, allowing him to think with slightly more coherence now than he would have fifteen minutes ago. This was a great advantage as it was only now, as he finally managed to feel something in his tingling legs and shuffle towards a tree that bore a large number of fan-shaped leaves close to the ground, that the full extent of how much careful tendering and pruning this seed of an idea was going to need before it could germinate into the conclusion he so desperately pursued became clear. Flicking out the pen he carried everywhere, a habit bred from his work and long experience of some clients not having something to sign his package off with, Shadow tore of the first leaf he was to write upon and tried to chronologically structure his foaming mind into something like a cohesive pattern.

Sitting down as though he were the only living being on Angel Island, Shadow carefully and methodically planned out routes of ideas, double-checked facts against half-recalled experiences, crossed out and rewrote certain elements of his plotting and even, once or twice, uprooted completely his former plans to start afresh. Like a careful, constant gardener, the former ultimate life-form paid close attention to his dream-child and, as the tree he was borrowing his sketch pad from began to exhaust its supply of leaves, he was finally rewarded; standing upright on his seemingly recovered legs, the sheer elation he was feeling killing off any residual aches far better than the most potent painkiller discovered to date, Shadow checked down the list he had written one last time and, realising he still had time to make the first part of it happen today, checked the direction of the sun and set off on his travels once more.

XXX

He hadn't expected there to be a problem and, luckily enough for him, there hadn't been; as he wrote his name underneath the thick, black line his marker pen had drawn through a couple of dates on the huge calendar hung up on the back wall of the office, Shadow mentally ticked off the first, minor task, now he could concentrate on the bigger fish he had to fry. Taking a step back to review his handiwork the hedgehog nodded, deciding which job to tackle next; _whichever one it is will have to wait for tomorrow anyway – I'm going to have to play each group on the quiet to make sure they don't compare notes and guess what I'm up to_; though being duplicitous didn't come naturally, Shadow had enough sense to recognise that if he was straightforward with his demands this time, the only likely reaction he'd get was a very stiff talking to at best and, worst-case, confinement in the kind of straight-jacket that was usually used to nail Athair to the floor. That thought made him smile; _it must sound like a mad plan_; the smile blossomed into a slight laugh; _heck, even I think it's a bit bizarre and I came up with it. Oh well, just have to hope they're as much as group of pacifists as every-whoa!_

He'd twisted his head at an impact on his shoulder; as something huge and crinkly had ballooned in his vision he'd instinctively jerked backwards, abandoning his previous line of thought in the face of a need for survival. Slamming his eyelids shut, the hedgehog felt another tap just above his muzzle and swatted out at this unforeseen assailant, rewarded with a swooshing noise as something light impacted in his open palms and was flung away from him. Taking a second to calm his almost frenzied heart, the hedgehog took a breath and opened his eyes, just about catching the flight of the paper ball as it crashed into the wall under the calendar he'd just written on; _where'd that come from?_ Looking around, he immediately saw and, with a bite of good-natured annoyance in his sigh, homed in on the source of the projectile, exchanging a greeting as he came within earshot,

"You're lucky Snappy doesn't work weekends", Honey tried to look innocuous at the same time as smile broadly,

"Actually I owe you some thanks for that Shads; because of you Micah's buying the drinks tonight – he bet me a night out that you were too quick to get hit with a paper ball, I was out to prove otherwise".

"Only because I never saw it coming, and I forgot you were working this weekend", the black hedgehog argued in his favour, though he couldn't deny that she'd nailed him with that shot, "do I need to sign anything to prove that I was hit".

"Nah, he'll believe me; he knows I'm honest?" Shadow raised an eyebrow,

"How long have you two been going out?"

"Oh ha ha", Honey laughed mockingly while crossing her arms, though her manner softened when she glanced at the calendar he'd been working on recently, "what's the occasion?"

"Oh, just some time off", Shadow answered in a casual voice, elaborating as Honey silently asked for more information, "need a bit of a break, taking next week off". The echidna's face fell into a picture of dismay,

"What, five days?"

"Well, seven if you count next weekend as well…"

"You can't take a week off, this whole department will go completely to pot", she mock-wailed, trying to break the hedgehog down into laughter but, as Shadow rolled his eyes, realising he was too well-prepared for this attack to succeed, "the paperwork'll have me entombed at my desk by the time you get back".

"I'll remember to bring a shovel week after next to dig you out", he drawled dryly; _damn, he's nearly got me going_; Honey had to almost screw her lips down to stop her own humour showing – for some reason Shadow's dry sense of humour and occasional displays of comic timing bored right through to her funny bone and, if the assault was sustained enough, always had her cracked up completely. Breaking out to avoid the situation, the echidna queried,

"Going anywhere nice, doing much?"

"Nah, not really", reminded of what next week was most likely to entail, Shadow kept his apprehension off his face as he half-remembered the sensations associated with a struggle similar to the one he was most likely to face on his supposed work break, "just, you know, taking a bit of break, putting my feet up, that sort of thing. Oh, good point; might have to miss a couple of classes while I'm away; let Andy know it's nothing personal".

"No problem; actually";_ uh oh_; Shadow knew that suave, calculating look when he saw it, "while you're there…"

"No, forget it", Shadow caught the all too familiar sight of Honey's out tray in his peripheral vision and turned away in time to avoid the look of disappointed despair on the echidna's face as he finished, "I am as of now officially on holiday; don't take it personally but there are a hundred and one things I'd rather do than run all over this city delivering the mail".

"Not", there was a heart-tugging sniffle in the voice that answered him; Shadow had to grit his teeth, "not even for me?"

"After the hell you give me", like lightning the black hedgehog span around and struck; Honey gasped in fear as she grabbed his hand just before it could spear into her vulnerable side and make her jump, "especially not for you, Barbie". That was enough; Shadow saw Honey's eyes harden at that nickname – next thing he knew was a completely unexpected, not entirely insignificant pain in his wrist as Honey's hands moved like lightning, trapping his joint in some kind of lock and dragging him down so she could hiss in his ear,

"Now listen up Blackie", an extra twist made sure he couldn't argue with his own hated pet name, "I just about put up with that name from Micah, there's no way on this island I'm going to let you get away with it as well. You're going to run this delivery out for me with no complaints and a smile, aren't you?"

"Of course Henu", Shadow said obsequiously, trying to curry enough favour to persuade the echidna to give him his preferably unbroken hand back, "I'll, er, I'll get right on it".

"Good", with a dismissive snort Honey dropped her grip, "now get going; this one's already late".

"Alright, I'm off"; as good as his word, Shadow grabbed the bag containing the files and, scanning the addresses, immediately recognised four out of five destinations, "be back before you can blink". Not waiting for a reply as he noticed a couple of urgent stickers on some of the mail, the former ultimate life-form took off towards the elevator at the back of the office, already thinking about methods by which he could get even with the sneaky echidna for collaring him into this extra labour.

XXX

_What I wouldn't give to be there when she opens it_; the delivery had taken mere minutes, the majority of his time outside the C.A had been eaten up in a joke shop, picking out the most realistic fake mouse he could find – just this once he had cause to thank rather than curse his memory as it had recalled Honey's phobia of mice. That little present slipped surreptitiously into her bag should make her think twice before dragging him into her work; _though, I know how irritating names can be – I should really know better_; deciding to call it even and making a resolution not to call his work colleague by the name her boyfriend had come up with to torment her, Shadow washed his hands of the whole affair. Now he had a different goal, namely to get through the rest of the day without spilling the beans or giving anything about his plan away to Julie, a feat made all the harder when you took into consideration her natural tendencies towards suspicion. Still, as long as he acted casual and only got his work down on paper when she wasn't around, there shouldn't be a problem in this department; _no sense in advertising though_. Caught by this sudden thought, the hedgehog carefully depressed the handle of his front door, making sure it was open at the same time as creating as little noise as possible, not wanting to alarm Julie unnecessarily. As he'd expected she must have been at home and, opening the door fully, he let himself in and gave his normal greeting to ensure the façade of normality,

"Hey Jules".

"Shadow?" _Every time…_;

"Of course, who else do you think it is?"

"I'm not sure but I could give you a list of people I'd prefer it to be"; _you cheek mare_; the comeback was on the very tip of his tongue before she beat him to the punch, "anyway, come into the kitchen would you – something I want to roll through with you".

By Julie's standards it was an odd request; by dint of long association Shadow knew his obstinate flat mate usually preferred to tackle things on her own – the knowledge that she wanted to talk to him about something was a remarkably open gesture on her part. Idly wondering what had brought this about, Shadow nevertheless quickly banged off his shoes and headed into the kitchen, seeing Julie sat at the table and flicking the kettle on out of habit,

"No need", he paused as she spoke, indicating the cup held in her own hand, "it's just boiled, I just beat you back".

"Now there's a turn up for the books", Shadow used his normal brand of humour to disguise his mental plans ever deeper under a veneer of casualness, "you actually beating me at something". Eyes glinting, Julie swallowed the bait and spared no effort in launching a warning shot across the black hedgehog's bows,

"Rather than just plain beating you; the option of which, I might add, gets ever more attractive the more dumb comments you spout out, catch my drift?" Shadow mimed lashing out as though trying to grab a fly,

"I think so; yep", he scrutinised his open palm, "that's definitely yours". Julie gave a wry smile as the hedgehog finished making his coffee and sat at the table opposite her, taking a very slight swig and assuring himself that his drink was up to standard before looking across at her,

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

XXX

All the way on the walk home she'd thought of the correct words to say and, perhaps more difficult than that, building up the courage to convince herself that it as okay to talk; that Shadow wasn't going to laugh at her discomfort in the face of a problem. To her satisfaction she'd managed to get her head around the latter but, as for the first of these two related problems, she still had no idea; _right, from here on in we're winging it_;

"Well", she started unsteadily, only just able to keep eye contact with the hedgehog as the words dribbled thickly in fits and starts, "today, I went out; Charmy, he said yesterday that the only reason he knew his way around was by wandering around, saying hi, that sort of thing".

"Makes sense", Shadow shrugged, not entirely sure where this was going but more than happy to back up the bee's philosophy, "the only reason I know where I'm going half the time's because my job's run me there a couple of times". Seemingly heartened by the revelation, Julie was able to continue,

"Right, well I tried today; didn't really know where I was going, but wanted to, you know, learn where I was, what everything was, you know the score?"

"Yeah, sounds like a good plan from where I'm standing", Shadow said encouragingly, focussing more and more attention as Julie went on before querying, "where'd you end up?"

"Well this is the thing; it was all okay", having seen the warning look flash over the hedgehog's face Julie was quick to placate his concerns; _nice to know he cares – shush, not now_; diverting her attention back to the story she was supposed to be telling, the former Legionnaire continued to the crux of her issues, "I got a couple of nasty looks but that was about the worst of it. Anyway, I'm going along this street I've never seen before, then I see him". _Him?_; for some reason Shadow's heart had leapt into his throat; he had to swallow it back down to speak again,

"Him?"

"Another echidna", looking past him now, into the very recent past, Julie's fingers touched her augmented dreadlock, "just like me".

Silence fell for a moment as Shadow digested this new information and Julie carried on recounting her memories, the discussion she'd recently had with someone who understood, could really understand better even than Shadow, what it was like trying to find their feet in a new, almost alien society. The quiet was broken only by a cough, Shadow gently infiltrating her thoughts with his question,

"Another reformed character huh?" Julie nodded before really hearing his words, then shook herself, eyes clearing as she answered, though she was still slightly more placid than her normally, if not hot, certainly warmer than lukewarm temper,

"Something like that; he wasn't much older than a kid, he'd been taken back by his family when he decided the Legion wasn't for him. They were nice really, his family; they invited me in, said they knew it was hard, but I really wanted to talk to him, see if…you know?" _I can guess_; Shadow nodded to answer her unasked question; _you wanted to know if he'd had any problems like you_;

"What did he say?" To his surprise she laughed,

"No word of a lie, he said almost the same things you did, word for word; he'd had occasional homesickness, ostracism from pretty much all and sundry and general low self-esteem, but he stuck the course; he's been out nearly a year now and he said it's not really a problem any more. His family backed him up, what?" She stumbled to a halt as Shadow held up a hand,

"Now that's something he had that you haven't", the hedgehog regarded her squarely, looking deeply into her eyes, "his family took him back when he dropped out, you never had that option. And he was a kid; he'd been in the Legion how long? You were a lifer before you left don't forget".

"I wish I could, but you're right, he said similar things himself", she chuckled for a moment before becoming slightly more serious, "but the main point is that he's had nothing so far, that's got to be a good sign right? I mean, the Legion's organised – if it wanted to get all the runaways it would have taken us together, all the same day, then just gone; if it went one at a time there's a risk of the word getting out, warning everyone to go to ground", there was earnest desire in her tone now, and it was becoming stronger and stronger as she leant across the table towards where Shadow sat, "and he said that when he decided to leave he came face to face with Enerjak himself, he saw the grandmaster and said he wanted out; Enerjak let him go, with his blessing. Enerjak's not one to change his mind easily; his word's law in the legion, so that proves it doesn't it?" She leant across suddenly, Shadow almost recoiling from the suddenness of the action as she reached over the table and gripped his hand as she finished her recounting of facts with a strengthened hypothesis,

"The Legion can't be after me; if Enerjak let one stray go he can't combine that with getting rid of another, can he? Really?"

_She needs to believe_; Shadow was able to see past the speech to the core of this question; it wasn't so much meeting this other ex-Legionnaire that was provoking these ideas than the knowledge that Julie needed something to hope for – the knowledge that someone in the same boat as she was hadn't had any trouble had stoked up the fires of hope that her ordeal had been the result of one disgruntled squad of Legionnaires with an axe to grind against her; _and that's a good thing – she's thinking positive_. Heartened by the echidna progress and marvelling that it had all come from under her own steam, Shadow knew instinctively what she needed to hear and without even consciously deciding what to say found himself speaking,

"I don't think so", he couldn't be conclusive but he could put a huge amount of positive spin on her ideas with the knowledge he had, "not if everything I've heard about Enerjak's supposed to be like is true". Julie looked up perplexed,

"What have you heard about Enerjak?"

"Office gossip mostly", Shadow wheedled, not wanting to give much away in case of awkward questions, "I've heard, for instance, that he's supposed to be a real looker when he takes off that shell he lives in – any comment?"

"No, no-one I knew in the Legion ever saw him without that suit on; it's supposed to be fused to him or something, he can't survive without it apparently", Julie shrugged, remembering fragments of conversations from her own memories within the Dark Legion, "anyway, enough about this, let's get something to eat, I'm starving".

"You don't look it; sorry but you walked into that one", Shadow leant back in time to avoid a clip round the ears as Julie took a swipe for his low blow, "I'll cook, you tell me more about this guy; what else did he have to say?"

"Not too much really, his mum did most of the talking, now there's a frightening woman – say it and you'll get hurt – but yeah, some of the stuff he said was okay".

"All right", as he switched on the cooker and reached across to look into the fridge, he spared a glance over his shoulder, "let's hear it then".

The afternoon dragged into the evening, but it was occupied with the exploits of Julie's day and the information she'd come up with; this was something Shadow was keen to propagate for two reasons – firstly it stopped her asking where he'd been all day and second, he could see it happening as the time slipped by, the more she spoke the more animated she became, the more life and vibe came back into her recently subdued voice, the bigger the sparkle in her eye was rekindled and the sight was a tonic to his recent pessimism. The nagging fear that Julie would fade away before his eyes, lost to become a mere ghost of her former self as he was forced to watch on impotently, receded at the same time something else grew larger, more crystallised and coldly certain as he listened in, not paying attention to what she was saying but the way she was saying it; _this really will be worth it in the end. Soon Julie_; he flipped some of the ingredients in the pan over as though they were stones hiding the answers beneath them; _I'll prove for certain why they went for you._

A/N: So Shadow's hatching a plan, but what does it entail, and can it work? Is there any possibility a single hedgehog, even one as skilled and brave as Shadow, can take on the full might of the Dark Legion and emerge unscathed and with the answers? To find out, keep reading…


	19. Chapter 19 His Promise and His Power

Chapter 19 – His Power and His Promise.

A/N: Mammoth chapter and lots of work on recently, sorry for the updating delay; however, I take the remainder of this section to welcome back an old and greatly missed reviewer:

HHH – Excellent to hear from you once more; anyway, tell your mum congratulations on getting her qualification – I've been through Uni, so I know the sort of work you have to do to get something like that these days, and look after your dad and your dog; they'll need some TLC during their recoveries. Aside from that, just hope you enjoy the remainder of this story (and, one last thing; Sonic Adventure, just got a copy for the PC, how do you get through the Sky Deck as Sonic, especially the airstrip bit, I always keep falling down as bits of the screen fall away – so frustrating!)

In accordance with his tick list, the next challenge he had to face wasn't so much an unexpected one, more something he had to plan correctly and act the part of to get right. Aided by the knowledge that at least this time he was expected and he was working to a rough plan rather than firing blindly this time, Shadow was a good deal calmer as he once more stood atop the elevator, feeling the clanks and bangs as it slowly rolled its way down towards Haven once more. Before he'd set off he'd done a bit of thinking and, though he had absolutely no intention of letting Spectre in on any more of his plan than he had to give away to keep his cover, Shadow had decided to pay close attention to what the most ancient of the Brotherhood had to say; _if I get my words right, I might be able to find out more about what I'm going up against – like Sabre said, if anyone's got an idea about the Legion it's…_;

"Greeting guest", he'd been so wrapped up in his thinking the voice made him jump, "welcome and rest, for you have reached a safe Haven". Holding a hand over his heart to stop it pounding its way out of his chest, Shadow looked forwards to see who had spoken; he had to strain for a second to pick the echidna out, but as Spectre took a step forwards the light gleamed from his helmet and Shadow was able to beat down his shock enough to speak,

"Hello Spectre – sorry for not hearing you, stuff on my mind".

The venerable echidna didn't reply for a moment, merely standing impassive as he looked Shadow up and down; feeling cold sweat breaking out on the back of his neck in the face of such a piercing look, the hedgehog attempted to look politely innocuous and hide his deeper reasons for being here, all the time unnerved by seeing someone that looked so much like him. With his helmet obscuring what Shadow assumed were his dreadlocks, the echidna could have been his own father, the similarities were definitely there, and not just down to fur and eye colouration either; something about Spectre's almost aloof, patriarchal manner and calm contemplation struck a chord within Shadow, a note that he couldn't name or recognise, an echo from the distance past that was too soft for him to hear correctly and decipher. The urge to give a disarming grin that his rational mind was shouting would have looked completely idiotic, not to mention suspicious, was nevertheless tugging the corners of his lips and starting to make headway when, to his great relief, Spectre's unnerving eyes lost their hardness and he blinked, looking away as he answered the statement Shadow felt he'd said hours ago,

"Yes, my sons mentioned you were somewhat distracted yesterday, I know the feeling".

"Gets to you too huh?" As Spectre's look evolved into one of inquisitiveness Shadow felt explanation would help, "sometimes you've got too many things to think about and they keep getting the way of each other; the second you decide to concentrate on one of them you remember something even more important you have to do and it all just slips away". The echidna pursed his lips,

"No, I've never felt quite that way; the Master's blessing to thank for that"; _oh yeah, I keep thinking that's Locke's gift_; as Spectre tapped his temple Shadow remembered Thunderhawk mentioning his father's ability to see, really _see_, the knowledge all things contained, the experiences they had been exposed to, and from them draw accurate conclusions and map out the near future; _huh, lucky guy – probably the only Mobian in existence who's never had to write a shopping list_; "what I meant was my sons keep driving me to distraction".

Not even Shadow could completely seal off his humour as the eldest member of the Brotherhood let a little of his frustration show, rubbing the side of one wrinkled paw against his forehead as the hedgehog shook with suppressed laughter, though the smile that broke through his defences must have tipped Spectre off as to how he viewed that statement,

"You don't have a family do you Shadow?" Taken aback by the directness of Spectre's question the former ultimate life-form floundered,

"Um, no"; _hang on, remember everyone – I know, got it_; "but Sonic, everyone else, yeah, I count them as family. But no, I have no direct relations that I know of".

"Take my advice and keep it that way", the ebon echidna told him, sighing as just this once he was able to let out his frustration to someone who wasn't one of his direct descendents, "they've got a combined age of something like four hundred; you'd think I could leave them alone for half a day without them being at each other's throats wouldn't you?"

"I'd think so, but remembering how Sonic and I used to act I wouldn't bet on it", forgetting the slight insult Spectre had levelled at him not being able to recall having much of a past, the hedgehog sniggered as he revisited the parts of his past he could remember, "what can you say, boys will be boys". Spectre snarled,

"Those boys will be put into a bloody orphanage if there's another palaver like there was last night again", with a growl he started explaining, "I get into the vehicle bay with Locke, just pulled up and getting out; next thing I know I've got Athair hanging off my neck, screaming right down my ear to save him from Thunderhawk, who is, by the way, steaming into the vehicle bay roaring curses you should have been able to hear in Echidnopolis with Sojourner clamped around his neck, shouting for him to calm down and Sabre trailing behind him, trying to grab something trailing off my son's foot before he trips over it. Ohh, they don't pay me enough to baby-sit this lot"; as Spectre held his head in his hands, for the first time looking like a man half his age rather than an eighth of it, Shadow had to lean against the wall to stop himself laughing; _man, and Knuckles says they're always picture-perfect whenever he and Rouge are around – what he wouldn't give to know this. Hang on a second here…_;

"Spectre", the echidna looked up wearily, though his expression perked up as he took in Shadow's calculating poise, "what would you say if I said I think I know a way to get them to behave?"

"I'd say hand it over before I rip your arm off".

"Thought you might, anyway, let's go somewhere a bit more private; now it looks like we've both got questions we want answering".

"Of course, follow me; we'll use the library rather than the meeting hall, less likely to be disturbed".

XXX

A few minutes later, Shadow took a seat opposite the most ancient living member of the Brotherhood of Guardians, feeling the leather of the old armchair squash to accommodate his body as he politely refused Spectre's offer of refreshments,

"Had a quick brunch before I came", he said before sitting forwards, hearing the seat wheeze croakily and idly trying to guess how old this armchair must be to get to such a state of softness in the once-firm leather, "anyway, I don't want to intrude for long".

"Please stay as long as you like", Spectre cracked a smile as the hedgehog glanced over, "my sanity and my son's future health may depend on how long you're here".

"Funnily enough mine might too"; _wasn't expecting that_; taken slightly aback by the unforeseen comeback Spectre settled back in his chair; _what are you up to now?_; "may as well get this out in the open; you know about Julie-Su right?"

"Yes", the reply was immediate; thanks to his unique bloodline powers Spectre didn't need to think to remember a name, his mind simply did it all for him and instantly matched face and history with the hedgehog's prompt, "she was the Legionnaire that tried to seduce my seventh-son and, failing that, turned herself in to the correct authorities, with", crimson eyes met across the space between them, "your address if I'm not mistaken?"

"You know you're not; she was supposed to be living with me while she got her feet back underneath her, sorted everything out – she couldn't go back to the Legion, they'd have made her life hell". Contemplating this new news for a moment, Spectre folded his hands in his lap,

"I see, and I understand that she's not left you yet?" Shadow had to drop his eyes for a second, speech thickening as the faint note of disapproval in the echidna's voice almost made his face burn,

"No, she hasn't, but that's through choice".

"Yours or hers?" Again the question caught him out; he was sure the leather would catch light in a moment as he was forced to tuck his red cheek into the material ever harder,

"Both", he mumbled a second later, almost seeing the look of scorn that was brewing on Spectre's face, expecting at any minute his acid-laced tongue to cleave into him like a whip; because of that pessimistic prediction the sound of a wry chuckle made him blink in shock – it was only when he faced Spectre again slowly and saw his expression of timeless acceptance that he really believed the echidna didn't disapprove of such a development. Typically, almost as if reading his mind, the ancient guardian raised a hand to placate him,

"You don't get to my age without learning a degree of adaptability Shadow; take it from me there are some much stranger stories out there than a Legionnaire falling for a guardian and being, reluctantly, jilted. I agree with my seventh-daughter in this matter; she was lucky to land, as she put it, 'in your lap rather than some sleaze-ball off the back streets picking her up and turning her in for a few crests and a hot meal'". _Oh really_; Spectre didn't even need to try and mime the voice – somehow Shadow could just hear Rouge saying those exact words concerning his apparent relationship; _guess it's true, there really is no accounting for taste. Good, glad that's settled, now get back on the subject and then keep the last bit off-the-cuff_;

"Well that's by the by now Spectre; I need to talk to you about what happened in the very recent present – what did the others tell you I said yesterday?"

"Very little", the growl in the echidna's voice, coupled with his sudden glower and the merest wisps of smoke starting to curl up from his robes transforming him into something hellish, "they were all too busy pleading for mercy and praying I was in a good enough mood to let them live to really mention anything other than the fact you dropped by. I should have pressed them some more but", he nodded deferentially, a slightly conciliatory note in his voice as he admitted his mistake, "I didn't trust myself with them at the time; they all shot out of my sight as soon as they could manage to and I left it at that".

"Right, well sit back a second; this is a bit of a story and it's the last bit I need your advice with…"

As he had done several times before to various different people, Shadow raked over the story of Julie's savaging at the hands of her old Dark Legion squad mates and the worry that now she was the prime target for any further revenge attacks, finishing with the question he now thought he had an idea how to fathom out but, he reminded himself, getting a second and much better informed opinion was never going to hurt anything. Reassuringly in his eyes Spectre had become graver and graver looking as he had continued the tale; by the end of it the echidna's expression was as black as his fur and his voice, as he answered, was laden down with smouldering tension,

"Hmm, give me a minute; I just need to get my facts straight here", Spectre spoke after a slight pause following the end of Shadow's speech, "there was no provocation to this attack; Julie didn't flaunt herself openly or anything like that?"

"Of course not", Shadow answered, irritated that he was having to defend her like this – anyone with half a brain could see that Julie wasn't the type to flaunt anything, "according to them her existing was reason enough to have a pop".

"I see", was all Spectre said before tailing off, eyes refocusing on a point somewhere on the distant, invisible horizon, staring straight ahead without blinking; having a vague idea what was going on, Shadow remained as still as he could, not wanting to run the risk of slowing the process up by disturbing the guardian's work. The silence lengthened into a minute, then a second, until, with equal parts hope and trepidation in his manner, Shadow saw life filtering back into Spectre's formerly empty eyes, his mind returning from its errand and, crossing every finger and toe, Shadow only hoped it brought with it good news.

Sitting slightly forwards, Spectre placed both hands under his chin though he said nothing for a few seconds; Shadow assumed he was deciding the best way to phrase something before, with very little warning, the echidna spoke,

"If Enerjak's hand was directing an attack in this manner, it goes against everything I've come to expect from him; I will admit that may not mean a great deal, I haven't seen him all that often, and spoken to him even less. However, those occasions have always passed in a courteous and respectful manner – I honestly can't imagine him ordering a mission like that with nothing but vengeance as the goal". _Wait up, that doesn't tally at all_; Shadow quickly kipped up to point out that irregularity between what he'd been told and what Spectre was telling him now,

"But that doesn't make sense", then, remembering who he was taking to and seeing the guardian regarding him piercingly, he quickly reiterated what the other guardians had told him, "I mean, Sabre and Thunderhawk said you were on the council of Echidnopolis, and I know they meet the Legion pretty regularly, so you should have seen him then right?" Spectre seemed to digest what he'd said before giving a click of his tongue and a shrug,

"A reasonable assumption but wrong on two counts", the black echidna steered the misguided hedgehog back towards the truth at the same time as try not to sound condescending, "first thing is I'm not on the council and for that I'm extremely grateful; I can barely control my own family, you really trust me to run a city?"

"Fair enough; I'd hate to see what would happen if this lot ran amok", Shadow quipped as Spectre shuddered, seemingly horrified at the mere mention of that possibility of that eventuality, "but what was the second thing?"

"That would be that Enerjak doesn't always attend these meetings personally, just like I don't; he's got a whole Legion under him remember, he usually sends along a couple of representatives to speak and answer questions for him; now if I was to suspect an attack, I'd be looking a lot more closely at one of them rather than Enerjak himself". _Now that's more like it_; hoping he was keeping the glee off his face, Shadow celebrated a minor victory as he acknowledged the progress he'd just made; _we're starting to get somewhere_;

"Wait, he's supposed to be the boss of that outfit", he had to admit he was a fair actor; from his point of view the indignation sounded very genuine; in reality he couldn't have given a damn about how loose or tight Enerjak's control was, it was him he was going after all the same, "doesn't he have the guys that send out his orders on a tight leash, make sure they don't cock it up?"

"He does, and I will admit that said leash has become noticeably tighter over recent times".

"Why?" At this question Spectre regarded Shadow squarely and the hedgehog's eyebrows rose significantly; why was the echidna suddenly looking so haggard and wearily upset?

"I cannot say for certain, but if I was to hazard a guess I'd say that the death of Lien-Da has rattled him, and the Legion as a whole to a lesser extent; she was the first loss of this new campaign, if you will, and a significant one at that. As a programmer and researcher I understand she was quite brilliant and the fact that she was a tangible link to the former grandmaster suddenly broken wasn't overlooked either"; _and if what Julie said was right most of the Legion's men lost a favoured friend when she went down_; trying to appear at least slightly bereaved as he remembered that Lien-Da had, at a very distant level admittedly but a level nonetheless, been a relation of the echidna sat opposite him now, Shadow lowered his head in deference as Spectre finished, "but since the aborted attempt to hold Lara-Le for ransom the Legion appears to have forsaken strength of arms completely; I can imagine that would chafe with some of the more warlike members of the Legion", the ebon echidna chuckled for a second before looking grim once more, "I can certainly tell Kragok isn't a big fan of pacifism".

"Kragok?" _Julie's half-brother, but he doesn't know that does he?_; hastily deciding to scout for more information, the hedgehog asked in what he hoped was an off-hand manner, "what's he got to do with anything, oh, and does he really have a claw for a hand?"

"Yes he does, and a bloody ugly thing it is and all; he's occasionally a representative of the Legion at the council – I think Enerjak's attempting to civilise him", Spectre's lips twisted into a half-smile, half-grimace, "so far it isn't working".

"The Chaotix mentioned he looked a bit grim", desperate for some more time to rearrange his plans in the light of what he'd heard so far, Shadow attempted to keep the conversation focussed on information he didn't much care about, "he's not a smart-talking kind of guy then?" Spectre shook his head,

"At times he makes Espio seem talkative"; _that bad huh?_; "at others he's all charm and persuasion, it's quite disturbing to observe at a distance; I'd like to get a bit closer and see things, more clearly", seeing the ancient echidna's fingers twitch Shadow cottoned on to what he meant and nodded, allowing Spectre to continue, "but he's always very guarded with strangers – I don't think he trusts anyone outside the Legion at all, barely lets them close enough to talk to him, never mind touch. But anyway, that's off the topic; all I'll say in stone is that I really can't see Enerjak involved in a pointless revenge attack, but one of the officers under him might have decided to act on his or her own initiative – the Legion's got such a closely-guarded chain of command I wouldn't even know where to start telling you where to point the finger save at those you know to be responsible, namely the sergeant, Xenin".

"Yeah, Julie always said he had it in for her; apparently he was into perfection, wouldn't tolerate anything less and everyone suffered if he was in an evil frame of mind. But there's the rub", Shadow gave a shrug, having already decided what he was doing next but wanting to leave the seventh-father without a nasty taste, "not even you can be a hundred percent sure the Legion hasn't changed its tactics this time?"

"No, I can't; I will, however", not expecting this, Shadow paid close attention and, as Spectre made his offer, couldn't deny gratitude rising through his chest, "raise the point at the next opportunity I have; they can twist and turn all they like, but no-one keeps a straight answer from me for long".

"Thanks for that"; Shadow meant the words he spoke, touched that the echidna would look out for Julie, until recently, especially from the point of view of a guardian as old as Spectre, one of the enemy, as such a high level for no other reason than to put his, and by extension her, mind at ease, "but I think that's all I need; oh, sorry, I tell a lie", crossing his fingers and muttering silent pleas for help from above that just this once he'd manage to hoodwink the implacable seventh-father, Shadow did his best to sound as though he'd just thought of the idea he'd been honing since last night, "is Locke about, I need a word".

"Locke", there was a pause barely long enough to blink in before Spectre confirmed his guest's request, "yes, he's in his laboratory; what do you want to see him?"

"Oh, just a couple of odds and ends"; once more Shadow had to clamp down against a stupid grin giving the game away under Spectre's mildly curious eye before, with an almost unregisterable nod, the echidna seemed content to leave it at that,

"Very well, I'll take you to him".

"Oh no, don't trouble yourself", Shadow waved a hand, "I can find my way there; fourth right from here, down that corridor until you get across the meeting hall, then immediate right, two doors down on the left, correct?"

"No, not even close", Spectre chuckled at the hedgehog's disappointment before hefting himself upright and walking for the door, Shadow trailing behind him and looking on as Spectre pointed outwards, "it's not far from here; go left, second corridor on the left, follow it through the twists and turns and it's on the right somewhere, might still have some flakes of red on the door".

"Okay, I got it"; Shadow made to set off, only to find his progress arrested as a hard, stifling grip caught his upper arm, "hold it; I've told you what I can, now it's your turn".

For a second the black hedgehog was perplexed, twisting his head to look over his shoulder, it was only when he saw the expectant smirk on the seventh-father's lips that he realised what Spectre was angling after,

"Oh I get it; just one thing though", the echidna raised an eyebrow, "what caused the row?"

"I'm not sure and I don't particularly care", the ancient guardian sighed, shaking his head at the impulsiveness of his descendents before reciting airily, "something about Athair setting up a bucket and it landing on Thunderhawk's foot and it all blowing up from there; sometimes I just feel like throttling the lot of them, they act so childish – are you all right?"

"Yeah", Shadow tried to rein in his twisting face as he tried to imagine something like the pain of a full bucket landing on your already-broken toe, "just, er, before you go around with the sandal this time, just talk to Thunderhawk – that'll let you know why he might have reacted that badly to a bucket". Spectre's eyes hardened for a second as if trying to winkle the reason being that statement from directly out of the hedgehog's mind before, apparently deciding it'd be more fun to get the information straight from the horse's mouth, let the subject drop to move onto something a lot more appetising,

"I'll bear it in mind, now", he clapped, rubbing his hands as Shadow grinned and beckoned him in, "let's hear it".

A second later, a chuckle began to boom and echo throughout the underground fastness of Haven, a noise of mirth so dark and devious that the guardians who could hear it broke out in cold sweats as they tried to imagine what was running through their grandfather's mind to provoke that kind of response from him.

XXX

A few minutes walking later, Shadow came to just outside a door with the remnants of a red cross marked out on it in red paint, taking a couple of breaths to reassert his plan in the light of Spectre's council. Though he'd not been able to provide an answer directly, the ebon echidna had nonetheless imparted some very important information and the hedgehog now had the chance to make sense of it, fine-tuning his scheme to make the probability of success slightly higher than it had been in the beginning; _now I've got a better target to aim at, a clearer picture of who to go after_. With a final nod, Shadow put that matter from his mind and, surreptitiously checking his list and ticking off the top part of it, squared his shoulders to tackle the next item on the agenda; raising his fist, he knocked hard on the door to the Brotherhood's laboratory. There was a tense pause before, to his relief, the sound of footsteps became gradually louder and he was forced to skip back as the door swung open outwards,

"Good morning? Shadow, it's been a little while".

"You're telling me", the hedgehog joked, hoping to keep this casual until he got inside and could talk to the scientist one-on-one, "sorry I missed you yesterday, you…" He stopped as though ploughing into a brick wall, everything lost for the moment as for the first time he looked Locke square in the face.

If the eyes are supposed to be the windows to the soul, according to the azure painted glass he was currently looking into the building was currently unoccupied and had been for a little while. Shadow saw concern visibly twitch across the second-youngest guardian's face, physically viewed it manifesting as his lips pulled into a frown and his brow wrinkled, but absolutely none of that reached Locke's eyes; they were as blank and reflective as if they'd been inked on his face.

"Shadow", the tone was perhaps the only thing that completely prevented the image of a waxwork talking to him; despite the nothingness around his eyes Locke could still talk normally, "something wrong?"

"Yeah, I nearly forgot what I was here for; just remembered though", the hedgehog offered, though his already weak smile was diluted even further as he saw Locke's expression dim; _he knows I'm bluffing, just too polite, or he doesn't care enough, to mention it_; "anyway, can we go…?"

"Come in", the echidna stepped to the side to allow the hedgehog past, Shadow almost shivering as something about the room he walked into chilled him, almost as if it had picked up on its creator's new feelings of serene indifference and had begun to echo them in his stead, "what can I do for you?" Trying hard not to shiver in this alien, clinical environment, Shadow looked back around at his friend's father and, tapping his fingers together, began his odd request,

"Yeah, well, this might sound weird, but I'm after something like this…"

The next five or so minutes seemed to be harder than the half-hour he'd spent with Spectre and there was a single reason for that; when he was trying to cover his tracks, he had no idea if Locke was buying his bluffs or not – the air of calmness around him remained unflappable whatever emotions filled the hedgehog's words; _what I wouldn't give for a poker face like that_. It was all Shadow could do to cross his fingers as, having answered the scientist's entirely reasonable but, spoken as they were in Locke's new, faintly disturbing manner, rather like Andy taken up to the nth degree, infuriatingly irking questions, the echidna settled onto his back foot, trying to puzzle something out,

"I think I can picture what you're on about – how long a time frame would she need to check the calibration, roughly?"

"About", Shadow shrugged casually, seeming to pluck a figure from out of thin air, "fifteen minutes, not too much longer than that".

"Excellent"; _huh?_; "I have some old designs that might match your friend's needs"; _wow, that's just peachy_; Shadow was extremely grateful Locke turned his back to reach a couple of drawers as he was certain his triumphant exclamation must have lit up his face like a lighthouse beacon before he could control it completely, "I'll have to do a bit of tweaking to make sure it's a hundred percent safe, but in theory it's all there". Seeing the thin metal wand Locke held up for his inspection and noticing with relief the single button protruding from the bottom of it, Shadow nodded,

"Well, no-one better qualified to judge than you Locke", the scientist smiled at the praise, though again the emotion never touched his eyes, "I'll leave it with you; any idea how long you'll need?"

"Shouldn't take me long; middle of next week latest".

"Perfect; if I can pick it up sometime after that then; yes, excellent"; _oh this is just going fine_; coupled with the extra information Spectre had given him on a plate Shadow had every reason to feel exultant at this moment in time, "thanks a lot Locke, you've saved a lot of grief here".

"My pleasure", inclining his head, the second guardian moved ahead of Shadow, holding open the exit to his private sanctum and showing the hedgehog out, "let her know if they give her any more trouble, send me a copy of the specifications and I might be able to come up with a more permanent solution".

"Really? Neat; I'll let her know – thanks again Locke, you've been a life-saver here", the echidna chuckled a Shadow made to break away, "anyway, better dash; where's the way out of here from here?" Listening to the instructions with half an ear, the hedgehog waited until Locke had finished speaking and then, with a final farewell, set off briskly, a broad smile nearly ripping his face in half as soon as he was sure Locke wouldn't see him; _typical that is – Julie never stops moaning about how much those metal bits make her life miserable_; a second tick in an hour preluded the replacement of the list; _but if this comes off it'll be those same augmentations that managed to get her off the hook forever._

XXX

It had been both a fruitful and eventful morning; on the elevator upwards, Shadow took great pride in surveying his list and seeing with immense satisfaction the two brazen ticks that adorned the top two items; his sense of achievement was only marred by what he had to tackle next. He knew he could get one easily enough, but actually using it again, especially after last time – was that something he…his internal disagreements were broken up as, stepping out of the cave that housed the entrance of Haven and blinking in the bright sunlight, Shadow heard a chime from his pocket; flipping out his phone, his eyebrows rose almost into his head quills as he saw the trio of missed calls, all coming from the same number. _Wonder what she wants?_; more curious than anything else, Shadow hit redial on the latest number; he doubted there were more than two and a bit rings before a breathless voice gasped,

"Shadow, that you?"

"Yeah, what's…?"

"Get home, get back here now, I don't care what you're doing", the voice overrode him, rattling off the words like machine gun fire, "trust me you'll thank me when you get here; hurry up, there's not a lot of time". Despite Julie's obvious haste, Shadow couldn't help getting in a quick quip,

"You in a hurry, it must be serious; on my way". Quickly hanging up, Shadow plotted the direct route back to Echidnopolis and took off, speeding through the foliage and sending loose leaves whipping up behind him.

The hedgehog arrived at his front door about five minutes later and, hearing the clattering and crashes even from outside, decided against subtlety and took the direct route. Opening his home and striding inside, he nearly jumped straight back out again when Julie exploded from the sitting room, hair askew and one arm in the sleeve of a jumper, frantically looking around before finally seeing the tongue-tied Shadow out the corner of her eye.

"There you are", she bustled over, managing to force the rest of her jumper over her head as Shadow started to throw off his shock a little, "listen, we need to get going; it's showing at midday, we've got about six minutes, you can manage that right?" _Manage what? Okay, I'm confused_;

"Hold it", even someone like Shadow, used to living life in the fast lane, had to take a step backwards and get their fact straight sometimes, "Julie, calmly tell me why you're running around like a cat on a hot tin roof, and where are we going and why?" For a second the echidna stared at him before with a shake of her head reality reasserted itself; pulling in a long breath, the former Legionnaire spoke in a much more rational tone of voice, trying to explain herself,

"Right, got a call from Vector not fifteen minutes ago; he's just rolled out of the morning showing of one of the new flicks down at the Kinema, the old picture house down town?" _Right, I see where this is going_;

"Yeah, I know the place; what did he recommend?"

"He just said 'the funny one'; no word of a lie, he was laughing more than he was speaking, and I could hear at least some of the other Chaotix in pieces in the background - he said see it or you'll regret missing it forever and he was serious".

"Pretty strong recommendation coming from Vec", Shadow commented, thinly amused at the picture of frustrated pleading on Julie's face as it reminded him of the only other time he'd had the echidna completely reliant on his good will, "let me guess, you want to get to the matinee?"

"Yes, if you hurry we can make it; come on", for once actually really keen to go somewhere, Julie stormed forwards and started to bodily push the hedgehog out the door; she virtually screamed when Shadow dug his heels in and refused to budge, looking at her in an oily manner and smirking,

"What's in it for me then – I'm the one doing the running after all?"

"I'll pay you in; hurry up, we've got three minutes".

"Okay, okay", Shadow agreed more in shock than anything else; he'd originally thought the exaggerated haste on Julie's part had been an act but that admission made him think otherwise – compared to him Julie had a much smaller budget and therefore couldn't afford to make many charitable offers; _Vec must have really got her convinced on this one – time to move_.

"Right", in one move he'd jumped forwards, spun around and caught Julie as she fell forwards, deprived suddenly of the resistance to her push and moving forwards under her own momentum; setting her upright for a second, he scooped his key out his pocket, "next stop, the Kinema".

"Finally", Julie huffed bad-temperedly as he locked the front door and picked her up, "the people who say I'm stubborn haven't met you yet". Deciding to be generous, Shadow didn't reply, merely triggering his footwear and taking off, streaming down the street to the next destination and, he thought as he skipped in and out of traffic with accomplished ease, something to take his mind off what was coming tomorrow.

XXX

The flatmates left their apartment at near enough midday; it was early four and a half hours, four and a half hours of almost solid side-splitting, jaw-aching laughter, when the door to their apartment was thrown open and the pair of them half-collapsed through it once more, face muscles strained from grinning so long but still neither able to take anything seriously as they stumbled into their front room and fell down giggling on the furniture.

"Ohh, my legs", Julie stretched out, wriggling her toes as she kicked her shoes off, "how far is it into town from here?"

"About", Shadow choked for a second as the memory of the main character falling head-first into the lap of his personal assistant just as his wife walked through the door pranged his funny bone again, "about three or four miles".

"We must have walked ehehehe-eight to get back", Julie shook her head, wiping the tracks where her tears of mirth had dried into sleep, "all the weaving we did; people must have thought we were drunk".

"Drunk on laughing maybe"; Shadow finally managed to stop his convulsing gut muscles from juddering and giving him a stomach ache at the same time as answer his flatmate, "come on, would you have trusted me to run, the state I was in?"

"Very true", Julie vividly remembered having to prop the hedgehog up in the car park of the Kinema, the hysteria nearly forcing Shadow to his knees as all around him other viewers of the same show were in similar states, "you were in bits earlier".

"You weren't much better yourself; I thought I was going to have to drag you back up the slope here".

"I just remembered that line", managing to keep control of herself this time around, the echidna put on a heavy, macho voice before replacing it with a high falsetto, "'sorry babe, it's in the genes'; 'well in that case keep it there' – just priceless, the look on his face".

"Don't; I can't laugh any more, I'll bust my guts", exerting every ounce of his will Shadow demanded his body not to give in to the encroaching mirth and even then it was touch and go; he almost had to bite his tongue to drown the laughter in pain before falling back onto the settee in a semi-swoon, "I can't move any more – someone throw me into the bedroom so I can get to sleep".

"Not a chance", looking around feebly, Shadow recognised a few flickers of foreboding at the sly smile on Julie's face, "you're turn to cook remember?" _No way_; trying to follow a recipe at the best of time was a test of Shadow's meagre culinary skill; the mere thought of adding to that already poor start a recurrent bout of the giggles and a feeling of weakness at the knees boded for a picture so bleak he couldn't bring himself to contemplate it,

"Forget it; fetch the telephone directory", seeing Julie's look of shocked incredulity, he nodded to confirm his decision, "you dial it, you choose the meal, okay?"

"Sure; right than", rubbing her hands together in glee, the echidna stood on shaking legs and tottered into the kitchen, her progress punctuated by the odd snigger and recital of a couple of her favourite lines as she started to plough her way through to the number of her favourite restaurant, "wonder if they've still got that special on offer – oh well, even if they haven't I'm not paying".

"You shouldn't need too much, not after all those sweets you had", Shadow reminded her, being careful to add a light-hearted note to his voice as he did so, "diet, what diet?" Julie's riposte was immediate,

"Like I said, I wasn't paying", there was a slight pause before the echidna spoke again, "anyhow, thanks for that".

"You paid me in, we're even"; Shadow was quick to put that issue to bed even if he had ended up a little out of pocket – he could accommodate a shortfall much more readily than Julie could, "now get the food moving; my stomach must think my throat's been cut".

"I wish mine did occasionally; I should have said no to those extra chocolate sprinkles, but they're just so moreish".

"I know, but you're stomach's fine from what I can see; now, if you don't mind", he looked over the arm of the settee to Julie with her ear to her phone, finger on her lip to indicate silence was needed; seeing and accepting this, the hedgehog mimed dropping off and, taking her nod as understanding, Shadow rolled over and fluffed up his pillow, not falling asleep but certainly allowing himself to relax as he settled down a little, taking in what he'd seen and using it to strengthen his resolve for tomorrow.

A little while later, having sated themselves with the meal Julie had ordered and just finished off the remainder of the clearing up, Shadow drew himself to his full height and tried to look his flatmate in the eye, still not entirely able to do so without finding something funny and smiling,

"So", she raised an eyebrow, obviously anticipating his next words, "ready for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, Kadu's going to walk me in in the morning, no need for you to miss work this time?" _If only you knew…_;

"You have no idea how grateful I am for that", the hedgehog gave an ironic bow, causing Julie to hitch with stifled laughter before she managed to beat down the encroaching giggles and speak back,

"Right, I'm going for a shower then I'm going to bed".

"Sounds like a plan, go for it, I'll finish off in here", Shadow made his offer and, after answering her unspoken question with an equally silent affirmative answer, he set about tidying up the flat in general, folding up the remains of food cartons and sorting them into recyclable and non-recyclable waste. It wasn't until he heard the bathroom door slam and the muffled sounds of the shower starting up that he sat down at the kitchen table, took a long, deep breath and reaffirmed with himself what he was going to do a few scant hours from now; _and_; he looked across the table, staring into space as two very different pictures passed before his mental vision; _why I'm doing it_.

The two pictures contrasted wildly; twice Julie had rested her head on his shoulder, once in terrified shock and once in helpless laughter; seeing them both flash before his half-closed eyes, Shadow knew which one he'd rather see again; _and if this is the only way to make sure, make completely and utterly certain, that I'll never see her as scared as that_; paper crinkled under his fingers as his hand reflexively curled around the list in his pocket, a snarl on his hand as he rose to the challenge; _then let's get it on_.

XXX

His lucky streak seemed to be continuing; keeping up the appearance of having just a normal week at the office, Shadow left his house at the normal time and, up until he got out the front door of his apartment block, he kept up the same steady pace he always affected at the start of the day, a brisk, unhurried walk to prime his muscles for the day ahead. However, once he was sure he was out of sight of his home just in case Julie broke the habit of a lifetime and actual got up at a reasonable hour of the morning, the hedgehog turned a complete half circle on his heel and took off, running like a bullet as he doubled back on himself and plunged into the wilderness surrounding the city, homing in on his eventual destination like a missile and screeching to a halt outside the shrine of the Master Emerald a mere quarter of an hour later, listening in as he thought he could hear a couple of very muffled voices coming from inside,

"Right, you…", straining his ears, Shadow tried to catch the words dancing on the very edge of his hearing, "…one shot…kay?"

"Yeah"; _sounds like Knuckles, but who's in with him_; as there was another noise from inside, rather like a mat being beaten to get rid of the dust it contained, Shadow quickly added another question to the tally that needed answering; _and why's he trying to beat them up?_ Brow furrowed deep enough to grow crops in, the former ultimate life-form hustled down the entrance of the shrine, picking up further words but not taking them in until he was within range; peeking carefully around the corner where the green glow was coming from, Shadow followed the flight of the body through the air and immediately deduced what was going on; _Charmy, I think you might need to learn a bit quicker than that_.

Shadow winced as the bee came crashing down to earth belly-first, having attempted to glide to reduce the impact his descent was sure to make on the sandy floor of the shrine; however, having become accustomed to the indestructibility of the smallest Chaotix following a closer personal association since his move from Station Square, the hedgehog wasn't surprised to see the insect pick himself up, dust himself off and, after a mere second of catching his breath, saunter back to where Knuckles was waiting; though he was facing away from Shadow, the hedgehog would have guessed the guardian was smiling slightly,

"You said only one shot Knucks".

"And you forgot the first rule in a fight"; Charmy groaned and slapped his hand over his eyes, repeating a series of words in the same time frame as his teacher, "never believe what anyone tells you they're going to do". Shadow's eyebrows raised at this somewhat; in all the time he'd known the echidna Knuckles had never been sneaky and devious like that; _some of Rouge must have rubbed off on him, but still_; after smiling wistfully for a second Shadow's smile grew to dangerous proportions; _he needs taking down a peg after that_. Thinking along these lines, Shadow waved quickly to catch the bee's attention,

"Right, I…", Charmy tailed off but Shadow was just quick enough; jamming his finger to his lips, the hedgehog was relieved to see the bee carry on smoothly, not giving the echidna a hint that Shadow was even there, "…I'll get it this time – come on", sliding his back leg out, the insect relaxed into his fighting stance, "hit with everything you've got". _Come on, just a little closer_; having been sneaking forwards since signalling his now partner-in-crime, Shadow rejoiced as he saw Knuckles step back into his normal ready stance, fists forwards and completely unsuspecting what was coming as he continued,

"Okay Charm, I'll hit you, or at least try to", Shadow doubted he was ten paces away – he thought about making a dash for it but decided better of it, continuing his silent, steady progress towards his unsuspecting quarry, "it's up to you to dodge; remember, the attack can come from anywhere, and at any time", five to go, Shadow was even holding his breath by this point to avoid giving the game away, "it's up to you to be ready and expect the unexpected, just like I can"; _oh really?_;.

That statement was the killer – unable to avoid biting on such a tempting lure, Shadow darted forwards, arms outstretched, ready to burrow into the echidna's ribs with a caustic comment on his lips. Next second, however, his anticipation turned to dread; there was a whirlpool of red in his vision, both his hands were seized in a crushing grip and a sense of vertigo assailed him as he felt himself pitched forwards, feet torn from the earth as there was a sudden upward thrust in the pit of his gut to send him hurtling forwards, too shocked even to scream as his body curled into a natural ball and braced for impact.

XXX

Knuckles watched on as Shadow sailed overhead; despite his iron hold on his emotions, the guardian wouldn't have been able to call himself Mobian if he hadn't let the merest sliver of a smug smirk sidle over his face; _that'll teach you to try and get clever on my home turf Shads_. Eager to seize the moment completely, the guardian rolled back onto his shoulders and then exploded upwards, landing squarely on his feet and turning around in time to offer Charmy a hand up from where he'd thrown himself onto the floor to avoid being flattened by the flying Shadow.

"Well done buzz-boy", the bee looked up mute, not actually registering the mammoth hand that hovered in front of his eyes, "you dodged it, though I have to admit I wouldn't worry about specific defences for that attack", the echidna added with a smile, seeing understanding dawn on his student's face and Shadow start to pick himself up in the background, "not many people in the streets will throw a hedgehog at you".

"Just as well", taking the offered hand Charmy quickly pulled himself upright, slapping the echidna's muscled shoulder with a chuckle, "I'd hate to see the kind of damage it'd do if they landed it right".

"You and me both", Shadow hailed the pair after shaking his head to clear out the sand caught in his back spikes, "okay, how'd you know I was there?" There was a brief moment of silence before Knuckles set his eyes reverentially on the dais in the centre of the shrine where the Master Emerald sat silently,

"The Master is beginning to reveal the secrets of my bloodline to me", he bowed his head as he continued, "by it's grace I can see those who would enter this sacred place with ill in their hearts, although", he looked up again, laughing slightly as Shadow shook his head, a wry smile disguising the roll of his eyes, "seeing your reflection in Charmy's eyes helped a lot; that's why we always say keep your eyes on theirs".

"I'll keep it in mind", the bee assured his teacher before, suddenly seeming to remember something, he turned to look over at Shadow, "hey, why are you here, shouldn't you be working right now?"

"Normally yes, but not today", Knuckles felt the humour drain out of the air as Shadow looked directly at him, face as grim and remorseless as if it had been chiselled from a granite cliff, "I'll cut to the point Knucks"; _so it comes to this_; the guardian knew the question, had known it would be coming for nearly two years and still, as Shadow asked it, found himself at a loss for a definite answer,

"I need to borrow a Chaos Emerald".

XXX

For a second the shrine was silent; Charmy looked from one to the other as Shadow and Knuckles kept their eyes locked, seeming to communicate telepathically as one looked for an a answer, the other struggled to provide one. The seconds extended into minutes before, with a barely audible sigh, Knuckles broke the deadlock with a single word that said so much,

"Why?"

"Because", the answer he'd spent most of last night preparing almost slithered away from him but, with a last desperate grasp he held it in his memory, "I think it's time Knuckles; I've got to relearn what Metal took for me, the power I used to have".

"That's the problem Shadow; you're my friend, never believe anything different, but you must understand", placing his hands on his hips, the echidna lowered his gaze, almost unable to admit something like a failing as he spoke again in a much quieter voice than before, "before, before the Overlord, you were different, and I mean really different; with Chaos Control you were virtually unbeatable – the only reason Sonic stood a chance against you was because he mastered the trick as well. I have no idea what it must be like living with a broken memory but you have to understand", finally dredging his eyes upwards, the echidna managed to somehow bring his gaze into line with Shadow's crimson stare,

"I don't want that Shadow to come back, in fact I don't think the world can afford for that Shadow to come back. Can you put your hand on your heart and say, for certain, that if you can master Chaos Control again, he's history, never coming back?"

"You know I can't do that Knucks; in fact you must know I'm the last person who could because I don't have a clue what's lurking in there for me", after a minute of taking in Knuckles' words, Shadow stated what to him maws both obvious, and painful, "I've read what I've done, but there's no way I want to do that again, no way I'd dream of doing that again. But I can't stop this, not now; it's started to make sense", he tapped his temple, eyes losing their focus slightly as he recollected a couple of at least partially true flashbacks, trying to convince Knuckles to part temporarily with what he needed to unlock the puzzle Julie's attackers had set for him, "there are flashes, strange bursts of light, sometimes; I never knew what they meant, why the words 'Chaos Control' were so important, then when I actually did it", a slight pause, letting Knuckles take that in and remember that his intervention had been the only thing to save Sonic and Amy's lives in the fall-out left by Dimitri's defeat, "things started to click. This might be the thing that does it, Chaos Control might let me see everything I lost again. You asked a question I couldn't answer, so it's my turn now – can you deny me that chance, a shot to bring back the past?"

XXX

Again the silence fell, an awful emptiness that seemed to swallow the shrine, distending like a serpent's gullet as once more there were only these two Mobians in communication, a complex flow and counterflow of question, answer, explanation and reason, all spoken through silent language without a word uttered. A finger twitch, an eye blinking at the right or wrong time was worth the proverbial thousand words as both Mobians were left worrying over an almost impossible bone of contention. Then, suddenly, the bone gave way; Shadow and Knuckles both whirled at the sudden scraping noise, seeing Charmy lever the yellow Chaos Emerald, the only one of the seven still held within the shrine, out of the pedestal it sat upon. Both could, and perhaps should, have raised a protest to this action but found themselves mute as the bee turned around, the priceless gem cupped in his hands as he looked from one to the other. With a final sigh, the youngest Mobian present suddenly began walking, one foot hitting the ground in front of the other with such deliberation that the sand swirled upwards at the falling pressure.

"Swear", the bee spoke as he came onwards inexorably, "swear that what Knuckles said will happen; no matter what you remember, no matter how much it hurts, you will not forget what happened here – no matter what you decide in the end, if you manage to get the trick right again, you'll only ever use these emeralds to help, never to hinder. You have a duty Shadow", suddenly Charmy looked much older as he came to a stop directly in front of the hedgehog, not flinching as Shadow gazed down at him, "your friends know how strong you were once; if you get that strength back, you've got a duty to make sure you use that strength responsibly; it's a wonderful thing to have the strength of a giant, but tyrannical to use it like a giant – remember that".

Shadow didn't reply in words; he doubted he could have done so – he knew, there was no way of not knowing, that the bee was one hundred percent serious in this declaration and that he was taking it extremely seriously; _just like I am_. Never breaking eye contact for a second, the former ultimate life-form nodded, just once; a second later, he gently accepted the jewel the bee passed up to him, picking it reverentially out of the raised arms to cradle it next to his chest, feeling the cold weight next to his warm, living fur.

"I'll bring it back this afternoon", he spoke the clause hollowly, knowing that the issue had already been settled but desperate to give as much back as was possible, "you got my word on that".

"Good", Knuckles answered, equally as pointlessly, stepping aside from where he was stood in front of the shrine entrance, "get going, and ring if anything goes horribly wrong".

"Story of our lives isn't it?" That weak joke was the end; Shadow knew he had to get away from here, out of the shrine, master the power of the Chaos Emerald he now held and settle Knuckles' fears at the same time he would Julie's; he had to prove he could resist the taint of whatever strength the emerald bestowed upon him. Without another word, the hedgehog headed for the exit, pausing only to nod to the other pair of occupants of the shrine of the Master Emerald before disappearing out into the sunlight once more.

XXX

With a sigh, Knuckles let his hands fall to his hips, swinging pendulously from the end of his arms as he seemed to now lack the strength to hold them upright. He had always known what his answer to Shadow's request would have been but, all the same, it chafed horribly that in giving the hedgehog his chance at remembrance, he might have dredged the murk too deeply. There was always the chance, no matter how slim, of revealing something dark and terrible, the ultimate life-form that had once tried to rein havoc and hellfire over the planet to settle some ancient grudge over the life a single young girl; _and worst come to worst, if he really decided to go all out_; swivelling to look over his shoulder, the guardian saw the resting form of the Master emerald standing resplendent in its normal pedestal, but even this offered faint hope against the destructive force of nature Shadow had once been; _I know for a fact I couldn't do a damn thing to stop him_.

"Knucks"; the tap at his arm almost sent him jumping out of his skin, though fortunately for his sense of self-esteem he managed to keep his feet on the ground, settling for a low bark of alarm instead as Charmy looked up morosely, "sorry if I shouldn't have done that; I don't know if you wanted the emerald kept or not, but Shadow needs it now, at least he does as far as I can see it, more than we do".

"I know", the guardian replied after a second, speaking in a weary sigh, "I just hope we've done the right thing between us".

"He'll be alright", ever the optimist, the insect pointed out the entrance to the shrine with one eye on the guardian's reactions, "when was the last time you can remember him breaking a promise?"

As he'd hoped, the question got Knuckles thinking along different, less depressing lines than he had for the past couple of minutes; Charmy could virtually see the echidna's face lighting up as the seconds flowed by, culminating in a smile etching itself across the normally stern features. With a rumbled laugh filling his ears, Charmy felt the weight of the guardian's hand on his shoulder,

"I used to wonder why Vector had you as part of the Chaotix, now I think I…" with a bark of shock Knuckles suddenly found his arms wind-milling as he tried to keep his balance, offset by the bee's sudden push in his side; too late, his centre of balance had gone completely and he toppled onto his rear end, "What? What d'ya do that for?" Expecting some sort of excuse for his low shot, Knuckles instead found himself wondering why Charmy was waving a finger at him and grinning smugly,

"Who forgot the first rule this time, Knuxie? Always be ready".

"Right, true enough I suppose"; Knuckles shook his head and hitched forwards on the ground, seeking to close the distance between himself and the smirking insect; he waited until Charmy was just looking away before demonstrating the low sweep technique his wife had taught him and pouncing as he opponent fell, "okay you, get ready for a pounding!"

XXX

Even at midday, when Charmy had disappeared with a wave to be replaced by Mighty, Knuckles didn't head for his own home; some deep instinct instructed him to wait within the structure and oversee the safe return of the loaned emerald, to soothe his still-troubled mind if nothing else. Thus he'd spent about four or five hours amiably chatting away with the armadillo who, ever eager for a new challenge to help work with her strength, helped him carry out some badly needed structural repairs to the shrine itself while taking an interest in the developments of his mother's pregnancy. As he carefully slashed through a knotted creeper, testing the weight bearing capacity of his handiwork by releasing his grip on the stonework around him by small increments, Knuckles still managed to tune in with half an ear as Mighty called up to him,

"So any idea what they're going to call him yet?" _Oh yeah, that little detail_; having sat though and participated in a couple of the frantic political sessions that Lara had promised would solve the naming issue in a calm and diplomatic manner, Knuckles was grateful the armadillo couldn't see the size of the grin on his face from her position of bulwarking one of the pillars directly underneath him;_ you have no idea how much money reality TV would have paid me for a transcript of those kind of arguments_;

"No, nothing concrete and long may that continue", he had to let a little chuckle slip at this point, the vision of his mother and step-father almost at each other's throats as they argued about how one of the random names in his mother's ancient book of baby names was supposed to be pronounced, "it's so much fun to listen to; much better than anything at Haven".

"Tell me about it", Mighty's voice floated up to his lofty perch in agreement, "apart from Athair they act so still you'd think someone had shoved metal bars up their…oh", perturbed by the armadillo tailing off, Knuckles looked over his shoulder to see with equal parts relief and consternation Shadow stood in the shrine entrance, emerald held safely in his cupped left hand as he nodded towards where Mighty was standing, "…Hi Shadow, what are you doing here? And I thought that rock had gone walkabouts".

"Yeah, it's my new business; let me exercise your pet rock while you're at work; not a lot of interest so far but it's early days yet", the hedgehog joked before a swishing noise made him glance upwards, "before you ask, no", he shook his head as Knuckles tucked his body in to drop the last couple of feet to the floor following a glide downwards, "no luck this time; can't pull it off yet".

"Rome wasn't built in a day", the echidna countered sagely as he caught the emerald Shadow threw to him, the multiple facets of the pristinely cut jewel sending the light from the ceiling shimmering in myriad yellow rays as it cut though the air towards its keeper, "you'll be back…?"

"Tomorrow", the hedgehog answered him at the prompt, "I need to get home for now. I'll see you then Knucks".

"I'm not going anywhere; see you".

As the sand settled following Shadow's high-speed departure, Knuckles raised a hand to forestall the question he knew Mighty was brimming to ask,

"It's about his past Mighty", he turned around, seeing the curiosity drain out of the armadillo like air from a punctured tyre, replaced with acceptance as she recognised the circumstances now, "somehow it's linked with the Chaos Emeralds; he thinks maybe if he has one around him, something will come back".

"Oh is that why he had it, to try and break through his amnesia", the shell-sheltered shoulders shrugged once as Mighty totted up the relevant points and came to a conclusion, "in that case it's lucky you've got one isn't it?" _Yeah_; though he tried to act earnestly to dissuade any suspicion from his work colleague, Knuckles couldn't quite dispel the core of uncertainty that still rolled around in his heart of hearts as to whether he was doing the right thing; _maybe_.

XXX

Despite almost a year of quite happily married bliss, Rouge had never really lost her knack for reading people and discerning if they were carrying what she considered to be useful information. Of course, the ease with which this was accompanied depended a lot on the person she was attempting to read; it was perhaps fortunate, therefore, that Knuckles did and probably always would wear his heart on his sleeve. One night where he came home from the shrine looking agitated was suspicious but not outright serious, however, as she looked up to see the gliding form of her husband from one of the windows of the cabin they shared and saw the same picture, she decided two was downright odd. Something was definitely up and her innately curious nature was itching to know what it was; though technically there should have been no secrets between husband and wife, Rouge knew her knucklehead well enough to understand that despite his uncompromising love for her he was by nature a loner who liked to do things on his own; in this respect he was a lot like her. This knowledge that would have perhaps doomed a weaker relationship was mitigated by the equal knowledge that, should the going get really tough for either of them, the other would be there to back them up to the hilt; _until then we can manage separately – we don't need each other to look into everything we do. Just as well really_; running her tongue along her teeth, the bat let a slightly oily smirk slide over her face as she pictured her husband's expression a couple of months from now; _I'd hate him to second-guess what I've got planned for our first anniversary…_

A thump at the front door alerted her; locking away those images of joyful depravity back up where they belonged, Rouge turned to wave as Knuckles tromped inside, running his hands through his dreadlocks to dislodge a couple of leaves before taking a seat at their table, letting out a long groan,

"Gahh, thank the spirits that's done", flumping down, he let out a groan and stretched an arm over his head, loosening his tensed muscles as his wife watched on, "just left you the tidying up to do, make sure all the rope work's still okay in the morning, you've got nimbler fingers than me". Rotating his neck to get a decent stretch out of the muscles there, cramped from spending so long hunched in small alcoves in the shrine, Knuckles heard the bat move up behind him before she replied,

"True; Lara said to give you a kiss from her, and to tell you all three are coping quite nicely". As there was a light pressure on his cheek and he leaned into the source of his bride's affections, a thought twigged off in the echidna's mind and he twisted in his seat, reciprocating Rouge's kiss before enquiring,

"Get a look at the picture she mentioned?"

"Yeah; looks kind of funny, I couldn't see much myself", even with the benefit of hindsight the ex-spy couldn't decipher any kind of picture from the ultrasound scan readout, "to me it looked like one of those funny pictures you have to see through, ever seen one?"

"Nah, I'll hopefully get a peek tomorrow; not long now"; Knuckles broke off his words to grin fondly – he'd been counting down the days until his baby brother was born with the same diligence Lara had. Recognising the male broodiness stirring in her husband's face, Rouge smiled in kind, deciding not to ask the question just yet; _better to wait until after we've eaten, go from there. Yeah, play it slow and steady, go in that way, more likely to get results_.

However, after the brief uplifting by the news of his mother, Knuckles seemed to sink back into the serious fug that had encased him last night; their meal was eaten in virtual silence until, unable to think of any other way to break the silence, Rouge tried to ease her suspicions into the open with a minimum of fuss,

"So", Knuckles looked over at her, "shrine repairs go all right?"

"Yeah, just a couple of spots need a bit of touching up tomorrow, you'll be okay yeah?"

"You bet; you're talking to the girl who could field-strip an AKA 47 in thirty seconds not so long back don't forget", the bat reminded him before moving on, "but I bet having Mighty there helped?"

"Tell me about it; worth her weight in gold that armadillo, and the rest of the Chaotix seem to have softened up a bit because of her, even Espio".

"I thought he looked a little on edge last time I saw him, bit like he was waiting for bad news or something", the bat commented, then, taking the plunge, she let her question out in a rush, "Knuckles, what else happened today?" For a second the echidna didn't reply, instead choosing to meet her gaze halfway across the table, not backing down an inch as she kept her eyes level and piercing. It was like it had always been, each competing against the other until, with a wry smile, Knuckles relented and sat back,

"How'd you know something else?"

"Female intuition", the bat smirked, tapping the side of her nose before suddenly glaring at him, "now, you going to tell me of your own free will or do I have to break out the feminine charm as well?" Seeing the half-masked desire behind the bat's eyes, Knuckles let his smile relax a little before continuing,

"Maybe later", he tipped her a wink before becoming slightly more serious, "but yeah, we had a visitor, me and Charm, at the shrine, first thing in the morning near enough, just like yesterday; can't say it wasn't unexpected, but still", he sighed once more, eyes dragged down to the level of the table top as he came to the crux of his issue, "Shadow's trying to remember Chaos Control, and he borrowed the yellow Emerald to do it".

_That time already_; like Knuckles, Rouge had always known somehow, in the back of her mind, that somewhere along the line that old monster was going to rear its head out of the closet and try to pull the hedgehog in; _and he's in the same mess as I would be_. Seeing the conflict roiling in the echidna's soul, Rouge reached over, placing her paw atop his own and holding softly, her grip conferring support at the difficulty of the issue he, as guardian of the Master Emerald and therefore its synthetic progeny as well, was having to deal with alone.

"You couldn't say no Knucks, but I understand", he looked up from her hand as she read his struggle as though there was an autocue stapled to his forehead, "you're worried about him, that he'll suddenly start going back to the total annihilation mode he used to have".

"And with Chaos Control he'd be damn near impossible to stop", the guardian finished for her, sighing as once more Rouge demonstrated how closely they were linked in mind and soul, "but you hit the nail on the head, I couldn't stop him; he said things were starting to make sense, he had to take this shot at getting back the past and I had to let him take it".

"I'd defy anyone to hold him back, especially if they knew even part of what he'd gone through", Rouge assured her soul mate before, almost with a cartoon light bulb pinging on overhead, a potentially perfect solution whipped into her mind, "wait a sec; Knuckles, he's been coming for two days to get the Emerald yeah?"

"That's right; what are you dreaming up this time?"

"Nothing", Rouge shot back from the lip before, seeing Knuckles raise an eyebrow in polite disbelief, rephrased her answer slightly, "well, nothing too sneaky; it's just, he's going to be coming back right? I mean, he hasn't got the trick right yet has he?"

"No, he said he's had no luck so far".

"Okay, leave it with me then, I think I've got the situation in hand"; Knuckles slapped a paw across his face and spoke through gritted teeth,

"You know I hate it when you say those words".

"Why do you think I keep saying them?"

"Okay, what have you got brewing this time?"

"Not telling". Knuckles snapped his paw down, light fires of battle kindled in his eyes as he saw the sauciness in the bat's smile,

"Oh really", bringing his hands together, he cracked first one, then the other set of his knuckles as Rouge watched on, apparently unconcerned, "okay, two options, easy way, or hard way?"

"You know me Knucklehead", the bat laughed openly, apparently nor seeing him sliding off his chair and drawing himself slowly to his full height, "if it's not hard, it's not worth doing".

"Good!" Knuckles leapt forwards, catching half a handful of his wife's arm as she tried to twist aside, dragging her backwards as she struggled to get free even if she really wanted to stay caught. By the end of the tussle, long and energetic as it had been, both former treasure hunters were enclosed in each other's arms and neither could quite remember what the reason behind the pre-love wrestling match had exactly been and, as they held each other tightly in perfect bliss, did it really matter anyway?

XXX

Monday had been fruitless, Tuesday had been if anything worse and now, as Shadow glowered at the stone he held cupped in his hands and growled at it in semi-hatred, he realised with a chill of fear that Wednesday looked like it might be heading the same way. He was sat down, staring at the stone as though his gaze alone could chip away at it, like a miner breaking through a stubborn rock face to access the precious ores hidden beneath; maybe if he concentrated on the stone, and only on it, to the exclusion of everything else in the world, maybe that was the trick. He had to be patient, had to let the beautifully cut stone slowly expand in his vision, train not to blink as itchiness reared up around his eyeballs as though they were trying to rebel against seeing the same thing for so long; using willpower alone he suppressed the urge, waiting with seemingly the patience of eternity as the Chaos Emerald in his palm expanded, gradually encapsulating everything in the world, stretching from horizon to horizon like a vast, golden sunset. _This is it_; heeding an instinct he could never have named, the hedgehog recognised the time as being right – he couldn't stare any longer, his vision was starting to blur, Shadow slowly and deliberately intoned the same duo of words he'd repeated monotonously for the past couple of days,

"Chaos Control". He awaited the sensations he could never have accurately described, like travelling so fast you never moved at all, feeling the air and the landscape scraped past you, scratching you with innumerable, sharp fingernails while everything blurred into a sea of whiteness. Then, just as suddenly as it began, it would end; he'd have a split-second to react before anyone else recognised his arrival and then was his time to move, to strike, to act…

But, short of the Chaos Emerald rotating slightly in his hand as his grip loosened fractionally, nothing happened.

Only the image of an irate Knuckles demanding to know where his emerald had gone stopped him flinging the useless jewel into the undergrowth as a bellow born of sheer, undiluted frustration roared out of the cheated hedgehog. Throwing himself to his feet, desperate to take his feelings of helplessness and incompetence out on something, Shadow hurled himself headlong at a nearby shrub bush, feeling a grim satisfaction as he felt the flimsy branches cleft asunder by his sharp spines. Rolling to his feet he lashed out at a nearby branch, breaking it from its parent tree as the questions plagued him; _why won't it work? I know I've done this before_; that was the most galling fact of all – he'd already completed Chaos Control before, there was no logical explanation why he shouldn't be able to do so again; _so what's changed, apart from the circumstances? Is it just me?_

The edge taken off his rage, Shadow once more buried himself in the thoughts of that isolated control, scanning it with a mental toothcomb for any slight discrepancy, any minute hint he may have overlooked, another angle he had previously considered too oblique to try. He was first to admit the memories were not pleasant; though he had never actually held his hand up to the fact and neither Sonic nor Amy had ever pressed about it, there was no denying that had it not been for him neither of the other two hedgehogs would be alive today. As he stood there in his memories again, looking down on the scene and freezing it so perfectly, every detail from the contrails of blood that were slowly snaking through Sonic's azure quills to how Amy's quills were ruffled from the way she had landed, picked out exquisitely, he tried to focus on himself, on his own reactions, think what had been going through his mind in that frantic, desperate second where life and death had hung in the balance by the thinnest thread.

The promise had been his first idea; he remembered his impassioned plea and the resonance it had created, the knowledge that Sonic and Amy had been through so much, fought for so long, that they deserved their one chance to live contented with each other that had allowed him to manage it. Working on that principle, he had tried to recapture that frame of mind, of imploring desperation and the ferocious zeal to make it happen, and transfer it to Julie-Su; he knew she'd had a traumatic life by anyone's standards – surely now she deserved a chance to break away and live free from oppression? Apparently, the stone thought otherwise; no matter how strong the devotion nothing had come of it; having failed that, Shadow had run rings around Echidnopolis, struck by the idea that it might have been something to do with his physical state of exhaustion that had triggered the power and attempting to reconstruct such breathlessness; _and all that got me was out of breath and bad-tempered_; he snarled at the jewel again, once more having to beat down the temptation to run to the side of Angel Island and see if he'd be able to hear the splash as he dropped it into the ocean.

From those two good ideas had sprung at lead a dozen others, each theory more outlandish than the next but all, Shadow remembered them equally with chagrin and fondness equally, worked on to the fullest extent; he couldn't afford to overlook anything, just in case that was the one and he missed it. Now he had to try again, see the next step even if it was getting harder to do so as not only were there less potential options to look at but also, as Shadow's eyes flicked to his watch and he hissed in new fear, his window of opportunity was shrinking under the remorseless drumbeat of time. To lose the chance of finding answers by other factors, such as there not being an emerald to work with in the first place, would have been awful enough, but to lose it through his own inadequacies, that was a festering wound; _I have to try harder, gotta crack this Chaos Control once and for all_. Fuelled by such determination, the ebon hedgehog thrust his head into his hands, blocking out the light to better see the memory, trying to rotate it, view from all angles the possibilities and from them pick out his next idea.

"Hey", the illusion fractured, the scene disappeared in blaze of light as he blinked, lifting his face clear from his palms to look up at Rouge's call, "how's it going?" With a dismissive snort, the hedgehog pointed to the bush he'd recently ripped apart, irked at the intrusion draining yet more of his remaining precious time,

"That answer your question?"

"That good huh?" Rouge queried again, raising an eyebrow as she took in the aftermath of his attack, "ah well, the garden needed pruning I suppose".

"I'm not turning chainsaw for the day", thrusting the stone into the ground point first, realising it was pointless trying to continue with the bat around, Shadow stood up to face the guardian and shrugged, "sorry, but I've got more important things to deal with right now".

"Knuckles mentioned; sorry", the bat apologised out of the blue – Shadow would have raised his eyebrows if she'd given him time to do so, "I would have been here sooner but the last touching up jobs Knucks left me took a bit longer than either of us thought".

"Oh, that time of year again", Shadow finally recalled what had happened this time last year and understood the guardian's current preoccupations with the state of the island; a second after that he smiled craftily, remembering what else had happened this time the previous year, "any chance of a repeat performance this time around?" Realising what he was driving towards, Rouge folded her arms and tried to look disproving,

"No, that's been put back 'til next spring; our first anniversary", she explained before exposing her fangs in a devilish smirk, "and believe me on this, no-one is getting to be overhearing that one unless things get really out of hand". Shadow shuddered,

"Too much info, I don't wanna know what you're going to be subjecting your poor husband to", the hedgehog joked before sobering up once more, "anyway, what brings you out here?" Rouge took a pace back, looking shocked as she folded her hands of the heart of her jumpsuit,

"What, a girl can't spend time with her friends any more – what's the world coming to?" Then, seeing the look of doubt still in the former ultimate life-form's eye, she decided to cut to the chase, "actually I just wanted to see how you were getting on – any luck?"

"Not a slice", the hedgehog scuffed the ground next to the emerald with his toe cap, longing to be able to hoof the damned thing as far away from him as his leg would kick it, "I've tried nearly everything I can think of but nothing's getting me anywhere except fed up. Hey wait"; _yes, she did write that bit_; a new hope seizing him, Shadow suddenly snapped his head up, fixing the bat before him with a pleading, almost demanding stare, "you, you've been on a Chaos Control before, with me, you wrote it down".

"Yeah, I…"

"What was it like?" The need made him forget his manners, all that mattered was cracking this code and mastering the elusive technique he needed to make this whole thing work, "what did I do to get it to work, was it something I said or did, what was it? Can you remember anything?"

_He really wants this, but why_; that much was blindingly obvious, but the reason, Rogue tried to see past the hedgehog's burning desire to know, that was the thing she didn't have yet – the only thing she did have an idea about was that, if this was to do with trying to bring back the past Shadow must have been trying to recall something monumentally huge. After a second of sizing the situation up, the ex-spy knew she had to tread reasonably carefully on such sensitive ground,

"I, ah", she began, even her iron nerves a little rocked by the intensity in her former team mate's blazing stare, tracking her every movement, "I don't remember much, except what it felt like; you just held the emerald, said the magic words and the world went fuzzy – when it all came back into focus, we had a couple of seconds head-start on the rest of reality and that was it, job's a good one. You remember what it felt like though?" She added at the end, hoping to break through the disappointment that had slammed down over his gaze like a barbed portcullis.

"Yeah", he whispered at last, his voice tearing at her hope for him as it breezed in as a dry croak, "your skin's burning up but inside you're frozen, like someone gave you a couple of minutes in the microwave or something", he gave a fatalistic shrug, stooping to collect the grounded emerald he'd put down a few minutes earlier, "I guess that's one thing about it I don't miss".

"You and me both", Rouge said encouragingly, trying to cushion the impact the fact he might never be able to use his skill again must be having on him, "that just felt so, so, ooohh", she gave a shudder, feeling the ants crawling all over her once more and shivering at their awful caress, "I used to hate that, so…" The bat tailed off, not quite sure she liked the way Shadow, having recovered the Chaos Emerald, was now looking from it to her with an almost appraising gleam in his eye.

XXX

It must just have been as she started talking, the second his fingertips closed around the cold facets of the gem that her voice had reached his ears and triggered it; _one thing I didn't think about!_ He stayed perfectly still, not daring to move in case it rippled his recollection, the memory of screaming his technique aloud not to save him, Sonic and Amy, but because of two others, the thought of Tails and Cream scarred for the rest of their lives by the deaths of their adoptive siblings. It couldn't remember exactly, but had they been foremost in his mind the second he'd shouted at the last; _it has to be worth a shot_;

"Rouge", after taking a second to reassure himself she was still there he moved onto step two of his next plan, the merest whispers of anticipation starting to energise him again, "get lost a minute".

"Humph", at the noise of disgust he glanced up to see the bat with her arms folded, looking extremely miffed, "charming".

"No, no", he waved his hands frantically, trying to correct his mistake and get back on with his next idea, "I mean go away, go somewhere and hide, I'll try and find you. Maybe that's it; I need to focus on what I'm going towards, something like a place or a person, like you". Rouge seemed to digest this idea for a few seconds before the light in her eyes sparkled and the penny dropped,

"I get it; right, I'm off"; Shadow stepped aside to let the bat run past him, watching her disappear into the tree growth surrounding them, the emerald as heavy as a wrecking ball in his hand as the wait dragged on, pulling at his sense of patience but he forced himself to wait; rushing things now could be disastrous. _I need a really clear image_; he knew he had to focus on the bat to the exclusion of everything else, but she was a friend, he had so many memories of her, some happy, others not so, conflicting and crashing around in his mind; he had to locate the one that really rose above the others, the one that meant the most…

…he had it.

XXX

_She'd stood before him, the dress encasing her only enhancing the elegance she radiated naturally anyway, her arms open and the expression on her face pleading him to answer her deepest, most sincere request. She had looked so beautiful, but so fragile, a perfect bloom carved from powdered snow; one wrong breath could have reduced her to powder. He had been on tenterhooks, following the course of her hand as it had slowly slipped into his own, as trembling and cold as though it had been dipped in a bucket of ice,_

_"Please Shadow", he looked up only to become a slave to the desperation in her eyes; she could have asked him to run barefoot through hell and in that instant he'd have done it, "could you give me away at the altar?"_

"Chaos Control".

XXX

He knew it was happened but dared not open his eyes; as before, a thousand fingers were scratching him as he was dragged along; for a lunatic second he feared his skin would be ripped clean off by the sensation that suffused every inch of him. For a tormented eternity he was lost in the limbo before, finally, it began to slow down, the jabbing, prodding digits withdrawing slowly as he felt the sense of motion in the pit of his stomach start to disappear slightly. Daring to open his eyes a crack, he looked around, trying to see something else besides the whiteness that had rose around his vision, clouding everything else before he'd shut his eyelids; the picture at first was blurry, there was a hint of hazy colour from the corner of his eyes; he turned his head to see it more clearly; _Christ_; he did a perfect double-take, having to look twice to be absolutely certain what he was seeing; _that's really Rouge. But she left, I…I did it!_

For a second nothing happened, then, with a wild yell of exultation, Shadow leapt upwards, punching the air in triumph; _got it, finally got it right._ The secret was out; he knew how to get the jewels to work for him now – it was just a question of concentrating on where he wanted to be, not why he wanted to get there; armed with such knowledge, all he had left to do was drag the picture he needed off the local networks and see Locke in the morning. Flushed with success, Shadow turned once more to grin at his experimental partner, watch as normal time reasserted itself around the bat; _wait, where'd she…?_ It was only when he looked up, then down very quickly, that he realised what was going on and the air was rent with a second yell, this one a little more urgent than the last; _…oh noooo!_

"Well, that went well", Shadow said a few seconds later, voice volume rising as he saw the look of shame-filled horror on the guardian's face, "I managed it and all's well. Just one tiny request Rouge; next time", his voice rose to a shout as he contemplated his sore sitting-down parts, trying to make himself heard over the guardian's helpless giggling as she realised what had just happened, "hide somewhere on the bloody ground!"

XXX

His euphoria had been so extreme, so powerful, that it was actually Rouge, concerned by the way he was swaying as he found her again, who called an end to the training session.

"Okay, that's enough for now Shads", she took a pace forwards, ready to spring and help prop him up if he fell like it looked he was going to – thankfully such aid was unnecessary as he shook himself and stood up to his full height. He still looked deathly pale, as though using this new technique was draining the vitality out of him in a vile vampire's kiss, the shivers racing around his body an indication of how badly the Chaos Controls were digging into his skin as he managed to mangle a sentence through chattering teeth,

"I, I guess you're right", somehow he managed to smile, "at least I, ah, I got it now huh?"

"Yeah, you got it", filled with concern for his sake, the bat slowly put her hand on his shoulder, trying to look deep into his face, "did it do anything, in there?" Unable to think of anything much meaningful to say and bearing in mind the façade he had adopted to have access to the emerald in the first place, Shadow shook his head. _Damn, after all that work_; Rouge dropped her gaze, desperately disappointed for his sake by the lack of progress; suddenly something appeared under her nose and she looked up again, seeing Shadow offering the yellow stone towards her with a haggard grin,

"Here, take this", slowly she relieved him of his burden, the emerald cool and heavy through her gloves as the hedgehog carried on slowly, "I have to get going now, get back home".

"You do that", Rouge agreed with him, anxious for him to get a good meal and a decent night's sleep after his exertions, "just have a night off, let Julie look after you", she added almost as an afterthought, clamping down on a dervish's smile as her former team mate grimaced,

"And there I was thinking you wanted me to wake up tomorrow – now, which way's Echidnopolis from here?" Glancing around, Rouge swiftly plotted the quickest way home and extended her arm to; following it, Shadow turned to face the right way and primed himself to take off,

"Thanks, let Knuckles know the same", he turned to smile one last time, "you gave me back something I needed". Fatalism reflected in her answer, unable to muster the emotion needed to smile back, Rouge merely gave a feeble wave,

"Just sorry it couldn't help you"; _maybe it didn't help me_; in all honesty Shadow hadn't considered the possibility of his own memory coming back if he relearned his previous trademark and to him it didn't really matter now anyway; _but I know it's going to help someone else_. Unable to think of anything else meaningful to say, the hedgehog simply fired up his footwear and took off, running back to the city as fast as he felt comfortable with in his weakened state.

XXX

Watching until he was out of eyeshot, Rouge stood like a silent statue for a long minute after his departure, then, as slowly as a glacier descending downhill, she turned her gaze down to the Chaos Emerald, fighting just as Shadow had to stop herself hurling it away from her. It wasn't fair; she better than anyone knew what Shadow had lived through, had no choice but to live with now, and with the potential for a breakthrough after a long spell of barren months, the damned emeralds that had been a major part of this whole mess, that would power up cannons that could decimate life on earth, had failed to give back what they'd taken from a single, troubled Mobian. _I know my life is to protect you_; with a disgusted snarl she thrust the rock into her belt pouch, spreading her wings to take off back to the shrine so she could put it back where it belonged; _but that doesn't mean I can't wish you'd never been created in the first place_.

A/N: So, Shadow's remembered Chaos Control, but what's he planning to do with it? Will he remember the promise he made to Charmy and Knuckles, or will future circumstances dictate he'll have no choice but to act against his own word? And where does Julie fit into all this? Answers soon…


	20. Chapter 20 From Mouth and Mind

Chapter 20 – From Mouth and Mind.

A/N: Hopefully this'll have been worth waiting for; reviewers, as always, for where would I be without you:

HHH – Aww, nice little story about your new pet – is he/she settling in okay? Just tell me one thing – I know it might be blue, but you didn't name it Chao did you? Congratulations to your mum for her qualification, and I hope your dad's still doing okay – aside from that, enjoy what I've been beavering away at.

DH – Yeah, Uni work does stop you enjoying the finer things in life, but believe me, when you start the proper nine-to-five working day, you'll look back on it as the best damn time of your life. Anyway, enjoy this latest offering.

DS – Urgh, fevers ain't fun; anyway, more Julie-Su next chapter – just hope this one's got enough action in it for you :-).

Rolling the central button of the mouse under his index finger without really realising he was doing so, Shadow's eyes never left the screen in front of him, except maybe once or twice to glance at the clock and time how long his cash had left to run before he was timed out. His most recent look had determined he still had time; he'd already found the general area he wanted to look at, now it was just a case of refining his search parameters – out of this mug's gallery, there was only one particular mug he was interested in and, he clenched the fist of his free hand in triumph under the desk, there it was, dragged up onto the screen in front of him. A few lines spieled off from the side of the picture, indicating supposed level of activity and danger equally, but all he needed was the picture. Highlighting it quickly and copying it to the computer's clipboard, the hedgehog pulled up the first word processing programme he could find and pasted it down, a soft sigh of relief escaping his lips as, after a couple of seconds of the hourglass treatment, the profile was once more glaring out of the screen towards him. _Okay buddy_; hitting the print button, Shadow stood up smoothly and crossed the roof of the well-ventilated computer cluster to where the printer stood, waiting patiently for the chugging machine to disgorge the image he needed and smirking as, line by line, it emerged for him; _tomorrow you and me get to know each other_.

Realising the ink would need about a minute to dry properly before he could risk folding the picture, the former ultimate life-form crossed back to his former desk and conscientiously closed down the station he'd been working on and gathered up the pen he'd put on the desk next to him in case he'd been forced into trying a five-minute sketch work before claiming his prize properly. Carefully folding the paper sheet and stashing it away next to his phone, Shadow stretched to his full height before relaxing, letting his body sink back to the floor buoyed up with the knowledge that he'd done the hard work; from here the rest should be easy. _After this, never have to bother with the emeralds again_; though the ability to travel from place to place instantaneously was appealing, as far as he was concerned the pros were far outweighed by the cons, least of all how uncomfortable Chaos Control actually was; _and the Tornado at last had a decent view on the way, though the buffet could do with some improvement I'll admit._ Cheered immensely by the evening's work even if he had stayed out a little longer than normal and might have to rush to get to his normal Wednesday night entertainment, Shadow knew the small sacrifice was worth it, or at least would be come this time tomorrow. Heading for the way out with a spring in his step, he paused at a call from the receptionist at the cyber café he'd used as a gateway to the knowledge he'd needed,

"Hey, leaving already, you got a quarter of an hour left to run"; in such a jubilant mood, the hedgehog merely grinned and, after a quick look around, pointed at the youngest echidna he could see, a dusky grey specimen so small that even with the chair as high as it would go he was having to look up at the screen as he banged away on the keyboard manically,

"Give it to him, I'm done for the night". Clicking his tongue, the echidna made a note in the ledger in front of him, scribbling down a note next to what Shadow assumed was the kid's name. Taking his cue to leave, Shadow pushed open the doors of the bustling café, breathed in a deep, sweet lungful of cool, crisp Echidnopolis air and set off towards his apartment, fingering his pocket occasionally to make sure the dynamite he needed was still in place to be detonated tomorrow.

XXX

As the front door was slowly closed her ears pricked up; looking at the clock, Julie felt another little peg not quite fit into the slot it should have done; _he's been generally edgy all day, and now he's home late_; the more she thought about it the more on edge she became; _and this isn't the first time either – he hasn't quite been the same since he started work this week, are they giving him a hard time?_ A snort rent the air as she stood up from the paper she'd been reading and crossed the kitchen to put the kettle on – as far as she was concerned no-one at the C.A had anything even resembling an excuse to have a go at her flatmate – he left early for work nine times out of ten and contributed to the overtime in his office above and beyond the call of duty.

"Shadow, you got a minute?"

"No", the reply was a definite shock; Wednesday nights should have been clear for the hedgehog, "I'm going out tonight".

"What?"; _oh no_; the thought that span out of the depths of her mind to knock all her thoughts out of sync shorted out her question for a few seconds; _it's not another woman is it? Wait_; for once she was grateful he hadn't answered her call and couldn't see the forest fire that was racing through the skin on her face; _since when was I the first woman – argh, too complex for me to handle right now_; with a huge mental shove she got back onto topic before the hedgehog could really notice the blip in her conversation, "where are you running off to late at night?"

"My club – cancelled on Monday wasn't it? Got a message through just when I finished work, let me know it'd be running tonight if I could make it. Which", Julie nimbly dodged as the door swung open and Shadow appeared, looking up at the clock hanging from the wall, "I can quite easily as long as I get something down me now".

"Check the oven".

"What?" It was Shadow's turn to sound disbelieving, "but it's my turn cooking this week". Trying to look casual even if she couldn't quite meet his eye, Julie shrugged,

"I got bored waiting for you; where have you been anyway?" _Aha_; Shadow had run and re-run his pre-prepared excuse over and over in his head so often he knew it word for word and repeated it easily at the question he'd known Julie would ask at some point at the same time as open the oven for his meal,

"Just got a little bit more than normal at the office at the minute, training for this new system they're introducing in the near future, a different series of report forms, makes messages easier to trace in case something gets lost in the mail. All rubbish of course, but rules is rules I guess hey?"

"Yeah, tell me about it. So, a new system for you to work to then?" Shadow nodded idly; Julie waited until he'd just poked his head in the oven before landing the killer punch, "I'd ask what it was if I thought it was actually real".

_Aww, so close_; though she wasn't exactly disappointed it didn't get the reaction she'd been after, she could still feel a little smug as Shadow's head jerked upwards as she ripped down his veil of misdirection, though he checked himself before his bumped his noggin on the roof of the appliance. She had to give him credit though; rather than spout out a load of hot air to do with denial and that he actually was working late, the ebon hedgehog simply took his time and, after setting the oven to reheat slightly, turned to look at her nonchalantly, shrugging as he remarked off-handedly,

"Okay, you caught me out there"; _damn, need to come up with something_; his main shield in tatters all around him Shadow scrabbled for time to muster up a dive for cover, "what gave it away?"

"Too easy", Julie filled him in, shaking her head at the same time as trying to read through the implacable mask he'd put over his expressions, "you never missed a beat when you spoke, recited the whole thing perfectly; no-one can do that straight off the bat. Nice little speech though", she gave the knife one final twist before moving in for the kill, "but, after all that I ask again, what are you up to?"

"Nothing, just", edgy at being rumbled so easily, Shadow fell back on the old faithful standby, "hanging out with a couple of friends from work"; _salvation!_; it burst into his brain from nowhere and never had he been more grateful, "planning".

The edge in his tone must have done it; he could virtually see Julie shrink backwards, shelling herself up as she tried to take in the undercurrent of threat in his voice and how it could affect her. He'd sealed off her main route of advance, now all he had to do was give her something to chew over until tomorrow night and, if he could tap into her highly developed sense of mischief, he knew how to do just that,

"Planning", she rolled the word around with her tongue, trying to taste how that statement could affect her before scouting for information, "hmm, I get the feeling it's not an informal meeting about the latest running figures?"

"And you'd be right; we do enough of those as it is in the office – get reviewed every month or so to see where we can improve", he explained as Julie regarded him in an off-kilter manner; she seemed satisfied with his explanation, however, moving on to new territories,

"So then", the ex-Legionnaire brought her hands together, tapping her fingertips together as she peered at him expectantly, "planning, hmm. You know what I think?"

"I'm sure I'm about to find out?"

"I think you've been planning something to do with me". It took the willpower of a saint not to smile as, inadvertently, Julie hit the nail on the head; _she doesn't mean like that, and in fact, she's just handed me a get out of jail free card_;

"And you'd be absolutely right", Shadow assured her with a sly, suave switchblade of a smile, tipped off with a cheery wink as he ducked down to check his dinner's reheating, "I've got something special coming for you, you'd best be ready for it".

"Oh goody"; _I need a decent challenge_; "you want to lock horns with me again – well, your funeral". Shadow peered over his shoulder, grinning like the cat that got the cream as he stoked her fires of competition in the best way he knew how, using the smoke such a blaze generated to hide his real intentions,

"Ah, but you forget, last time had rules, this time anything goes", her eyes supernovaed at such an insinuation and he latched on, "if I were you, I'd try to learn to sleep with my eyes open".

_What!_; as he somehow always managed to do, Shadow's words simultaneously plunged her into pits of disgust and elevated her into realms of wild fantasy, and for the life of her she didn't know which one she was supposed to be in. After a second of grappling with herself, the struggle seemingly a little harder than it had been previously, Julie reacted as she always did, outwardly at least,

"Ow, that could be painful, for you at least", she gave a slight laugh, sliding her rear leg back into something close to a relaxed fighting stance, "try and pounce on me and I'll tie more than your fingers in knots". Shadow's shoulders suddenly bucked with laughter,

"Jules, of all the things I might do pouncing on you isn't one of them", his grin threatened to bisect his head for a moment as his eyes dipped down towards her stomach, "I'd end up embedded in upstairs' bathroom floor". Her mouth dropped open just before her lips tightened into the thinnest of thin lines and one of her impressive fists lifted,

"Carry on the way you're going and you'll go bouncing all right; I'll bounce you off every bloody wall in this apartment. Just", she couldn't stay here right now; Shadow had won this round by a quite brilliant and unexpected quip and she needed to retreat somewhere to lick her wounds, "eat up and get out of here".

"Sure thing", he gave a corny salute and she huffed one last time; it was at the door he gave the whip at her ego one last flick, "I'd say go take a seat somewhere, but then I realised you'd already got one of the largest, softest models available". Shadow braced, half-expected Julie to run at him but, no, she controlled her temper this time, muttering curses under her breath as she stalked into the lounge.

A combination of smart thinking and good luck had shored up that last-minute breach in his defences; as he tucked into the tea Julie had made for him, he gave himself a pat on the back for keeping his plot under wraps this long. His eyes checked the time again; he had less than twenty-four hours before go-time, and most of that was taken up by sleep and 'work'; with anything even remotely resembling luck, Julie was never going to know what was going on until he stapled the result of his endeavours to her forehead and let her know he was never going to let her live down what she'd owe him. Or something like that.

XXX

Returning the wave, Shadow walked into the lamplight overhead in time to pre-empt Honey's formulating question,

"Don't, I know just what you're going to say", choked off on the very cusp of speaking it was all the blonde echidna could do to nod for him to continue, "my holiday's going just fine, getting in plenty of, what I want to do for a change, putting my feet up and generally relaxing. How's work?" To his surprise, Micah sniggered before spluttering his next sentence,

"You want the truth or her version of it?" An ebon eyebrow rose,

"Tell me more".

"It's been absolutely diabolical", Honey stormed, doing her best to stop Micah letting Shadow know how much she'd taken it out on him after a really long, hard day at the office, "everything's just slowed down to a crawl; you know that really big upgrade they were planning, well guess what happened?"

"Nothing pleasant?" Honey snorted in mockery, hands on her hips curling into fists of exasperation,

"A power cut, a two-second, think nothing of it, bloody power cut; just went and wiped the whole bloody lot didn't it? They had to go around and reboot every computer in the building, then go around again to manually install the upgrades we needed; there I was on Tuesday trying to get on with my job with Snappy giving me her patented evil eye and the system completely shot to hell; next thing I know I've got this sodding workman leaning over my shoulder and hitting my keyboard at random – he ended up nearly sprawled in my lap with my hands around his neck I can tell you. I was not a happy Mobian by the time it rolled around to five o'clock let me tell you".

"And let me vouch for that", Micah chipped in, rubbing a spot on his shoulder as Shadow shook his head and smiled, "a simple 'how was your day?' nearly got me banished to the couch for the night".

"Ah, and I missed all of it; woe is I", Shadow dramatically inclined his head, amused as out of the corner of his eye he saw how much he was winding Honey up; the petite Mobian was sizing him up like a woodcutter about to take a decent swing at a willowy tree, "but, if we're not quick, we'll miss this as well".

"He's right as well", Micah added as he checked his watch and gently put a hand on Honey's shoulder, "come on; fun as it would be to beat him up, it'll mean missing your bi-weekly calm down session and that would bode very badly for me". Shadow chuckled as, seeing the sense of the combined arguments, Honey reluctantly let the murder drop from her eyes and took a step backwards, a challenge on her lips as she spoke again,

"Well, mum always said I should have been a copper-top, I've got the temper for it at least", then, seeing Shadow's nonplussed look, she gestured towards him, "what?"

"Er, copper-top?" The scratch to the top of his head indicated his bafflement; Honey shook her head before setting him on the straight and narrow,

"Yeah, copper-top, means you're a red head – how long you say you've been in town now?"

"Nowhere near long enough", the hedgehog answered before setting off, making a note of that figure of speech and making sure he'd use it on Knuckles at the next available opportunity, "but anyway, fun and games over, time we were off".

XXX

A short while later, the chime rang out over the hall and, hearing the crisp little note sound out, Shadow relaxed, letting his fingers slowly worm their way free of the hair they were currently enmeshed within; he'd learnt on the first night of working with the head than this was a process not to be hurried unless trapped, sore fingers and an irate massage partner were your cup of tea. _Just my luck this guy's as easy-going as they come_; as he gradually felt his hands returned to him, Shadow looked benevolently down as Andy began to stir and slide hi body off the massage table he lay on, ready to swap places with the hedgehog – much as that faintly vapid smile was off-putting, there was no denying that it was completely disarming and, over time, seemed to grind down all resistance and grow on the target of its attentions. Andy rose up slowly, the same speed he generally affected for most things in life, to a kneeling position, stretching off as he gently stretched off his neck and tapped the tips of his fingers against his temple; _probably kick-starting the gears up there_. Looking away hastily to smother the smile his unbidden thought generated, Shadow nearly missed the echidna's statement altogether,

"Excellent, that was the best work you've ever done; you must be on a really high in life right now". _How'd he work that one out?_; the fact that he was right seemed to be secondary to the fact that he'd made such a statement in the first place,

"What, er, what makes you say that?" Andy's dreamy look started to expand, eclipsing virtually everything else as he looked at the hedgehog squarely,

"You weren't really thinking about what you were doing, I could tell", the echidna stated simply, as though there was nothing more obvious in the world, "when people think, they tend to over-analyse everything, try to calculate everything they want to do and work towards it; all that thinking though, it just gets in the way, makes the actions stiff and jerky. That's the difference between someone who's good at massage and someone who's become a natural at it", he shrugged as Shadow tried to bend his brain around what the echidna was saying, alarmed that it was making as much sense as it was, "when you're a natural, you don't need to think about it, you just do it automatically, which is what you were doing then. No thought pauses, no hesitations, just smooth, fluid actions, perfect massage. You should be proud".

Understandably, there was a pause as Andy finished speaking as Shadow was forced to take a mental pace back and size up the statement one piece at a time; _Christ_; try as he might, he could see no fault with what his partner had said; _he's right about that. I wasn't even thinking about what my hands were up to, I was trying to plan how I was going to break the news to Julie tomorrow, figure out how it was going to go and all that – I almost forgot I was massaging at all_. It was only at a sharp clap right next to his ear that he snapped back to the real world, leaping a clear foot into the air as one of the instructors walked past; he would have started admonishing the tardy pair but Shadow, seeing how everyone else had by now swapped roles, held up a hand in acceptance and made to hop onto the table Andy had vacated, winking at the echidna as he did so,

"Right then, the challenge has been set down", as he fell forwards, his head sinking into the comfortable collar of the table to let him lay completely flat but give him enough manoeuvrability to continue his conversation, he finished, "your mission is to get it so right I end up asleep by the end of a half-hour". Rolling his eyes upwards, Shadow saw Andy, lower legs appear at the top of his vision and, a second later heard a slight chuckle before the answer,

"Well", sensitised by weeks of such work, Shadow could barely suppress a shudder as his head quills were brushed aside by a couple of probing digits, "I'll do what I can". _Go for it_; allowing his body to lull away under the pressures of his scalp, the hedgehog got back to where he'd left his daydreaming on pause and once more pictured what was going to happen if all went according to plan on Thursday; _I'm not going to be complaining._

XXX

Luckily his survival instinct kicked in just in time; rather than throw the door open and lurch inside blindly to whatever nasty surprise Julie undoubted had waiting for him, the hedgehog rather more gingerly toed the door open, daring to peek around it with the corner of his eye at the first sight of the slimmest glimmer of his apartment's interiors. He breathed a sigh of relief; it looked like the coast was clear, the hallway was in darkness and, as he opened the door further still, danger sense still pinging away merrily as he let the wooden barrier creak open a little further, it didn't actually look like any lights were on at all. _Strange, Julie's not normally in bed this early_; something didn't quite add up here, so it was a nervy, cautious Shadow who sidled down the hallway, carefully checked the frame around the bathroom door to make sure it wasn't suspiciously ajar, dipped the very end of an ungloved pinkie into the bottle of mouthwash to make sure Julie hadn't tried the ol' switcheroo trick twice and, satisfied all was well, proceeded to get cleaned up with as little fuss and noise as possible. As he spat into the sink, Shadow straightened up and checked himself over in the mirror – if Julie was asleep, and he had to admit that the complete silence pervading the apartment made this idea more and more likely with each passing moment, he wasn't going to risk a shower waking her up now; _after all, she's got work in the morning_; with a last deep breath the hedgehog brushed quill back to the crow of his head and exhaled slowly, looking directly across at his reflection as though trying to stare deep into his own eyes; _just like I have_.

The thought stilled him for a moment, a last minute run through of what he was actually going to attempt, the sheer audacity of his scheme striking at him to try and state the blindingly obvious; that trying to take on a massive military organisation on their home turf, and to top it off try and take one of their senior members hostage while doing so, was generally something attempted only by madmen, idiots and just occasionally Sonic. But he'd gone too far now; he'd thrown his die the week before this, now he had to live with the result and live with it he would, whatever the result; breaking eye contact with himself, Shadow stood up and vigorously rubbed his face down with a towel, scrubbing away those pessimistic doubts and leaving him in the mindset to catch a night's rest. With this in mind, Shadow headed for the bedroom, trying to listen with half an ear to the whistling of Julie's breathing coming from the lounge, a final reminder as to why this would be worth it; _strange_. He cocked an eyebrow as his brow furrowed in puzzlement, opening the way to bed with his foot; _I can't hear anything, what's going…aha_; knowing with clinical accuracy that there was no way his body was going to complete the last-ditch duck in time, Shadow's brain contented itself with finishing its line of thought and preparing to deal with the inevitable pain later; _an ambush_.

A few seconds later, Shadow blinked upwards from where he'd been pole-axed, seeing a deeper darkness amid the shadows, coils of midnight where Julie's dreadlocks were spiralling down towards him like living creepers, framing her smug grin in a writhing picture frame of obsidian snakes. Obviously desperate to get the first word in, the triumphant echidna spoke first, a clear note of challenge evident in her voice,

"And that", she crowed happily, the sight of Shadow folding his hands behind his head on the floor seeming only to spur her on to greater heights, "is your lesson Shadow – learn it well".

"Okay", he sighed wearily as the shock went away and the very slight throb in his nose wore off completely, "what was the great, universal secret I was suppose to get this time – never let a girl in your room unless you're present too?"

"Maybe"; _damn that was close_; he'd come within a whisker of seizing back the initiative – Julie was for once grateful for the darkness concealing her blushes at the hedgehog's innuendo. Instead, she brandished the pillow she'd beaned him with before dropping it with pinpoint accuracy to obscure his face while she stepped over him, "but also that even large, soft things can hurt if they're swung with enough force behind them, and believe me", she looked over her shoulder to see her flatmate roll over before rising to his hands and knees, "that's nothing compared to the kind of force I can muster".

"Nothing like the kind of weight either", Shadow grumbled bad-temperedly before dusting himself down, "goodnight, we'll call that one even, but tomorrow is another day". Julie never backed down an inch as she glared down the barrel of his finger,

"You bet it is; see you there, if you're up for it". Shadow merely snorted contemptuously, spinning on his heel to stalk into the bedroom and pull the door to behind him, allowing them both to retreat for the evening; _tomorrow's another day all right_; Shadow's last thought as he crawled into bed, remembering the challenge, the fun in their exchanges and longing to rekindle that feeling forever; _and the day after, if it all come together, that'll be something to really savour_.

XXX

Stopping within eyesight of the massive structure, Shadow looked up at the shrine of the Master Emerald and was once more struck by its obfuscated majesty; it was a tall, imposing edifice there was no denying that, but it somehow seemed to blend in with the wilds surrounding it, not looking at all out of place despite being the only stone structure for miles in every direction. _Wonder how the guardian who built it, Edmund, if I'm remembering right, got the shrine to do that_; storing that question away under the mental heading of idle curiosity, Shadow ducked into the mighty temple itself, shivering slightly as the cooler air lurking within draped its clammy embrace around him like a desperately loner lover. Speeding up slightly to throw off the chill as much as get what he needed all the quicker, the hedgehog cut quickly to the centre of the building, something odd striking him as he approached the eerily silent portal from where the faint green phosphoresce of the Master Emerald issued, but he was unable to put his finger exactly on what was out of place. It was only when he poked his head around the proverbial door and saw nothing save the emeralds and the pedestals that held them that it twigged in his mind; _where's the guardian, or at least the Chaotix?_

He toyed with the question idly as the faint sensation nagged the back of his mind; he assumed the reason for any absence was that by a strange quirk of fate he'd arrived just as two members of the Chaotix were swapping shifts and, in that case, they all knew what he was doing here, surely they wouldn't mind him borrowing the emerald again, as long as he left a note of explanation? With this in mind, seeking to minimise delays, the hedgehog flicked out his pen and crossed to the resting place of the yellow Chaos Emerald, hoping his biro would be able to make an impression on the stone it was hewn from. Reaching over idly, expecting at any moment a flare to be emitted from the entrance to the Chaotix's teleportation chamber he could see off to one side as the replacement part-time guardian arrived, Shadow reached to claim the emerald, albeit temporarily; a split-second later he snatched it back and leapt three feet away as something silver spanged from the stonework not a foot from where his hand had been – luck alone had prevented the ricochet nailing him.

"In some countries", a drawling voice made the spikes on Shadow's back raise; _I could really do without you right about now_; "they stop thieving by cutting the offender's hand off – consider that your warning". Grinding his teeth nastily, Shadow scanned the surrounding area but, defeated by the chameleon's stealth abilities in such a wide and varied environment, had to shake his head in defeat,

"Right, Esp, down here now if you please", a patch of violet burst into being on the wall directly opposite the hedgehog and began to descend to the ground, the chameleon jumping the last five or so feet and sliding smoothly to his feet, previous humour drained away behind his normal mask of impassiveness as Shadow continued, "you know you were lucky with that shot right?"

"Not really, I'd calculated the angle following the missed shot; I've been practicing", he said by way of explanation as Shadow's face grew blacker still,

"You have a real problem; you know why I'm here and why I'm borrowing, note the word borrowing, not stealing, the Chaos Emerald – do you get a kick out of being this strange, mysterious misanthropist who hates everything and everyone?"

"I don't hate everything, I just learned not to care about anything enough to let emotions cloud judgement", for a second Shadow faltered; something had just flickered across Espio's previously inscrutable features, a flicker of feeling in his cold eyes, but it was gone before he could deduce anything from it and the chameleon was back to his impassive self again, "it was a hard lesson, one a lot of other people could do with learning as well as I have, the world would go around a lot quicker if it weren't for decisions based on impulse and feelings rather than actual logic".

"Be that as it may, I'm not here for a theology debate", that much was certainly true and Shadow was acutely aware he had better places to be, "I'm just here to get the gem and get back to training with it – you of all people should know how important training is". He hoped the appeal to the reptile's work ethic would work, though as Espio drew a finger along the line of his jaw and looked thoughtful, he felt that hope start to drain away slightly,

"As far as I knew you'd actually managed to do it yesterday, but", the drawl lessened slightly and Shadow silently thanked whatever deity of luck had interceded on his behalf this time as Espio inclined his head towards the pedestal where the yellow gem glowed like a sunrise, "there's truth in what you say; as long as it's back where it's supposed to be I don't see a problem – I'll let the guardians know you were here".

"Right, thanks", despite the offer Shadow was still recalcitrant to expose his hand again, keeping his eyes nailed to Espio in case his sense of goodwill suddenly waned, "I'll get it back to you by then; tell the others I'll see them around sometime". The reptile merely nodded, retreating towards the wall back first, beginning to disappear as only his species could against the dank, half-lit stone of the shrine's interior as the former ultimate life-form likewise backed off, more grateful than Espio knew to be out of the miserable Mobian's presence; it may just have been an illusion, but Shadow could almost have sworn that the sunlight he emerged into a few seconds later had never quite seemed so sweet, or warmed his body so thoroughly as the thrill ran around his body; just one more item to get, then, then it was really going to happen, he was really going to once and for all get the Legion off Julie's back.

XXX

"And this", having sat very patiently through five very long minutes of physics, electromagnetism and other such gobbledegook that went so far over his head he'd have needed the Hubble space telescope to even see it, Shadow could barely suppress a sigh of glee as Locke turned around with the result of his labours in his hands, held out for the hedgehog's inspection, "is the finished article; I admit it doesn't look like a lot"; _a truer word was never spoken_; the hedgehog privately agreed, regarding the thin metal tube with a button at one end with very pronounced suspicion, wondering if this tiny little thing could possibly be the tool that would bring down the hostage he needed so desperately to take to make his plan work, "but I have the results of field trials that prove it works, and works very well, if I do say so myself".

"Much as I'd like to take your word for it, is there anyway I can test it myself? I mean, this is supposed to shut machinery down for, what, a couple of minutes?"

"The exact time span depends on the size and complexity of the machine you're trying to inactivate, so going by the augments on your friend it won't shut them down for as long as it would a simpler device", Locke admitted, Shadow slightly relieved to see something like life in his formerly hollow eyes as he pondered this latest problem, "but, taking into account the technical expertise we've seen on the Legionnaires we've encountered so far, I'd say you're still looking at a good ten minutes, more than enough to get a recalibration done. Remember Julie lives with these augmentations every day, she's bound to know what needs to be done, she could probably do it with her eyes shut by now".

"I sure hope so"; _ten minutes, might be a bit touch and go – I wonder_; Shadow turned the tube over, examining the simplicity of the device before seeming to be struck by a thought, "but, just in case, there's nothing wring with a repeat dose or anything like that; I mean, two shots, will that knock it out for twenty minutes or something?" Locke shook his head, the lukewarm feeling in his eyes seeming to heat up as he explained the theory behind his invention again,

"No, the ESP effects won't stack; you'd have to wait for the augmentations to come back online before giving it a 'second shot', as you put it, but there's no harmful effect to that".

"Excellent, thanks Locke", the hedgehog swiftly pocketed the metal tube, making sure his phone was switched on and surreptitiously activating the device, aiming it right at his appliance at the same time as glance at the time on his wrist; he'd check later to see if it was off and for how long, "you've been a real life-saver". The echidna chuckled, by now looking almost completely alive once more as he answered,

"Any time, you'll be leaving now?"

"Yeah, the sooner I get going the sooner Julie can get herself done at last", the hedgehog said quickly, hoping to confuse his slight discrepancy with the truth behind a smokescreen of speed. For a heart-stopping moment he as afraid this had failed as Locke cocked his head, and then spoke, each word a needle to Shadow's tautened nerves,

"I see, listen Shadow, can you tell me something, just yes or no". _Oh no, he can't…not this close_;

"Er, maybe, depends…" The former guardian took a pace forwards and Shadow several back; it was as though someone had thrown a can of petrol on Locke's soul as a veritable bonfire sprang up behind his eyes, seeming to illuminate his pinched, almost cadaverous face,

"Is it true", a hand reached out, seeking to clutch at Shadow and the hedgehog quickly dodged aside, liking less and less where this was going, "is Lara, expecting?"

It took a few seconds for that to sink in, and another couple for the query to cycle up to the top of Shadow's list of priorities, the foremost being to avoid being the object of Locke's desperation, but when the pieces came together, he blinked and gabbled quickly,

"Yes, yes, Lara, she's going to have a baby boy, they're both, her and Wynmacher I mean, they're thrilled to bits"; _oops, should I really be saying this_; Shadow felt his spine freeze as the icy hand of terror grabbed hold of it; _remember what he went through_. Looking up guiltily at the thought of stirring up old, bitter memories, Shadow could only hope his sigh of abject relief went unnoticed as Locke stood there, smiling, seemingly at peace once more,

"Good, I'm glad to hear that", any and all thoughts of him being sarcastic were blown away by the tone of the echidna's voice, the serenity contained within it as he carried on, "she'll make a great parent, she always was. I'd heard rumours, but for some reason every time I tried to talk about it with Knuckles he went strangely deaf, tried to veer off the topic, strange, but anyway", he broke off his rhetoric with a visible shake of his head and looked up to Shadow once more, "you've got places to be; follow me and you'll be on your way home before you know it".

"Okay, er, lead on then"; without another word Shadow fell into step behind his friend's father, not quite sure if he was comfortable around this strange, faintly sinister Mobian any more. The trip back to the elevator out of Haven was long and arduous for Shadow's sense of security – heck, he'd have even welcomed a visit from Athair to lighten the mood that seemed to hang around Locke like a storm cloud, but nothing was forthcoming. It was only when he bade the former guardian farewell and listened to the familiar clank and squeal of the gears that ensured the elevator could go up and down in the first place, that he felt that burden start to slide off his shoulder and lighten the air around him, allowing the idea in his mind to resurface again. Checking his watch and his pocket, he held his still inert phone before him, watching on as, though hit by a lightning bolt, it suddenly powered up, the EMP or whatever Locke had described losing its hold over the appliance. Smacking his fist into his palm triumphantly, the hedgehog stowed his phone once more and carefully drew out his new weapon, tracing it through the air like a magic wand; _with a wave of this and with a couple of somewhat less than magic words, I can make most of Julie's problems disappear_.

XXX

It was a while later that, on a slight mound of earth somewhere in the wilderness of Angel Island, there was a slight call of two words and a flash of light that disappeared just as quickly as it had arrived. Had anyone been around close enough to investigate, they'd have been doubtless baffled; it was obvious someone had been nearby due to the trampled grass nearby and other, perhaps less obvious disturbances, but whoever it had been was now long gone. All that really remained of his legacy was fluttering in the breeze, impaled on a nearby thorn branch, the piece of paper showing a picture of a face much reviled and feared face throughout the island, gazing out of the paper as though daring the viewer to come forth and face it, safe in the knowledge that it's challenge could never go answered, unaware that it was a dare that had, just now, been accepted.

XXX

The air was suddenly filled with a faint hiss, a cloud of steam rising from the floor of the ablutions block to obscure the vision of those pleasant, well, most of those pleasant anyway; with his enhanced vision set to glow ultra-violetly, Kragok postponed his former plotting to gaze across at one of his squad mates, drinking in the sight and thankful that, just for once, his great grandfather had managed to get something right – as everyone in the Legion was equal, there was no such thing as a private shower between mixed-sex squads. _Very nice_; after a couple of seconds looking, the former officer deactivated his augmentation and turned away – though he was almost certain he could have taken anything he wanted from the junior echidna who, like the rest of these imbeciles he'd been lumbered with, blatantly revered the ground he walked on, he had more pressing issues on his mind at the moment. Turning to face the wall as the hot water cascaded through his fur, Kragok tapped his free hand against the tiles and snarled, letting the emotions he'd buried all the way through the night exercises he and his squad mates were now relaxing from to the fore as there was no chance of the others seeing them through the steam and his own turned back. _Damn you Xenin_; even taking into account the sergeant's pig-headed stupidity it had taken a monumental screw up for him to fall from grace as spectacularly as he had; _why by the spirits did you have to get yourself demoted – now it's going to be a real grind to get back to where I was before_.

With a growl no louder than the streams of water issuing from the shower heads Kragok relived the unfairness of it all; he'd done most of the hard work, pulling strong but subtle threads among the lower ranks of officers he'd befriended before his own cataclysmic drop in rank to ensure a rotation into the ranks of Xenin's squad, Xenin who owed at least half of his augmentations to Kragok's influence and would have taken only the merest ounce of convincing to begin the round of promotions that would have sent him up the slippery slope once more, then it had all blown up in his face because the idiot tin-can had stumbled over some petty grudge involving some renegade. Rubbing his eyes with the fingers of his still-living hand he massaged some of the tiredness the overnight work had installed within him, wondering what power he'd offended to have his genius diminished in this way; it was obvious his was the way forwards and that was that – there was no Legionnaire who even came close to being his match in the martial arts, his tactical plans confounded even the most advanced stratagems concocted by artificial intelligence but worked flawlessly every time, outfoxing and outflanking the stimulated opposing forces and wiping them out, often with no loss among his own troops – there could be no doubt that he was the one who could, and by rights should, muster the Legion's strength to conquer all who would oppose his magnificent plans. _Starting with the one who caused all this in the first place…_

Once more the palm of his hand brushed the tip of his recently upturned nose; the reminder that was always there, the one, singular fact of evidence that he was not yet the god he deserved to be. Enerjak had not yet cooled his temper enough to allow him access to the surgeries that would have allowed him to erase the stain of defeat from his face, but even then, the memory of his one defeat at the hands of a coward who struck from behind was a bitter, spiteful whip to his ego. Perhaps even more so than the demotion he'd suffered due to the death of Lien, the lasting evidence of his beating and subsequent broken nose had shattered his aura of invincibility, that he was undefeatable; despite all the work he'd done subsequently, there was no denying the fact that his standing in the eyes of the common troopers themselves, the ones he for the moment needed to elevate him to the next plane of command, had been temporarily reduced to nothing. _Still_; there was a modicum of good news as, mentally preparing himself for the effort of acting as though he actually cared about the ones he was currently cleaning himself with, he realised this small group of five Legionnaires would be prepared to lay down and die for him, the sort of devotion he expected from the soldiers of his future, all-conquering army; _at least I'm starting the right way – oi!_

A heavy splash of cold water to the back of his neck jarred his thinking; whipping around, all inklings of his previous planning vanished without trace from his face, Kragok fired up his bionic eye and glared good-naturedly around the shower room demanding,

"All right, who did that?" His eye fixed upon the face of Fusi, the echidna he'd been admiring earlier and, from the way she looked away shyly, it was immediately obvious that she was the perpetrator of the chilling blow; _well, I've earned the right to a little relaxation, and it'll make sure she'll take a bullet for me if the situation demands it_; "Fusi, you asked for it!" Cupping his hand above his head, Kragok yanked the lever of his shower down to ice water temperature, quickly catching a handful of freezing water as the remainder of his squad dived for cover and started grabbing resources of their own for the coming water fight, all part of the normal wind-down after a heavy night of manoeuvres on the training ranges. Kragok, having a distinct advantage with his augmented vision, feinted as though throwing his shot and, seeing his target duck, swiftly adjusted his range to make sure he landed a picture perfect hit, watching the water sail through the air towards the cowering echidna and already imaging the impact at the same time as lining up his next target.

One second he was turned around to gather more water from the ice-cold font at his back, in the next he staggered back, blinded from the sudden explosion around him, both organic and mechanical eyes overwhelmed by the stimulus that exploded from nowhere. Shaking his head Kragok sought to re-orientate himself, only to stop as he realised he wasn't dizzy; _that's not right, that had to be a flash-bang, it should have affected my ears and by extension my balance_. Alarmed by such a break from tradition in bunkroom pranks he lost seconds that may otherwise have proved vital; rather than directly selecting the spectrum of vision from his augmented eye, his pause meant it was to its own devices – by the time it had filtered to a field of vision unaffected by the sudden dazzling sensation it was too late. Caught completely off-guard by the change in circumstances, the former lord of the Dark Legion found himself completely agape as, rather than five other echidnas in the ablutions block, there now appeared to be six; shorn of all but the most basic of language by shock, his demand was therefore very blunt and to the point,

"Who the bloody hell are you?"

XXX

The words boomed in the air around him and he drank them in, knowing he still had time to move before the rest of the time-stream reasserted itself around him. For a second he thought he'd blown it as, rather than landing in the mess hall, or the barrack or even the training area he'd been expecting at midday, Shadow had instead found himself in a moist, steamy environment, water everywhere and, in shock, had frozen for a second, trying to figure out where he was. In the end it had been a jet of water from above and to the side of him, the sensation of his suddenly wet fur compressing against his skin that had done it; his cheeks went red and a wry chuckle made a reluctant peep from his lips as he realised where this Chaos Control had led him. _But_; still high on his rush of elation, Shadow recognised the sliver of bale red light in front of him, just below eye level, the distinguishing feature of his target;_ it's still where I want to be_. At top speed but being careful not to risk a catastrophic fumble at this late stage, the hedgehog raised the small tube to rest directly in the path of the red light and hit the button at the bottom of it.

XXX

Kragok's arm dropped at the same time his jaw did; the power he'd been collecting in his claw dissipating harmlessly as his limb fell limp and he was plunged into darkness, his eye going completely off-line and negating the slight advantage he'd had. With his now dead metallic arm weighing him down and causing him to list to the side, Kragok felt rather than saw someone rush past him; he tried to push his back to the wall of the shower block but was too late as there was a hard shove in his back. Stumbling forwards, the echidna tried to catch his balance; in this endeavour he was unexpectedly helped as his assailant caught his still-mobile organic arm and twisted it suddenly, immobilising the limb and bringing it up behind his shoulder. Pain flared in both his shoulder and his kneecaps as he felt the back of his knees kicked out, sending him painfully to the tiled floor and increasing the pressure applied by the arm lock as this mysterious entity gripped one of his dreadlocks, yanking his head back and calling out above the raucous the rest of the panicked squad was now creating in response to the completely unexpected attack,

"Everyone, shut up!"

XXX

_Got the bugger_; having made sure his target wasn't going anywhere fast by tying up his single arm in the crook of his elbow, leaving his hand free to wave the magic wand that was keeping Kragok under wraps, Shadow now made to address his next issue; _how to make having this hostage really count – well_; irked by the sudden outcry his arrival had provoked, the hedgehog called out through the artificial fog,

"Everyone, shut up". _Oh great, they're not listening, now what am I supposed to say…_;

"Troops, fall in, at the double!" The room went dead at the parade ground snap; Shadow almost followed the order the echidna at his feet had just barked before remembering he was supposed to be the one in charge. As he heard the sound of wet feet quickly beating to wherever they needed to be Shadow felt his heart lighten a little; obviously Kragok still had some pull within the Legion's structure, just the leverage he needed to hope his ransom would work. Taking advantage of his hostage's helpfulness, the hedgehog shouted again,

"And turn off those showers".

XXX

He knew he didn't have an option this time, but there was still a chance to come out of this smelling like roses; if he kept a cool head and maintained his dignity well, a couple of whispers when this business was resolved and, well, who knew what would happen. With that in mind, Kragok quickly took the right path, barking his orders over the din of his squad losing their heads completely; he would have ordered them to clear the area as well had not his captor beaten him to it,

"And turn off those showers"; _not quite what I wanted, but possibly the next best thing_; deciding silence would be his most prudent course of action Kragok remained quiescent, his only action to roll his single eye upwards, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever was holding him in his peripheral vision as the smoke cleared. There was no such luck of course; he couldn't make out any more than a fuzzy dark blob before the other Mobian started talking again, spelling out his demands.

XXX

As he heard the distinctive squeak of showers losing power and the swirling mist before his eyes started to clear, Shadow found himself looking down at the sight before him, giving a low whistle as he suddenly understood why Julie had found the idea of a single bathroom such a luxury on her first couple of nights at his apartment. Trying to count the numbers he was up against without having his eyes linger to pick up specifics, the hedgehog realised that, apart from the one he'd come for he had five others to contend with but, seeing the shock and outright terror plastered liberally on their faces as they took in the scene before them, he realised he still had a chance as long as he kept his cool and no-one got too over-excited. The euphoria of getting away with the first phase of his plan wearing off, Shadow waited a few long, tense seconds to make sure he was completely off the high before speaking again, making sure his voice was as calm and composed as he could make it as he looked up once more,

"Right", to his relief aside from a couple of flinches none of the echidnas opposite him reacted badly to his neutral tone, "everyone stay cool and no-one's going to get hurt; I just want to speak to the Mobian in charge". A gruff snort made him glance down for a second,

"You've got hold of him, quite literally in fact". _May as well show them I'm Mobian after all_; with this thought in mind, the hedgehog allowed his veneer of calm to slip for a second and joked with his captive,

"Maybe, you are Kragok I assume?"

"I am", the echidna affirmed the fact with a tiny nod that avoided straining the hair Shadow was gripping, "so, who are you and what do you want?"

"I come seeking an audience with your Enerjak, and, as to who I am", Shadow slid one foot forwards, triggering his jet skate and feeling a strange sense of satisfaction as at least two of the Legionnaires jumped backwards a good foot or so, "go and ask your buddy Xenin".

XXX

The fires flickering to the side of him made the breath catch in his throat but his mask never slipped; even as the others began whispering the name that had become synonymous with destruction throughout the Legion, Kragok knew he couldn't afford to let fear show on his face because if it did, being as green as they were there was no way the troopers opposite him were ever going to keep their heads. Taking a deep breath and trying to focus, Kragok rapidly cycled through his few remaining options; despite the threat that was smouldering near his left side his intuition for reading people made him suspect his captor's threat for violence would be a last resort. However, a last resort was not the same thing as not a chance at all and, as it was his skin on the line and he had a vested interest in keeping it in one piece, Kragok quickly came to the conclusion that it would be worth his while playing the role of the docile, helpful prisoner, at least for now,

"Caja", the echidna, technically the senior non-commissioned officer of the squad under Kragok, jumped at the mention of his name, looking at the kneeling form of his commander with horrified, bewildered eyes; _great, time for the 'confident, big brother' approach or this idiot's bound to mess things up_; "listen to me; you have to go and get someone of higher rank and explain the situation to them, understand?"

"Yes, yes sir", the trooper said breathlessly, spinning on his heel and tearing away across the damp floor of the shower, feet slapping the still wet ground at his progress. He disappeared and Kragok relaxed for a second, trying to move so the throb in his locked arm wasn't so bad before jumping as Caja's head poked itself around the door again, a picture of bemused bafflement on his face as he tremulously enquired,

"Er, what should I say sir?" _Give me strength_; it took every iota of even his mastery of duplicity not to roll his eyes up, ask for divine intervention and start cursing every brain-dead waif and stray that dragged its carcass through the Legion's gates; slowly and almost serenely Kragok spelt it out for the benefit of the terrified trooper,

"Tell them we have a hostage situation in ablutions block six; there's an armed Mobian here, believed to be Shadow, who wants to speak to the grandmaster and has hostages to bargain with. Go"; with a last bark, Kragok saw the NCO nod and shoot off again, once more struck by the stupidity that surrounded him, dragged his spark down and buried it under a tide of banal mediocrity. Now when he had control, oh then things would be different; there would be no room for excuses, no failures and, most important of all, no deviation from his orders; his soldiers would he hard-wired to his commands alone, if he, just he and no-one else, told them to fight, to kill, to die, then they would do it unhesitatingly and without mercy because they wouldn't have a choice. _There's only one way of making sure they get it right_; he reflected ruefully, wondering idly if it wouldn't just be simpler to forget brainwashing and build an army of robots from scratch; _remove the potential for them to get it wrong in the first place – in fact, that robot idea has some potential – less food needed, no living costs and absolutely tireless – hmm, maybe my Legion won't be weighed down by flesh at all, after all, when you've got steel, who really needs meat-shields?_

XXX

The earliest twinges of cramp were just tingling up Shadow's leg when, finally, he heard an finely-cut, feminine voice call through from what he assumed was the changing area,

"Shadow", that made him smile; if they knew or even thought it was him, they already knew what he was capable of and that fear would work in his favour, "this is Dion-Yi speaking; release your hostages and we will grant you mercy". Filled with a sudden urge to be flippant, the hedgehog shrugged and suddenly grinned across at where the rest of what he assumed to be Kragok's squad still clung together and regarded him fearfully,

"Fine by me", he flicked his head towards the exit of the shower room, "you heard the lady; out". For a second none of them dared move – the hedgehog was sure he saw one of the girls glance down at the still-kneeling Kragok, awaiting his order. In fact, all of them must have been as it was only when he gave a shallow nod that they suddenly moved, shuffling off out of the perceived danger zone as Shadow called over their heads,

"Right, you got what you wanted, now listen to me". There was a pause before the voice came back, this time with a slightly harder edge than before,

"Release the other hostage".

"No", that point was non-negotiable as Shadow held his rod primed, "can't let that happen I'm afraid".

"Very well, then give us some indication he is in good health and state your demands; maybe we can reach a deal". Realising how fine the knife-edge this was balancing on was, Shadow decided not to try any humour this time and merely nodded down to Kragok's upturned face, giving him to go-ahead to speak. Wetting his dry lips, the technocrat called out to whoever was asking the question as Shadow strained his ears, trying to pick out anything like a response,

"My augmentations are shut down, but apart from that I've not been touched; I don't think he'll use force unless he has to"; raising an eyebrow at the echidna's perception, Shadow pounced on the opportunity before it could slip away,

"He got that right; did that first one I let go tell you what I wanted?"

"He said something about audience with the grandmaster, is that correct?"

"Yes, so here's the deal", Shadow put every ounce of his authority into his voice as he made his demand, "I'm willing to release Kragok when, and only when, I'm standing in front of Enerjak – I have some issues I need to resolve with him".

A low whistle from down below near his midriff caused him to look down,

"I'll admit I admire a Mobian with balls", Julie's half-brother gave a wry chuckle before his voice took on a harder edge, "but there's a line between bravery and stupidity – you really think they're going to let you walk up to the grandmaster?" Not in the mod for banter, Shadow shut his captive up by compressing his elbow joint together, squeezing the flesh of the echidna's trapped arm painfully at the same time as give him another shot with Locke's shut-down rod just to be on the safe side,

"They are if they want you back", the hedgehog whispered out the corner of his mouth before pricking up his ears, the reply seemed to be coming back,

"Shadow, are you listening?"

"Depends if you've got the answer I want or not". There was a fractional pause that Shadow hoped was mere uncertainty before Dion came back to him,

"The grandmaster has been informed of the situation and is willing to comply"; _really, that was easy_; "subject to some conditions on your part"; _ah, there's always a clause_; "how did you disable your hostage's augmentations?" Shadow bit his lip for a moment – he had to be discreet with the truth, but couldn't let them know he'd purloined his rod from the guardians – the Legion being as seemingly paranoid as it was, they'd doubtless assume he was a sort of hit-man with a contract out for Enerjak,

"I've got a friendly little device that shuts down most technology for a short while; don't worry", he added, half to the echidna at his feet as well as to the mysterious Dion he was negotiating with, "it's not permanent, lasts a couple of minutes and there's no side effects to it, it's been tested safe".

"I see", was the short reply before the female's voice cut off and left Shadow in the dark again; it was a few minutes before he lost his temper and demanded hotly,

"What's…?"

"Shut up", the voice from his feet overrode him, Kragok craning his neck backwards to regard the hedgehog's chin and giving his low, guttural growl, "she's talking to someone higher up the chain, asking how to proceed; the more noise you make the longer this'll drag on for". Shadow blinked for a second, wondering why Kragok appeared to be helping him,

"Why'd you tell me that?" As much as he was able to the echidna shrugged,

"The sooner this is over the sooner this place gets back to normal; I don't know about you but I'm supposed to be on R&R now".

"Lucky for some" Shadow breathed back before listening again,

"Shadow, aside from your null-rod, are you armed?"

"No"; at this point Kragok raised his voice, shouting to his friend on the other side of the wall,

"He's got those shoes on Xenin was talking about"; Shadow looked down at his footwear before remembering with a hot stab of guilt that he'd neglected to mention those; _great, that's going to make things interesting_; deciding to pre-empt the inevitable, the hedgehog called,

"Yes, sorry I forgot but I wear these all the time; I didn't assume they counted as weapons". To his surprise, the echidna officer gave a brief, mirthless laugh before answering him,

"After the post-combat reports we've got on them, you must be joking, but", the voice sobered up as the terms were made, "take those shoes off and throw them through here".

"No, but here's what I'll do", tired of being ordered around, the hedgehog decided to take matters into his own hands, "how far are we from your master from here?"

"Roughly, about a fifteen minute walk"; _right_; with a shot of his rod Shadow dosed his hostage down again, doing some quick mental maths; _fifteen minutes, say three more rod shots, shoes in one hand him in the other, emerald in easy reach, yeah, I can manage this_;

"Right, in that case here's what's going to happen", infusing his voice with as much persuasion as he could manage in the circumstances, Shadow laid his cards down, "I'm going to come out into the open with Kragok and you, Dion, are going to be the only, unarmed echidna I see there. If that's the case, I'll kick off my shoes to you and the three of us will walk to wherever Enerjak is; make sure the corridors are clear before and behind us, I don't want any unpleasant surprises. If I even suspect foul play though", he injected steel into his tone, making Kragok hiss with pain by tightening his arm lock as he stated, "I'll leave in the same manner I arrived, taking my hostage with me – from there, well, things could get ugly, got that?"

"Yes", the sulky voice came through, "wait one". Doing as he was told, the hedgehog settled back a little, motioning for Kragok to get to his feet with a jerk of his arm,

"About time", the technocrat complained, groaning as he clambered upright again and shook off his legs, "my knees were starting to go flat; do you really intend to just walk through this base to the grandmaster?"

"No", Shadow gave a thin smile at the incredulity in Kragok's voice before answering, "I intend to follow you walking through the base to the grandmaster; I know the Legion's supposed to abhor death, but just in case they're a lot less likely to shoot you rather than me. I take it I don't have to tell you not to do anything stupid?"

"You don't"; _I need to make this look as good as possible, keep myself in the line of fire and show a cool head at all times_; it was as he was thinking of ways to come out of this predicament in a positive light that a sudden through struck him, "but, hang on; I can't walk through the base with my pride hanging out!"

"One reason I asked for no-one in front or behind", Shadow assured his indignant prisoner with as much diplomacy as he could stuff into a voice fighting not to break down into a laugh, "sorry it had to be you".

"Strangely enough, apology not accepted" the echidna snarled before falling quiet as there was a flicker of movement before the pair of them; a mirror on a pole was extended through the shower entrance and, after being rotated a few times, was withdrawn. Before Shadow could pass a comment, however, Dion's voice came through,

"Shadow, I'm coming in".

"Hold it", he forestalled the face to face greeting for a second, "what about everything I asked for?"

"Yes", at the curt word he let out the breath he'd been holding, "this level of the base has been evacuated and I'm unarmed; apparently Enerjak wishes to speak to the Mobian who penetrated our defences face to face".

"Okay then, come in"; a second after he gave the command, a wiry, almost royal blue furred echidna with, surprisingly, no augmentations he could see, slid into the shower block, taking in the scene before her with barely a ripple passing over her cool, collected demeanour. Her whole body language radiated professionalism that, after a second of observing, she began to act upon, nodding at the hedgehog's feet and simply stating,

"Kick off your shoes towards me, as we agreed". As much as he was able to in his compromised position, Shadow looked dubious,

"Right, and I know you're not armed how?" In response, Dion lifted one side of her uniform up and revealed the empty holster hanging there, the tightness and cut of the rest of her clothes assured the hedgehog that, if she did have a concealed weapon somewhere, it definitely wasn't within easy reach, and she'd be walking ahead of him in any case, so he wasn't too worried by this. With a slight inclination of his head, the hedgehog dug the toe of his left shoe into the heel of his right, pulling his right foot out of its shoe and nudging it forwards with his now bare foot, the process repeated somewhat more enthusiastically by Kragok as he kicked it towards the other Legionnaire. Having repeated the procedure with his other shoe, Shadow looked up as Dion picked both his jet skates up, holding them at arms length as through they could turn around and bite her,

"Okay, now let's get moving"; for a horrible second he thought she was going to say no and he'd fallen into an elaborate hoax, but to his relief the officer nodded and beckoned him forwards; spurring Kragok on with a nudge in the back and taking care to give him another shot of the null rod, Shadow splashed across the still damp shower block floor and took the first step on the last lap of his journey.

XXX

Never had fifteen minutes dragged so long; more than once in that journey did Shadow regret his obstinacy and demand for the way to be deserted before him – there was something unsettlingly eerie about the deathly silent corridors of steel and wire he was moving through. Keeping up the appearance of not being phased by the ghostly stillness around him, he still fancied he could see Legionnaires lurking in the mouth of every side corridor, waiting for him to move past before taking the shot they had lined up; a couple of times he quickly checked over his shoulder to make sure the vivid phantoms were actually only that before resuming his journey, the silent Kragok still shackled by the grip Shadow had his arm in and Dion up ahead, leading him ever onwards, neither seemingly affected by the sheer silence around the group. Despite the obvious power and influence the echidna he was going to see had going for him, and therefore the doubtlessly awful payback he could expect if something went wrong or Enerjak took offence to anything eh said, it was still a relief when Dion stopped dead before an ornate, closed portal and turned to him, nothing showing in her piercingly pale blue eyes,

"This is the central audience hall of the Dark Legion; the grandmaster is waiting inside".

"Then let's end the wait", Shadow said simply, hoping he was disguising the way his heart seemed to have skipped up into his throat, making his speech skittish as he nodded at what looked like an access panel near the side of the massive door. Seeing his intent, the officer keyed in a couple of numbers and, after a second, the door began to rumble open, allowing Shadow to see inside and behold the end of his quest; after a second of regarding the sight before him, a robotic voice rolled out over his ears like a tsunami over a flat beach,

"Come in Shadow; from what I've been told, you have some questions for me".

XXX

Unbeknownst to all, Shadow hadn't been the other one plagued by doubts during his ten or so minutes of translocation to the central audience hall; though his Chaos powers had been atrophied since his entombment with the Central Dogma of the Dark Legion and subsequent renaming as Enerjak, Dimitri had still been able to detect the burst of Chaos energy that had raced through Necronopolis barely half an hour ago. The call that his own great-grandson had been taken captive and was being used as a hostage had filled him with the thrill of terror before, almost straight after that news, the name of the perpetrator of such an act had confused him even more. _Shadow_; memories of the black hedgehog he'd seen only once before and, having used the power of the Bloodstone to see surreptitiously into the hedgehog's past as he had with all the others he'd had captive, recognised as something like a kindred spirit labouring under the same curse he did had bubbled back to the surface; _what's he got against the Legion now, unless…_

From there it had been easy; though he among others had had doubts about the truthfulness of the official reports of the squad the EST had so ingloriously deposited on the Legion's doorstep a little over a week ago, the fact the black hedgehog was here in Necronopolis now suggested that Xenin and the rest had been telling the truth, in that respect at least. Now, however, Shadow was here and seemed to want to talk to him for some reason and, aside from the obvious reason of saving Kragok, Dimitri had a vested interest in taking such an opportunity as it presented itself. _Even compared to my nephews, he had highly developed skills with Chaos power – he alone seemed to be able to block at least some of my reading_; as he waited on the central chair in the auditorium, Enerjak pondered how the hedgehog had been able to do that – aside from one or two exceptions, looking into the hedgehog's mind using his Bloodstone enhanced gifts had been like walking into a heavy mist, rendering his sight virtually blind. Shadow had been able to negate his intrusions and, now that he was so thoughtfully on his way with his own demands, Dimitri was curious as to find out why; _and how he can live as he does with the knowledge of what awaits him – only the thought of the Legion keeps me from despair, what does the same for him?_

A sudden rumbling noise made him look up; the guards around him raised their weapons out of reflex as the door began to slide open, coming to a halt some seconds later, revealing the sight before him. From his slightly elevated position, Dimitri quickly disengaged the Central Dogma's vocal synthesiser as he drank in his great-grandson's evident predicament and even more evident unhappiness at said predicament; _oh if only Lien could see this_. The memory of his other lost great-grandchild sobered him up once more and, raising himself to his now considerable height, the mechanised echidna spoke in his normal monotone,

"Come in Shadow; from what I've been told, you have some questions for me".

"Too right I have"; a split-second later, preceded by Dion, the officer Dimitri thought most likely to take up Lien-Da's old role as third in command of the Legion – certainly her level head and rationalisation skills had helped prevent an already precarious situation devolving into something far worse, Kragok appeared with his claw up his back and a look of supreme irritation over his face as Shadow's head, there was no mistake, that was definitely the face Dimitri remembered from before, peeped up over his shoulder and spoke again, "but I thought I said no other echidna save you".

"Oh use your brains", Kragok broke in suddenly, turning to look over his shoulder at his captor, "you honestly think we're going to let you have a private one-to-one with the grandmaster?"

"Yes", Enerjak's tone crushed all before it by dint of volume alone as he turned to regard Shadow squarely, "I have reliable sources stating you are in possession of a device that can shut down our technology – is this correct?"

"Yeah, but that's all I've got that can affect you – not even my footwear could melt through that much metal" the hedgehog shot back insouciantly, genteelly neglecting to mention the Chaos Emerald Dimitri could see glowing like a hot coal in one of his pockets; _maybe he can't use it to attack, or just chooses not to – hmm, something else to try and find out_. Deciding to keep his forces within easy reach nevertheless, the lord of the Dark Legion turned to the four guards in front and to the flanks of him,

"Leave us – we have matters to discuss privately"; as he'd expected, the sheer shock of such a command gave way to unthinking dissent within the ranks as one of his honour guard spoke without engaging his brain,

"But sir, he's armed, and…"

"I know", Enerjak assured him before homing his vision in on where Shadow stood still, impassively holding Kragok in the immobilising grip, "but I trust he's not stupid enough to use his weapons in the middle of Necronopolis, knowing that to do so would inevitably result in our truce with the rest of Angel Island coming to an abrupt end. Wait outside, you too Dion". Stunned by the sense of his argument, there was no dissent this time; with a precision that would have had a clockmaker green with even the four guards fell into line and marched out, the two rows marching past Shadow and shooting him with death glares, though to his credit the hedgehog didn't flinch as they moved past. Dion followed them, not looking back as she fell into line with them outside the main entrance to the auditorium; when the last few flaps of her jacket had crossed the threshold, Enerjak turned to Shadow and nodded at the hostage he still held,

"I sent them away as a token of goodwill; I trust you will do the same?"

"Fair enough", after a second of reasoning and, seeing as he couldn't read any emotion from the steel face plate, the former ultimate life-form suddenly dropped his hold and sprang backwards, out of range in case Kragok tried anything. After a second of pulling himself together the technocrat straightened and, without being told, headed for the exit the others had departed from, pausing only to pull one of the tapestries flanking the door down and wrap it around himself before stalking away. Determined to get the last word in, Shadow called after his retreating back,

"Shut the door on your way out will you – this is a private conversation". _Ooh, that got him going_; though Kragok said nothing, the tremor that ran right across his body spoke volumes, as did the force with which he slammed his still-active hand down on the access panel. A few seconds later, as the final boom echoed off the steel walls of the auditorium, Shadow turned once more to look up at the one he had gone through hell to see, and suddenly found himself mute. After what seemed like a age of not remembering what he was supposed to say next, all the planning and scheming of this moment having counted for nothing, Shadow found himself jumping when Enerjak actually asked the first question,

"May I offer you refreshments?"_ What!_; some of the disbelief must have shown on his face he looked up as the mechanical being added, "you've come a long way to get here".

"Yeah", that much was certainly true, "yeah, I have come a long way", even now, as he dropped his head and a reluctant embarrassed smile made its way to crossing his lips, the hedgehog had to admit the truth, "but now I'm here I can't remember what I was going to say".

XXX

The magnified boom that lit up the chamber a few seconds later wasn't, as Shadow had first predicted and looked around wildly for cover from, a volley of artillery fire, but actually laughter erupting from the interior of the Legion's grandmaster. It was an oddly disturbing sight to watch; nothing changed in the moulded ace, but there was no doubt of the mirth in the android's manner even if his tone was unable to change,

"That was classic; you barge into my city, take a squadron of my troopers prisoner and, I might add, put half of Necronopolis in red alert for a couple of hours, to get to see me and then can't remember what you needed to see me about", after theoretically wiping away his tears of laughter, the echidna decided to cut through the confusion – that way he could get down to having his own questions answered more swiftly, "though if I was any judge, I'd like to think it was something to do with the actions of the former sergeant Xenin…"

"Yes, Xenin", that name rang the fateful bell and let his gather up his scattered thoughts with a clap, "that's what I need you to say"; from the way his spikes bristled and the look of repressed anger on his face it was obvious that, whatever it was Shadow wanted to say, he obviously considered the action of the past hour or so a small price to pay for his answers, "Xenin and his cronies attacked someone who left the Legion of her own free will, and for the past fortnight I've had to watch her try and come to terms with what happened. I want answers Enerjak, and you can start by burying this old chestnut". Even someone as worldly-wise as the ancient echidna was startled by the determination with the hedgehog's eyes, the unyielding urge to strive for the truth that could take a person far beyond their normal abilities in the quest for the truth,

"Why was Julie-Su attacked – was it just a one-off rogue's move or did you order them to make an example of her?"

XXX

He stood tall and proud despite breathing like he'd run half a marathon; finally it was all coming to an end – by tonight he'd be able to look Julie in the eye and say with certainty one way or the other why she'd been run down on that fateful day. All it needed now was for the mountain of metal on the dais up there to reboot his mind into gear and start talking; as the seconds dragged by so was Shadow's state of frustration mounting to an almost fever pitch before his eyes saw the movement. Expecting treachery, the hedgehog tensed, following the thin strand of wire as it snaked down from the tip of one of the robot's fingers to an plug on the side of the throne he couldn't see; he almost felt the light on his back at the same time that Enerjak finally started talking – now, was it just him, or was there the merest faint trace of something approaching embarrassment in the grandmaster's formerly colourless voice,

"It, ah, well, for a start we had to gather the full story, both from the EST and the actual members of the squad who were involved in the incident…"

"It was an attack", Shadow's bloody mood wasn't going to let him get away with sugar-coating anything, "not an incident, as you put it, it was a cold-blooded, vicious attack". The androgynous face of the cybernetic echidna nodded in agreement,

"Yes, that was the conclusion I reached when I heard the full details; there was no excuse for that kind of behaviour – the actions of those six violated one of the primary rules of the Legion and lost us a lot of goodwill in the process. Aside from Musa, who I received private and personal thanks from Julie-Su herself via records from the EST, saying he had covertly tried to limit the effects of the attack", Shadow nodded at this, recalling the name Julie had blurted as she'd fallen into his arms that night, "all of the offending parties have been demoted to private where possible and will never hold rank within the Legion for as long as I am grandmaster. They are also forbidden from any and all combat training, even Xenin, when he recovers from the tap-dance you did on him".

"Strangely enough, I can't say I'm sorry", right now, with his heart soaring away to the heavens Shadow knew he could afford to be flippant; nothing could stop him now, he knew that the guilty parties had received their just desserts and, more than that, he could tell Julie the same thing, picture the expression on her face when she heard the news, "so, it really was just six idiots acting alone?"

"Yes; the central tenants of our organisation say that all must come in their own time – Julie wasn't the first to leave us and I doubt she'll be the last but that was her choice; to force her to stay would have been both stupid and counter-productive because she'd have hated us for doing it and been much more likely to accept the inevitable…"

"That'll do, I'm not here for a theology lesson", having learned his lessons from Eggman, Shadow knew the easiest way to avoid getting an earful of manic or, in this case, quasi-religious doggerel was to nip it in the bud, "I just wanted to make sure…"

"…Julie knew she was safe", Enerjak finished from him, gesturing to a point over his shoulder and speaking once more, "well, heartbreaking as it is to say this, you needn't have bothered; this is going to be broadcast later today", as Shadow looked over his shoulder and trusted his reflexes to be faster than the machine's should the grandmaster attempt anything, the cyborg finished,

"If you want to scream after seeing this, I won't blame you and assure you the walls are sound-proofed".

XXX

Well, he didn't quite scream.

But he sure felt like doing so!

As the short snippet ended Shadow's jaw hung loose; all the work he'd done, the risks he'd taken, the annual leave he'd wasted to get here now, than then this – it was just not _fair_!

"So", just for once Dimitri was grateful the face of the Central Dogma couldn't show the emotions he was feeling; not even he could keep a straight face at the disbelieving indignation in the hedgehog's voice, "so that'll be going today?"

"Yes", he didn't trust himself to say any more as the hedgehog turned around, his face working horribly as he resisted the impulse to bellow out loud as the irony hit him in the face like a wet haddock,

"Well", with a concentrated mental effort that shook him to his very boot soles, Dimitri saw the hedgehog forcibly earth his frustration through the floor like a lightning bolt; when he looked up once more he seemed to be the same hedgehog again, if a little peeved, "send it at about half-four this afternoon, she'll be sure to pick it up then. Bloody hell, I…"

"…know, I know", a massive mechanical hand was raised to forestall further venting of sheer indignation, "but these things happen; now if you'd have gone through the correct channels to get an audience with me, maybe this would have been unnecessary and, I may add, less hassle for all involved", at Shadow's raised eyebrows, the cyborg leaned in closer, "do you have any ideas how many takes it took to get that right, not to mention the effort it's going to take to get it onto every home set in Echidnopolis?"

"No and I'm grateful", Shadow snapped brusquely, running a hand through his head quills and sighing, "well then, now that I've what I came for, and I know you're going to deliver it later in the day, I may as well take my leave. Sorry to be an inconvenience, holding a couple of your troops to ransom and all, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes". His fingers were already closing around the emerald in his pocket when, to his surprise, Enerjak's voice stopped him,

"Wait a minute Shadow; before you leave, I have a couple of questions of my own for you".

XXX

The floor, seemed to reverberate with every heavy tread as Enerjak began descending from his plinth; ever wary about his physical inadequacies compared to the machine before him, Shadow took a couple of paces back for each earth-shaking footfall until, with a respectable distance still between them, the lord of the Dark Legion stood on an equal level to the hedgehog, speaking again before Shadow could ask,

"Firstly", Shadow's eyes narrowed, "how is Julie-Su now? Has she recovered?"

"No, but if I'm any judge she will have the second she sees that", Shadow jerked a thumb over his shoulder towards the now-dead video screen, giving a harsh laugh as he did so at the visions of manic celebration blossoming in his mind, "that was her only real sticking point, that you'd changed your mind about renegades, something Xenin said about her being the example to the rest. How is he, anyway?" The hedgehog tacked on at the end; not that he really cared a great deal, but it seemed like the polite thing to do given Enerjak's interest in his injured party,

"He will recover", the cyborg grated after a short pause, disingenuously neglecting to reveal the number of skin grafts and other surgeries it was probably going to take to cover the branded mark in the former sergeant's chest, "but aside from that, I wanted to ask a couple of questions to you, or rather about you, personally". _Me?_; though his face remained impassive that fact got the gears whirring and no mistake; _what have I got to do with anything – well, only one way to find out_;

"Such as?"

"Well, as heir to the Legion following Dimitri's departure, I was granted certain information he was privy to", the android began cautiously, desperate not to reveal how much he actually knew for certain, trying to keep up the guise of having read the information from somewhere rather than investigated it first hand, "I, and I alone in the Legion, know the truth about what happened, about the Bloodstone and how it was destroyed".

"Speaking of which", Shadow broke in, the reminder of the red jewel's annihilation bringing back memories of who had destroyed it, "how is Dimitri now – I only ask because Amy has" he added defensively as Enerjak's LED eyes flared at the question. As the glow from those two red pinpricks of light faded, Shadow at first feared he'd have no answer before, like the inevitable rumble of thunder preceding a downpour of rain, the robotic echidna answered,

"Tell her the former grandmaster lives still"; _the girl in a million_; even now, banished as he was from the land of the flesh, Dimitri couldn't help but shake his head at the pink hedgehog's heart and love for everyone, even those she should by all rights have despised; _even now, after all I have seen and lied through, I am astounded by her_; "and he holds as little grudge against her as she does against him, if such a promise will ease her mind in any way. Aside from that however", so close to a possible answer he couldn't afford to linger, "as I said, I have had access to confidential files from around the time of our awakening, including the grandmaster's personal accounts of each of the Mobians he held captive for a brief while".

"What accounts?" Suspicion was screaming in his ears by now; he couldn't remember the former Legion lord making any note – for his part, Enerjak appeared to flinch as much as he were able to under the weight of his demanding glare before answering,

"Well, while he held you all, Dimitri, ah, with the Bloodstone's aid, he took a closer look at the Mobians that had confounded his armies for so long – he saw into your spirits, your fighting hearts as it were…"

"Our minds", Shadow brutally finished for him, cutting through the powdered words to expose the ugly core truth; not content with restraining himself and his friends physically, that religious megalomaniac had ripped into their thoughts as well, somewhere no-one had a right to be unless specifically invited. Disgust filled the ebon hedgehog, the creeping sense of violation awful until the thunderclap of Enerjak's voice broke through to him once more,

"He saw nothing more than he needed to know; who you were, how you managed to fight so hard against his numberless drones and, if applicable, what generation of great-nephew you were from him", the new grandmaster appeared to defend the old before, in Shadow's eyes, seeming to change tack, looking at him in an unsettlingly direct manner reminiscent of Metal Sonic, "as I said, I have read these private reports and something in one of them in particular interests me greatly – something mentioned in your report Shadow".

The hedgehog felt his tongue dry up – even if he'd been expecting this as it explained why the grandmaster was so interested in talking to him, it was still a not-inconsiderable shock to realise the overall master and commander of one of the most powerful political and military factions on Angel Island today had a personal interest in you. Frantically he sought to still the beating of his frenzied heart, taking a step back into a more consolidated defensive pose as he asked the question he knew couldn't be left unsaid,

"Okay then", he still had to swallow the lump in his throat that was obstructing the flow of his words before he could progress, "what did he see in me?"

"From what I can tell he was interested that you, and you alone, seemed to be able to resist his vision"; _what?_; that made no sense whatsoever; _I never even knew what he was doing up until now – how could I try and stop something I didn't know was going on?_; "but, more importantly than that Shadow", the mechanical growl was gentler now – Shadow had a brief second to feel a distinct sense of unease as the idea that Enerjak was setting him for something percolated into his mind, "he realised you and he were, in some ways, more alike than anyone else realised".

XXX

_Alike_; Shadow wasn't sure if he was more revolted by the thought of being alike to someone like the former grandmaster of the Legion or the horror of wondering how; all he knew was that he needed an explanation, any explanation,

"How?" The words came breathlessly, "I'm not like him at all – he wanted to take over Angel island, for good reasons or otherwise, I'm not getting into a discussion over morals now; how the hell did he draw that conclusion?"

"I will admit", Shadow's confusion spiralled further out of control as it appeared Enerjak simply hadn't taken in anything of what he'd just said and carried on regardless, "this, everything you see before you", a mammoth paw the size of a manhole cover wafted before the cyborg, indicating the whole room in an expansive gesture, "the whole Dark Legion philosophy, it isn't all about conquering death for purely noble reasons; the troopers outside may think I am either mad or blasphemous to say such a thing, but I believe there is another, less salubrious reason for Dimitri and, I will admit I labour under the same curse you both do, my own reasons for seeking the final liberation from mortality".

"Curses – I haven't got a curse…"

"Blessing, curse, call it what you will"; _interesting, him regarding it as a blessing – how can he do such a thing_; "the point is Dimitri saw his own future reflected in you; he recognised your extremely advanced Chaos power, and the manner in which you pulled off the stunt you just did proves it to me also, as does your ability to create that fog in your mind…"

"Shut up!"

He'd had enough; as far as he was concerned Enerjak was just chasing his tail and winding him up in the process – all this talk of shared curses and Chaos powers meant nothing to him and his anger got the better of him,

"I don't know what sort of happy juice they've got you tanked up on but whatever it is stop sucking on it for a second and listen up", Shadow spoke without pause, breathing raggedly and impaling the metallic monster before him with one pointing finger, "I have no idea what you're talking about – curses and reasons for creating this Legion of yours; as far as I'm concerned I never knew Dimitri was trying to read my mind and as for the curse you keep harping on about, forget it, you've lost me". There was a long pause broken only by his breathing before, with a distinct quaver of uncertainty in his mechanically-generated voice, Enerjak responded,

"But, but I…read that Dimitri could see nothing within you", there was a slip but he recovered well enough, or at least if he hadn't Shadow had given no signal that he hadn't, "he wrote it was like sailing into a fog bank; it was only by luck that he managed to see anything at all and realise your abilities and…"; _should he know this?_; the thought suddenly rocketed through him; _in this case, is ignorance truly bliss – wouldn't he feel better never knowing, but then again, it will rear its ugly head soon enough…?_; engulfed in his mental struggle, he hadn't realised he'd stopped speaking until Shadow prompted him, this time looking more calculating and, most worryingly in Enerjak's eyes, somehow hungrier as well, starving for a truth the grandmaster wasn't sure he wanted to divulge any more,

"Fog bank; I've heard that before, the doctors kept using it as an anecdote", Shadow had a strange smile on his face as he tapped his temple, "'keep at it' they said, 'one day you'll get your memories back' – I know why Dimitri couldn't see into me like he could everyone else, because in my case there's literally nothing to see. I lost my memories a long time ago, amnesia they call it; he tried to scour my past, well tough luck because I don't have one". _Maybe he can be dissuaded – I have to stop him asking…_;

"In that case", the rumble came once more, slightly slower, more of a pause between the words this time, "I think it would be best if this conversation had not happened". As he had both expected and dreaded, Shadow gave a short, ugly chuckle,

"Forget it; after this, that can't happen", he took a pace forwards, a haunted, almost gangrel want in his ruby irises, "Dimitri found out something about me from inside my own head, now you know it as well. What is it, the blessing-stroke-curse you said I was afflicted with; what bit into Dimitri so much it helped shape the Legion as it is now? Tell me".

The last words were final; much as he would have loved to undo the last few moments there was nothing he could do; Shadow wouldn't take no for an answer now and, in all honesty, why should he? Silently cursing himself from within the Central Dogma, Dimitri was in the unenviable position of knowing anything he did now would only prolong the inevitable, and that that eventuality would more likely than not destroy a Mobian who, in coming here on someone else's behalf entirely, had proven himself as decent and true,

"I, ah, I don't think I should tell you Shadow", he raised a hand to forestall furious protestations, waiting for the steaming hedgehog to simmer down before continuing, "this isn't something that should merely be said; with your permission, however, I believe I can show you".

"Show me", the hedgehog glanced up slit-eyed for a moment before realising, "you, you can see as well?"

"Compared to the former grandmaster my powers are nothing but", there was a nod of the massive mechanical head, "yes, I can let you see what was revealed to Dimitri; Shadow", the hedgehog looked up sharply at the warning within that voice; it was almost as if the robot were trying to plead with him for some reason, "listen to me, what he was a terrible thing; you have a chance not to see it now – once forgotten, a memory can be relearned but, once revealed, no secret can be hidden again".

"I've lived like this for years now Enerjak", the hedgehog's tone was level and final, "actually fighting with your Legionnaires gave me my first flashback for months; now you're offering me another and expect me to turn it down? Come on, would you be able to say no if our roles were reversed?"

It was then, at that precise moment in time, that Dimitri knew the fight was over; Shadow couldn't be moved and he had no right to be either. Slowly, more to delay the event than to reduce the fear factor, the Legion's lord propelled the Central Dogma he was encased within forwards, manoeuvring himself to directly in front of the hedgehog and, keeping his eyes on the other Mobian's expression, ready drop it if at any time he showed even the merest hint of apprehension, raised one hand and placed it atop the hedgehog's head, flattening his quills but still feeling skin beneath the metal of his fingers. With a last whispered hex upon himself for instigating this and a twinned prayer for the younger Mobian to pull through what he was about to see, Dimitri closed his eyes and let what little inherent Chaos power remained within him flow to the surface, almost seeing it sinking through the hedgehog's body, into his mind, retrieving what he'd sent it to find and dragging it out of the mist into the full view of truth.

In the next moment, Shadow's entire life, such as he had known it, had been completely and irrecoverably turned to dust and scattered to the four corners of the world by the winds of infinity.

A/N: Shadow Hedgehog – one Mobian army! Please be honest; did anyone guess that was what he was planning to do with Chaos Control? But now, now the other questions beckon; what does he know now that he didn't then, and how will it affect him? Next chapter people!


	21. Chapter 21 The Only Way?

Chapter 21 – The Only Way?

A/N: Wow, long one this time – hopefully coming to an end for this fic soon, hopefully the next chapter in the series, if you like, won't take me as long to write properly. For now though, the reviewers:

HHH – Sorry to hear about the budgie – never easy when a pet passes on. One of our dogs recently managed to half-crippled himself running into something – he now looks very fetching in a plastic bonnet! Hmm, nice idea about what was being uncovered by Enerjak – shame it's not right though :-). Read on and find out!

DS – Never knew that about the comics; I never really had a chance to read any of them – still, nice to know there are some people paying attention to detail out there. One other thing in the comics though, is Enerjak really power-mad like, say, Robotnik is, or is there some idea of him wanting anything other than to dominate Angel Island?

UL – Glad to see you're still reading – hope you enjoy the latest offering!

TG – Don't worry about being busy – I'm trying to buy a house at the minute and that's bad enough; at least with brinks and mortar you don't have to worry about feeding it or building a stable!

As he had known it would be, even if he had prayed it would be different, Dimitri felt the quivering being transmitted through the palm of the Central Dogma's right hand before he looked down at Shadow's face. _Spirits give me strength_; he had contravened the first law of his own organisation but he'd had no choice – though he'd done all he could reasonably do to avoid it, by not fully understanding the circumstances behind the hedgehog's mental 'defences' and pressing onwards with his own blind idea of the truth, he'd had no choice but to expose Shadow to the truth he had seen, and a monstrous, monolithical thing it was. The shock was painted indelibly in his face; the crimson eyes were widened almost beyond physical limits, the breathing was forced, sharp and hurried and the hedgehog was trembling from head to foot, even now not fully taking in what he'd just seen and, most damningly of all, what it would mean for him later on. _What will happen to you next Shadow – not even I can hazard a guess_; Dimitri couldn't even try to put himself in the hedgehog's shoes, for he had the Legion to keep him occupied, allow him to forget his own state and concentrate on allowing others onto the level the Chaos Siphon had propelled him, ensuring that no matter how it all turned out eventually, he'd have company around him. Shadow had nothing like such future assurances and because of that the grandmaster couldn't even begin to try and advise him of the best course of action; all he could do was ensure the younger Mobian was in his own space, free to absorb what had just been thrust upon his unexpecting and underserving mind,

"Shadow, Shadow", the Central Dogma's volume was raised as the first whisper got no reaction; only on the second, much more forceful attempt did the hedgehog look up, not even trying to shrug off the massive metal hand still pressing down on his head quills, "listen to me; you should go now; your friends will be waiting for you – they're the ones you need right now. Do you still have the Chaos Emerald?" That was a fake question, he could see it blazing in the hedgehog's pocket like a beacon but the words helped, letting Shadow see he still had some control over circumstances. Even now, as he followed the glowing pinpricks of the Central Dogma's face plate, Shadow seemed to jolt in understanding, recognising the answer to the metal echidna's question,

"Yeah", not fully realising what he was doing he brought it out into the open, the light reflecting brightly from the multiple facets of the small but incredibly potent jewel sitting in the hedgehog's palm. Seeing this and waiting until he was the centre of his former opponent's attention, Dimitri removed his augmentic hand from Shadow's head quills and spoke once more,

"Well listen to me; you have what you came for, you know for a fact your friend is safe. You must leave Necronopolis now; do you think you can do it?"

"I…", before he'd been so sure of himself, so confident in his own abilities but the riddle phantastique that he'd so recently seen now filled his mind, forcing him to forego concentration on any of his other strengths and focus on it and its repercussions alone, "I don't know…"

"Then I will help you", though not an entirely unselfish offer; it would prevent too many questions form the regular Legionnaires if the kidnapper had escaped without trace rather than being led out the front gates, the Legion's lord was also keen to make sure Shadow was among friends as quickly as possible, the better for him to share and therefore try to ride the awful storm in his mind, "just concentrate on where you want to be, focus on that alone and leave the rest to me". Slowly the very tip of one of his almighty fingers touched the side of the Chaos Emerald, the power from within it permeating through the metal to warm up his remaining skin at his behest; as he channelled the power into himself, Dimitri kept half an eye on the hedgehog holding the Chaos emerald and once more despair clawed at him – Shadow seemed to be if anything even further from recovery than when he'd looked last, still cocooned in the full knowledge of what was awaiting him, the fate he could not escape,

"Shadow"; _his eyes moved_; as it had what seemed like an age ago with Amy, the grandmaster felt his heart lift as the ebon hedgehog's pupils darted upwards to rest on his face, "do you have where you need to be, is it clear?" _But there was no answer_; stymied in his quest for good news, the technocrat was left unfulfilled as Shadow merely looked down, pausing for a moment before nodding, just once; tensing himself to expel the power he'd gathered into a new host, Dimitri decided to finish the short, ruinous part he had played in the hedgehog's life,

"Say it then", the energy of the little one birthed from the Master emerald erupted from him in a wash of power, flooding back through the emerald into the hedgehog as, rather than call, he merely whispered,

"Chaos Control".

A moment later, having powered up his optical circuits once more and found the room deserted save for himself, Dimitri took a step backwards; despite the fact he no longer felt fatigue due to his body's literally iron constitution, there was no denying the feeling of weariness that seemed to have swept over him, far greater in magnitude than the norm for a technique as draining as even a Chaos Control. He needed time and space to recuperate from what had just occurred, reason through what he'd unwittingly done and the suffering it was bound to cause a Mobian who'd just aptly demonstrated the adaptability of life just by getting to him as he had and, if anything, should now be celebrating his incredible coup. Sitting down on the specially reinforced chair at the head of Necronopolis's central auditorium, the grandmaster of the Dark Legion declined to vox for more troops just yet; the moment's solitude would give him a little time in which to plan his next moves. Even as he rested the main faceplate of the Central Dogma on one gargantuan bunched up fist and concentrated first and foremost on the implications the truth was sure to have on Shadow, there was still a small part of the grandmaster's mind occupied by the parts other participants of this thrilling saga of kidnap had played and could find nothing to criticise; _maybe, just about maybe_; weighing up the pros and cons of such a decision, Dimitri was reminded by his memory banks of the younger echidna's recently flawless conduct; _Kragok's earned back his corporal's stripe_.

XXX

If he had been able to notice it, Shadow would have recognised where he was sitting almost immediately; from this very spot a mere few hours ago, he had started the last stage of his plan to finally pull his flatmate out of the oppressive, looming shade of her former home – how different it was now, now when there was room for nothing in his mind say the same few figures, replaying the same movements over and over again, the shock in no way diminished as with every reminder, the hedgehog's imagination raced away, such potent firepower quickly blasting through any kind of mental barrier he tried to hastily erect to impede it's progress. No matter where he turned, which way he tried to see this new side of himself, all he could see were the people he had grown close to recently, the faces that meant so very much to him and, even if he shut his eyes, they were still there, there was nothing he could do that would let him unsee what Enerjak had shown him, watch them all, one by one, start to fade away, out of sight, and out of eventual memory. Sat down on his little tussock of raised earth, Shadow probed about the darkness in his mind, realising this was how it would have to be eventually, and knew the true meaning of utter isolation; even as such a chill sensation threatened to pull him under and drown his hope forever, the hedgehog found himself trying to decipher a way to limit the damage, ease the impact when it finally arrived, for he knew that, for all the speed he possessed, there was no way he could avoid a blow as dolorous as this.

As his mind fought desperately to have even a modicum of clear thought amid the frigid vacuum that had recently surrounded it, Shadow's body sat motionless, not stirring as, completely unheeded by his overburdened thoughts, the world wandered by all around him.

XXX

Though no-one in the office would have labelled her as a clock-watcher, there was no way they could deny that their newest recruit seemed to have a knack for anticipating the chime when it came; by the time her escort had even reached down for the off-switch, Julie had powered down her own machine, snatched up her bag and was stood to the side of him, smiling pleasantly,

"Any time you're ready?"

"Hey, cool it girl", Kadu sighed back, finally seeing out the corner of his eye the screen before him grey out and the phantom shackles of the day job slip from him as a consequence, "not everyone's got your sort of energy".

"Tell me about it"; the elder echidna had a teasing glint in her eye as she winked at him, "what is it I keep reading about the unfit, uninspired youth of today? No wonder you're always trailing me home, the amount of exercise you do".

"Well I sure don't stick behind you for the view" Kadu shot back, a little miffed at being put down like this in front of the rest of the staff as they filed out, "the only reason I'm not here on my bike is because you can't stand riding the thing".

"Oh I can standing riding it", Julie corrected him; the younger echidna shook his head as he realised that this time for all his glares and gruff nature he wasn't going to grind her down this time, "it's just your driving I've got issues with". After a second of getting his things together and neglecting to answer her, Kadu turned around, all his possessions gathered up in the small bag he now had slung over one shoulder,

"Right, let's go", he demanded, jerking his thumb towards the stairwell where the other workers of typing pool four were now filing out, ready to be replaced by the next part-time shift, "I got a programme to catch and it's on in just under thirty minutes".

"Same here, except mine's about a quarter of an hour away", Julie told him with a smirk before ducking past, calling over her shoulder, "come on, try and keep up this time".

"Right behind you"; hearing this, the ex-Legionnaire picked up her pace a little, falling into her normal, comfortable routine as she headed for home at a modest jog, enjoying the sensation of movement without pain as, at last, the bruise that had covered a vast portion of her rib cage was finally ebbing away, clearing up for good and letting her finally get back to full fitness; _well, if not full_; the echidna corrected herself, glancing down to see the pavement gliding away beneath her feet; _at least as good as it was before – fingers crossed, get back into the rhythm tonight and be a size twelve by Christmas_.

That was the goal she'd set herself; by her reckoning if she kept up this sort of gentle jogging and got her regular bi-weekly fix of exercises from the TV, she'd be able to drop a dress size by the time winter set in properly. However, she put on a little extra burst having rounded a sharp corner and assuring herself that there was no-one ahead of her to crash into, in order to stick to such an ideal she needed to make sure she was in a position to get bi-weekly viewing of her programme, she needed to get to her apartment in time to watch it; though taping was an option she no longer allowed herself to cheat like that – the thought she'd be too slow was one of the factors that spurred her into jogging like she did now. A glance at her watch made sure she was still on course time-wise; she could hear from the huffing and puffing behind her that Kadu was still on her tail;_ he can't deny that he's started to shape up because of this as well_; and bearing up well, or at least much better than he had since she'd put her foot down and told him in no uncertain terms that, though she was grateful for him providing her with a escort to and from work everyday, as far as she was concerned the hover-bike he owned was off-limits.

_It was good of him to agree to that actually_; taking a slight mental step backwards from her body's exertions, Julie sniggered slightly as she relived the absolute temper tantrum Kadu had pulled when she'd come up with that condition – he'd invoked every childish condition under the sun up to and including stamping his feet to try and change her mind but she was having none of it; _maybe he didn't agree with good grace, but he agreed_. Since then, despite his grumbles, the younger echidna had proved himself to be quite a bit different to her first impressions of him; rather than an all-talk macho-Mobian, he did have something close to a sensitive side and did look out for people if he could – the mere fact he was here at all was proof enough of that. Though there hadn't been so much as a sniff of the Legion in over a fortnight he seemed to have taken the instructions Remington had given him deeply to heart; every day Julie opened her front door to see him stood there waiting for her, just in case as he liked to say, and the pair of them jogged home together as well. _Now a couple of months back, that would have really bugged me_; the sudden thought almost threw out her rhythm but luckily her body knew every step of the way so well it was virtually running on autopilot and managed to compensate for the slight hitch, letting the echidna think slightly more deeply about that rogue thought; _but now, I don't seem to mind so much_; her eyebrows rose a little as she took this in; _it's just good to know people like him actually give a damn – sure as hell makes a refreshing change from what I was used to_.

That realisation buoyed her up all the way home and made the half-mile or so she had left to go melt away effortlessly; slapping her hand down on the apartment block's front door, Julie looked over her shoulder and laughed at the sight of Kadu virtually collapsing to a halt, hand on a nearby lamp post as he sank almost to his haunches, drawing in deep, ragged breaths to recover his stamina. Noticing her scrutiny after a moment, he made a visible effort to drag himself upright and stagger towards where she was stood now, shaking her head at his posture of exhaustion,

"And they, say the youth of today's, unfit", he gasped as his trembling hand came to rest on the doorframe Julie was working at, trying to unlock the front door and let them both in, "well, they were right".

"Ah, you're getting better", Julie assured him, pushing the portal open and gesturing for him to go first, "admittedly not very quickly, but you are getting better". Kadu turned to favour her with a caustic smile as he moved past,

"And you, of course, hit the deck running the second after you popped out your egg?"

"Of course", Julie rebuked him, expression indicating she'd been mortally offended by his suggesting otherwise, "isn't that obvious?"

"Not from where I'm looking".

"Ah well, that just stops people getting jealous of me", Julie continued unashamedly, following her workmate up the stairs towards the first floor where she'd bid him good evening; he lived a couple of floors up from her, one of the reasons he always claimed he went a little slower in the run home; _'I'm saving myself for climbing the stairs' – yeah right, pull the other one_; "so, what you got planned for the night?" After pausing for a second musing, Kadu merely shrugged,

"Quiet one; not got anything much planned, probably just going to watch the box, after a nice long, hot bath", he added, the flicker of hurt rippling over his face causing Julie to suspect a twinge of cramp before he recovered and turned the question on her, "so what about you?" _Pretty much the same I guess_;

"Depends if Shadow's got any ideas or not", Julie admitted after minute's thought, the landing to her floor visible by now, "wait for him to bowl in from work and go from there I reckon".

"He's C.A isn't he?" Kadu queried; he'd seen this workmate's living partner on a couple of occasions but hadn't, as yet, shared any words with him and was a little sketchy on the details of the hedgehog, "how's it going over there?"

"A bit like our place he says; he is running a lot of the time though", Julie pointed out, "I doubt he's got a lot to do with the inner workings of the C.A – shame really, I bet if he did he'd be able to get things working faster than they are at the minute".

"Tell me about it; anyway", Julie saw the other echidna's eyes linger on the stairs he still had to climb before glancing over at her, "see you tomorrow, and tell Shadow I said hi".

"No problem", Julie assured him with a casual wave, the rapid pounding noises she could hear over her shoulder telling her Kadu was probably our of eyeshot by now; just as she was heading for her own place, however, his disembodied voice floated down to her,

"Just one thing Jules", she took a pace back, craning her neck upwards to see him grinning down at her, "beings as you keep talking about Shadow so much, is he familiar with your inner workings yet? Gone!" He hastily shouted, tearing up the stairs pell-mell as Julie, face suddenly smouldering, made to throw herself after him after that sort of unnecessary double entendre. _Damn it_; getting herself back under control as she saw the bottom edges of his soles streaking up the stair case over her head, Julie mentally recited the normal litany of curses she held ready for this time in the day; _every bleeding time, and I always fall for it – ooh I hate him sometimes_. Probably realising it had to be some kind of karmic justice on his part to pay her back for the exercise routine she was forcing on him, Julie merely ground her teeth as she stalked back to her shared apartment, glancing at her watch to see she still had enough time to get changed into her workout gear, knock back a quick drink and get settled in front of the TV before it all kicked off. As she pulled the door to behind her, sealing her in for the night, how could she have possibly imagined that, in a mere thirty minutes, her already tempestuous and turbulent life would be given another monumental stir?

XXX

_And to think_; the concentration on her face prevented her from smiling; _that this was once hard – I could go on for another hour or two – the regime's just working like a charm_. Pumping her knees up almost to the level of her chin alternately, Julie mimicked the figure before her, watching the movements and letting the near-constant stream of pep-talking wash right over her, feeling no tiredness enveloping her limbs as it had just a couple of months ago when she'd started working out like this. It wasn't as though she'd ever been unfit, the continual drilling and physical exercise sessions held by the Dark Legion had ensured that was never going to be the case, but this kind of high tempo, fast burst workout had been completely alien to her; _just like everything else on Angel Island. But I managed it in the end_; the smile finally began creeping over her face, interrupting her steady breathing pattern slightly as she followed the uplifting thought to its conclusion; _I'm not there yet, but one day I'm going to walk down the street and absolutely no-one is going to think I look odd_; competitive spirit rekindled, Julie began to rotate slowly, increasing the speed of her star jumps fractionally as the desire to prove herself, get that little bit better than she was already burned within her; the flame was so hot that it was a couple of seconds before she slowed down, coming to an eventual halt as her brow knitted; _hey, who killed the music...?_ For a second she feared the power had gone down and looked over her shoulder, expecting to see a black, blank screen staring back at her, choking her exercise off just when she'd built up a full head of steam.

Her legs were immediately powdered to straw, the sight before her leeching the vitality out of her very being like a vampire, transfixing her with those glowing, coal-like eyes. Gasping for air as her heart threw itself against the prison of her ribcage, Julie tried with every ounce of her mental resolve to break her eyes away from the screen but was helpless, unable to even blink her shock-widened pupils against the abomination glaring at her now. She was sure his voice, booming through the speakers like the first explosion of the apocalypse, would be enough to force her into unconsciousness but somehow her tiny, insignificant frame clung to life as the machine that had up until a few months ago been the god of her existence made his proclamation,

"Good evening Echidnopolis", the greeting itself was terrible enough, the veneer of politeness somehow more laden with dread promise than the threat of violence that was sure to follow, "no-one panic please, I'm not going to be here long and this isn't any kind of intimidation; I merely want to make a few facts very clear". Her breathing was still ragged and there was no denying the shock that still had her held fast in its grip, but, as much as she could take in the inscrutable face of the androgynous Enerjak, Julie was just about able to deduce that for some reason he wasn't making any kind of a threat before his voice rolled on, somehow even more doom-laden than before,

"It has come to my attention that, some weeks ago, an incident occurred involving a few members of the Dark Legion; an incident that singled out one former Legionnaire who decided to leave our organisation for reasons of her own; an incident fuelled only by misguided anger and revenge", those LED displays flared like an inhaling demon as the grandmaster growled his next words, "these are things I will not, repeat, will not allow to fester with the Dark Legion; those responsible for such a cowardly attack have been identified and punished severely for their crimes and will never again hold rank within the Legion as long as I preside over it". The cyborg seemed to take a step backwards, the pause in his words accompanied by Julie sitting up straight on the settee, shock finally starting to ebb away, replaced by something else, something strong that was stirring in the very pit of her stomach as Enerjak spread both his almighty arms wide and continued his speech,

"I, and through me the Legion, have made many promises and deals of peace with the council of Echidnopolis; I will not allow the actions of a few stupid Legionnaires to tar the reputation of my organisation as a whole. No-one need fear us, or fear, should they decide our ways are not for them at the moment, leaving us – they can do so in safety and without concerns of reprisal. On that, you have the word of Enerjak", the cyborg nodded once before looking up once more, tone softer now as it seemed the impromptu hack into the broadcasting network of Echidnopolis came to an end, "my apologies for disturbing your evenings; farewell".

Suddenly blind to the re-ignition of the screen before her and deaf to the sudden high-speed beat now echoing through the living room, Julie merely flumped backwards further into the settee that half-cocooned her, mind racing a mile a second as what she had just seen branded her mind in perfect Technicolor. Half of her was tempted to ignore it as some insane delusion, a phantom ghost suddenly sprung up from the most bizarre and deranged depths of her unconscious imaginations and playing on her recent experiences. For a second she was tempted to play along with such an idea before, with an almost audible sound, the realms of the fantastic and the plausible came together with a grinding crunch, forcing her sore, overburdened brain to begin to accept what she'd just seen; _and…_; suddenly her hands gripped tightly, the knuckles going white through her gloves as the very beginnings of an exultant, panting laugh began to germinate on her face, a soaring sensation lending wings to her back and allowing her to swoop away, the anchor once and forever sundered from her ankles, seeing her free at last; _..and what it is, what it means!_

XXX

The stairs were nothing to someone who could fly; with the shackles broken forever, everything was so effortless, so easy – she breezed up the three flights of stairs without registering touching the thinning carpet covering them once. Twice she rapped on the door before her, hopping from foot to foot in an effort to expel some of her now-pent up power before it could consume her utterly in a blaze of pure positivity. Senses enhanced by such massive relief picked up the answer long before the door before her rattled, there was an almost musical clink as a set of keys were jangled together and, finally to someone as desperate to share her gospel as Julie was, the apartment opening swung open, revealing the echidna she'd flown upstairs to see,

"Jules?" She held down a smile as Kadu hastily licked his lips and swallowed the traces of what must have been his dinner to answer politely, "what are you doing here?" Obviously he hadn't seen it, but the ex-Legionnaire was far beyond caring; all that was on her mind now was the repeated promise, from the grandmaster of the Dark Legion himself no less, that she had completely abandoned the fetters of her former home, that no-one from the Legion would ever blight her life again.

"Nothing", he must have seen the message radiating from very pore of her body, the virtually tangible force-field of exultation thrumming all around her as she carried on, "just, better let you know much as I enjoyed it", she paused, savouring these words like she would the very ambrosia of the gods themselves, craving every drop of satisfaction, of certainty and security that she could possibly take from them, "I won't need an escort tomorrow". The blanket wrapped around her like a warm, soft towel, banishing the shadow that had so recently tormented her with a beam of purest sunlight, reducing it to less than nothing, a powerless, broken husk as Kadu, understandably a little bemused by this sudden change in circumstances, raised an eyebrow,

"You, ah, I guess you're sure about this?" He corrected himself quickly as Julie smiled at him, the single gesture conveying far more than the thousand words a picture was supposed to tell, "what brought this on?" Julie laughed,

"You'll find out tomorrow", she had to cut herself of as an urge to jump on the younger echidna suddenly grabbed her, the basic, instinctive need to hold someone close at a time of celebration like this making her irrational; though she managed to wrestle it down, there was no denying the need would come back reinforced, "but anyway, better get going";_ yeah, can't let this go to waste_; as she smartly turned on her heel and began descending back to her own level, feet still not registering contact with the ground, Julie felt the smile on her face grow to massive proportions as, almost but not entirely unbidden, a single figure pulled up in her mind and allowed her to focus on it; _not meaning to think of you wrongly or anything Kadu, but I've got someone else I'd much rather share this with_.

As she sealed herself in her own apartment again, Julie pranced from room to room not because of any stupid ideas of losing weight she had, but just for the sheer joy of life, the unsullied, sincere spirit of freedom and adventures beckoning out somewhere, waiting for her to seize upon them and live out her dreams. And it was possible; in this moment she felt nothing was beyond her imaginations – right now, she could do and be anything she wanted to be and there was nothing to stop her; _after all, the Legion couldn't hold me down_; the conformation of this fact sent another shudder upwards through her, allowing her fly a little higher than before even as she sank down onto one of the chairs in her lounge; _nothing's going to stop us now_.

This time, as another, slightly slighter and darker figure joined in her crazy ascending dance of deliverance, unlike most other times when she pulled back from her feelings, unsure or afraid of how to interpret them correctly, Julie relaxed and, after quickly taking in the time to count down how long before it may become something close to a reality, let herself float free, join her dementedly overjoyed thoughts and ran with them, wherever they would take her.

XXX

A sudden sneeze broke his deadlock; sniffing deeply through his nose, Shadow suddenly looked around sharply, the breath in his throat catching as he realised with horror how much time he'd lost. Twilight was setting in deeply now, the small patches of darkness beginning to merge and meld into new, amorphous forms that threatened to obscure the route home completely. Biting his lip both in concern that, despite his mental lock-in, he could see no way of avoiding his fate and to avoid groaning as the cramp raced up and down his stiff legs, the former ultimate life-form stood up, stretching off almost shyly, bitterly aware of how apt the scenario he found himself in now was; _a taster of things to come_. The pessimistic thought echoed around in his head as something glinted on the floor nearby and he casually scooped it up, observing how the Chaos Emerald seemed to deflect the darkness coiling about it – what he wouldn't give to be able to do the same? But the thought would have to be postponed for now, the answer to the riddle he now knew was at the very centre of his being would have to be solved later on; motivated by the jewel in his hand, Shadow began to walk slowly towards the shrine of the Master Emerald, reminded that he still had to deposit the stone there to fulfil his promise to Espio. Not trusting himself to run yet, rationally aware that he couldn't concentrate on the route to anything like a safe standard, Shadow began the trudge towards home not knowing, and increasingly afraid of not knowing, what he was supposed to do next.

XXX

She'd been jumping around like a cat on a hot tin roof trying to keep her bubbling excitement at least partly contained, eyes sweeping the wall to count down the passing seconds as they were marked off by the clock on the wall. Nothing could get her down now; like the electrical tingling in the air as a prelude to a major storm, Julie's excitement was building up to a fever pitch, ready to be unleashed when the time was right; slowly, almost as if afraid of the power that was going to be detonated, but eventually, bound by the infallible law that all time must pass, no matter how slowly it seems to everyone watching it, it must pass eventually, five o'clock had rolled around…

…and then it had passed. Followed by quarter-past. Half-past. Six o'clock.

And Shadow was nowhere to be seen.

At first she'd not been too concerned; though still a little undermined by the hedgehog's absence, Julie probably reasoned that he'd been invited out for a while, a slight dalliance after work. It wouldn't have been the first time something similar had occurred; _though, it has to be said he usually rings if something like that's going down_; and the wait maybe even wetted her apatite – after a couple of hours celebrating some minor event or other, he'd come in, she'd drop the motherload of explosives Enerjak had delivered to her and then they could both go out celebrating a really, really major event.

That certainty had kept her going for a little while; over and over she replayed the look on the hedgehog's face when she told him what she'd just seen, the mixture of disbelief at her words and utter, hopeless wild abandonment of joy as they finally sunk in – beyond that, she didn't really look to hard – whatever would be would just have to be because there was just no way anything bad could possibly happen tonight. Or so she had thought; now though, with even that idea eroded away due to the lateness of the hour and her flatmate's still-unaccounted for absence, Julie found herself gradually bereft of the feeling of celebration she had thought she could never lose only a few scant hours ago. Checking the clock once more she gritted her teeth, unable to cease her frantic pacing or concentrate on anything as another minor spear of irritation and worry caused her to fret over where the hell Shadow could have got himself to; _and on a work day as well? He never normally loses himself like this, what's happened to him?_

As she half-growled through her teeth to disguise the effect this unexplained change of circumstances was having on her, using anger to paper over her deep-rooted concern for Shadow's well-being, she couldn't seem to help herself from looking at the time again. _By the spirits, half-nine_; she couldn't call him, she'd tried only to find herself answered by his answer phone; only the knowledge she had that the EST didn't consider anyone missing until they'd been gone for twenty-four hours and that she wouldn't have even the faintest idea of where to look for him stopped her alerting the authorities to Shadow's disappearance or going out to try and solve the mystery herself; _he never stops out this late – oh what if something's happened to him_; she tried to shut down that line of thought because it was so painful; _if he's been hurt, or run over, or…what'll I do without him? He's the only thing I've got that I can really depend on – my job's good, the people I work with are cool and, heck, I've even got the guardian's on my side if push comes to shove, but Shadow started the whole thing, and he's stuck with me throughout. I'd have ended up on the street or in a stripy suit without him actually offering to take me on in the first place – if he's gone and…_

The sound of a bolt being drawn back as a key turned in a lock echoed through her head; in a split-second Julie had gone rigid as a waxwork, even her individual hairs standing on end as she listened obsessively, needing to hear the faint swishing of the door over the carpet to be sure, to make sure she didn't drown herself in a false deluge of relief; there it was, and a single footstep inside to confirm it beyond all doubt. The wave of emotion that crashed over her was so powerful Julie was knocked sagging against the nearest wall; luckily by this point she was in the kitchen, out of sight of the front door – if she could keep a lid on herself she might be able to handle this situation in a control and composed manner, find out where the hedgehog had gone and, more to the point, why he'd had his phone switched off and neglected to mention anything about his change of plans for the night to her. She forced herself to stand up, calling on years of instilled discipline to remain clinical in a situation like this, mentally commanding herself to maintain her veneer of calm in the face of such an unexpected happening; running in blindly wouldn't help here. With this in mind Julie walked out of the kitchen to confront the culprit who'd made her feel so helpless through his absence.

Almost for the first time in her life, however, the old discipline failed her; at the first sight of the hedgehog fiddling with his shoes, rubbing them clean on the hall mat, some kind of internal barrier ruptured completely, flooding out over her collectedness and unleashing something else, a desperate need to know, to try and understand,

"Shadow", he stiffened up at her word, she saw the quiver run right though his body and the sight only seemed to spur on the recriminations racing through her, "where the hell have you been?"

She'd had some ideas, nothing concrete, but a couple of explanations as to what had delayed the hedgehog's homecoming; however, as Shadow turned around, everything she had previously suspected, every theory she'd previously concocted to try and explain what was going on, even the wild, rapturous bliss of her own release, was all just blown away as Julie beheld the face of her flatmate

XXX

_Oh no_; he'd known this was coming but there was no way he could have prepared for it; somehow her voice made what he knew now all the more real, all the more damaging, and his situation all the more desperate. He had no choice now though; Julie's demands alone would have been painful enough, but now he had to turn around and face her, see in the flesh something he knew he'd one day have to miss; misery roiling around in his stomach and despair in his manner, Shadow swallowed softly and turned to look at his housemate, not even trusting himself to speak as he saw Julie standing there, regarding him with arms folded. The way her face fell as she saw him plunged ever deeper into the darkness of lonely eternities; _and there's still_; he felt tears cluster his vision, fracture the echidna's face as his mind once more rushed away, trying to run from what was confronting him, the decision he had to make; _ no way out of this_.

XXX

The hedgehog she knew so well seemed to be missing; there was none of Shadow's normal wit or empathy in the face of this familiar stranger. All this Shadow appeared to be able to do was look like a wet weekend, apparently unable to see or unconcerned with the wringer he'd put her through, the weak, tepid smile he offered less than nothing compared to what she'd just had to sit through waiting for him. Yet, for all that he'd obviously done wrong, Julie couldn't bring herself to even ask why; through the red mirrors that had replaced Shadow's eyes she could see, or at least, she thought she could see, something else, some sort of deeper hurt that the hedgehog was trying to deal with. Anger evaporated along with any sense of elation now; she was stuck in a situation she honestly couldn't even begin to fathom as her tongue clove to the roof of her mouth, rendering her unable to speak as Shadow nodded at her,

"Julie", even his voice was different; it was a colourless, dry croak that answered her, tinged only with a hint of desperation as it made it's need plain, "sorry, I am, but, I have to sleep now". _Sleep, forget that, you're going to tell me what the hell just happened and why you're so late in_;

"Sure, you go ahead"; _what_; Julie scarcely believed the words when she heard them issued from her own mouth, but sure enough it was her voice that was speaking, "you look like you've had a rough night". Maybe she'd been expecting some sort of a comeback, a snappy remark, anything to break up the monotony of what she'd seen of Shadow so far, but if that was the case she was to be disappointed; with no more than a nod of his head the hedgehog brushed past her, not even bothering to clean up in the bathroom as he headed straight for the bedroom of their apartment, shutting the door behind him, obviously not to be disturbed for the night.

For a long time, Julie merely stood where she was, eyes trained on the bedroom door as her mind's eye saw the same past few minutes flit past over and over again; each time, the outright negativity of such an entrance by Shadow, a Mobian who, despite his rather collected outer shell and seemingly mundane activities so far, she'd come to associated with an adventurous soul and a slight taste for danger, sapped the will right out of her. She knew sleep for her was eons away, as was virtually everything else; the memories of Enerjak's dramatic proclamation of her freedom now nothing more than just memories, despite being only a few hours old – somehow she felt she'd aged ten years in the few scant moments she'd interacted with her flatmate tonight. Shaking her head, the echidna trudged into the lounge and flopped down on the settee, reclining backwards as she fought to try and piece together an explanation, any kind of explanation, to resolve what had just happened. _How did he go from Shadow to that…_; there wasn't a word she could think of to describe the walking corpse that had come through the front door a few moments ago, even attempting to name it made her shudder; _…thing? What's brought it…in fact no, forget that_; thrusting the question aside for the moment, Julie tried to contemplate a bigger issue, one that, if it didn't get resolved, filled her with a icy, blood-curdling terror; _is he going to break out of it? He's got to, I can't live with someone like that – damn it Shadow_.

Letting her face fall into her hands, the ex-Legionnaire felt her hope, so recently built up by freedom, under a graver threat now than anything the Legion could have provided; _I don't care why you were late tonight, I just care about you. For the love of anything, you need, I need you_; it hurt to think like this, it went against everything she'd ever been taught by her life in the school of hard knocks but she couldn't break away now – she'd taken a gamble and had no choice but to see it through, for good, or for ill. Trying to picture the black hedgehog as anything other than the annoying, caustic but at the same time so outright trusting, dependable and if she was completely honest loving, Mobian she'd grown so accustomed to and fond of was by far the most dread phantom of all; _I need you back._

XXX

Thought she had no way of knowing it, Julie wasn't alone in not being able to sleep; as he had prepared himself to rest, Shadow had finally lost the will to run any more; at bay to the truth, the hedgehog had no choice but to turn and face what was coming and make the choice. All the way home his head had pounded with the need for his pick between the two options and the acceptance of the certainty that his life was going to change; there was no way it could ever be the same when that pronouncement had echoed through his head. _It doesn't matter what I do_; the irony would have made him smile if there had been any joy in his soul any more; _I'm going to get hurt by this – I either suffer now or I carry on as I am and die later, when I have to confess everything at it all just falls apart._ The warmth of his blanket was the only source of heat he had now; inside he was as cold as a polar ice-cap, a perfect little ball of icy despair and misery as he curled up, bracing himself to try and decide what to do next, knowing he was damned if he did, and he was definitely damned if he didn't.

A moment later, after closing his eyes and silently incanting a mournful curse at the trick fate had played on him, the hedgehog made his choice. Mere seconds after that, he was beginning to plan out how best he could begin to adapt to the new way of life he had adopted.

XXX

Of all the exercises detailed within its many and sacred pages, that one definitely wasn't in the staff manual; having glanced up from her screen to check if there was a runner about, Honey nearly cricked her neck as her head shot up again, not believing what she'd seen first time and needing a second look to try and confirm it. Her jaw dropped as she realised it was actually true; _but_; mind boggling at the sight before her, Honey tried to rapidly cycle through any reason Shadow might have had for showing up at Central Admin today and found herself mute for an answer; _he's supposed to be on holiday until next week!_ Unable to think of anything else to do, the blonde echidna could only watch on astounded as, following a brief conversation at her desk, Snappy stood up to follow the hedgehog over to the massive print calendar that dominated a large proportion of the far wall, the pair of them pointing to weeks of it at a time and holding a conversation Honey couldn't make out, not that she was listening too hard to the words, merely trying to figure out what Shadow was doing here in the first place. _Maybe he's booking his next trip off in advance_; that would make sense – some of the others had been known to come in and talk to the management on one of their annual holidays to try and beat rushes for the peak holiday seasons. Honey thought about this for a moment and decided that was probably the most likely cause of the hedgehog's turning up, or at least she did until, having nodded deferentially to the matriarchal Snappy, Shadow quickly snapped up a spare runner's knapsack and darted over to the nearest full desk, shuffled up the top five files and a handful of receipts before taking off, racing away at his customary office speed to the elevator out the back of the C.A. Thrown off the scent by this complete abandonment of common sense, Honey could only gawp helplessly after him, the cogs of her mind frozen up irreparably as they tried to put this one through the mill; _why, oh why, is Shadow working on his day off? Hmm, maybe it's a one-off, like it was at the weekend for me?_

However, as the hedgehog swiftly reappeared and took another five samples, then five more after that before the petite echidna's disbelieving eyes, she quickly realised that idea, and all the ones following since that first spark, had to be completely and utterly incorrect.

XXX

Speed, wind whistling in his ears, that was all there was; a fractional pause, a few meaningless words exchanged with someone he didn't really know while they signed for the mail he was bringing for them and that was all; repeated over and over, it was a cycle that would protect him. Hurling himself heedlessly through the streets he now knew like the back of his hand, Shadow closed his eyes for a second, beginning to accept his new life, his new safeguards against the end of everything that was inexorably approaching; _this isn't heaven by any means_; he knew this was the easiest part of trying to prevent himself getting too close to things, to people, he was sure would leave him behind and that there would be pain trying to snap the bonds he already had; _but it's worth it, it has to be – it's not heaven, but it's certainly a damn sight better than hell. Now though, I've got the first challenge up ahead_; already having his explanations prepared, the hedgehog pulled to a stop next to the building to his right, checking the street to make sure it was safe to cross the road; _gotta let Honey know what's going on, now and later._

XXX

"Hmm, three seconds late"; Shadow beamed into the upraised eyebrows as the echidna opposite him slapped her plate down on the table, "not too shabby I suppose, but then again I'm allowed to be a perfectionist".

"So I gathered", had she not been so pre-occupied wanting to know why Shadow was in the canteen in the first place Honey might have noticed the almost too cheerful tone he was talking to her with, "but, well, do I really have to bother asking?"

"Not really – reason I'm here is, leaving aside the fact you chumps need all the help you can get", the echidna favoured him with a basilisk smile; _strange, he didn't smile back_; "is that I need all the cash I can get; want to go up in the world, you see, and, well, can't get onto the second floor unless you've got a small mountain of cash underneath you".

"Yeah, that's certainly true; ah, got yah", seeing the sense in what he was doing, his co-worker tipped him a knowing wink, "you get extra pay for coming on a holiday, that right?"

"You got it", Shadow agreed, relieved the Honey had made it easier than he'd expected by jumping to that conclusion as it meant he didn't have to explain why he was working for just his basic hourly rate rather than just having his day off, "but yeah, I didn't have much on and decided to come back, just for something to do". Honey shook her head piteously,

"Coming into work for something to do – how sad is that? Mind you", she tacked on, expertly interrupting the hedgehog's non-existent comeback, "I can understand why – house prices are rocketing upwards, even for renters like us. Any idea what the pair of you are looking for?" Shadow glanced up sharply; _don't make me think about that_;

"Umm, not really", desperate to postpone thinking about how he could possibly let Julie down gently and trying to break up the conversation entirely as it was becoming a little too friendly, Shadow drew up his end of the conversation quickly, "if you see anything about, let us know okay?"

"Sure", Honey replied easily; she would have said more but the way the ebon hedgehog looked down and suddenly began clearing his plate told her in no uncertain terms that as far as he was concerned the talking was done and the eating was beginning; _must be hungry, but still_; sparing a last glance towards where the hedgehog was sat, she cast him an affronted look; _that was a bit rude. Hope you're not planning on making a habit of that pal._

XXX

Her confusion and concern over Shadow's bizarre behaviour last night had made her irritable, the mood compounded by a lack of restful sleep; therefore, walking into an office who'd been specially briefed by Remington to give her a rapturous welcome had been a real stress on her tautened nerves. Oddly enough, no-one had really wanted to believe her when she said she just fancied a normal day at the office, mostly because she wanted to get home at the normal time and get ready to see if Shadow had actually snapped out of whatever funk he'd been in last night, and her entire day had been one continuous round of back-slapping, congratulations and, she had to admit this had brought a smile to her face, at the end of the shift, a hastily wrapped present paid for by a whip-round and brought by Nesi in the lunch hour. The resultant bottle of freshly chilled white wine was now comfortably ensconced in the bottom of the fridge; much like Kadu probably wished his scalp was after Julie had copped hold of him just before he'd nipped out the door at going home time. Only the sight of Remington himself threatening to book her if she didn't stop and release the annoyance in her arms had persuaded her to let him go; _that'll teach him to try and get my singing played in the office ever again_; blowing on her knuckles, the ex-Legionnaire allowed herself a smile as she pictured the way Kadu had beaten the top of his head as though his dreadlocks were on fire when she'd got through with him; _thanks for that trick Cream_.

The little rabbit demonstrating the fine art of monkey-scrubbing with a completely cold-cocked Sonic as a test dummy live on vid-phone warmed the cockles of her heart no end; a second later, however, the cheer vanished as she remembered what she was hoping to see now. _What I wouldn't give to be able to scrub my way into his brain, see what was going on in there_; the thought made the echidna groan in frustration – why, just why when everything seemed to be going fine, in fact, better, so much better than fine, did something like this have to invariably happen? Sitting down in the kitchen, Julie tapped her fingers together as she snuck another guilty look at the clock on the wall – technically he shouldn't be home for another ten or fifteen minutes anyway so he had a little leeway on that count, which just gave her a little more time to think, to try and puzzle out what could have thrown the hedgehog for such a loop that he was away so long on a work night without letting anyone know where he was. Giving a sardonic smile, Julie looked back over the ideas she'd come up with so far, and there weren't very many of them, in fact the only plausible explanation she'd even remotely feathered on was the idea that he'd gone to see some kind of girlfriend last night and things had got a little heated, maybe words had been said and everything had been thrown completely up in the air. It was something like a realistic theory but, even so, Julie couldn't really see it happening; _and, just in case it did happen_; ripples spread out over the surface of her drink as her fingers tightened their grip; _he better have an impeccable explanation as to why he kept me in the dark about his mistress!_

A few minutes after that thought crossed her mind, the top of her drink rippled again, a lot more violently this time as a crash from the front door made her jump vertically out of her seat; before she could do much more than turn around something dark had shot towards the draining board and scooped up a mug; it was only when he reached for the towel and started drying the utensil that Julie managed to get her tongue back into full working order,

"Shadow?"

"Where?" The hedgehog looked frantically over his shoulder as though expecting to be pounced on before glancing down at himself, "oh, you mean me?"

"Yeah, yes of course I meant you", startled by his early return from work Julie had to look at the clock and her watch to assure herself neither was displaying the wrong time, "what are you doing back so early?"

"I started early so they said I could take myself off home ten minutes from time", the hedgehog answered nonchalantly, turning his back on her to reach the on switch for the kettle, "anyway, about work, something I need to tell you". _Now what_; the irrational fear that he'd been made redundant spiked her; _if that happens we're both going to be kipping in the cold – no way my part-timer'll keep this roof over our heads_;

"What about it? You get promoted?"

"I wish – I've not even been there six months yet; no, I need to tell you I'm going to be coming in late most of next week, I've signed myself up on the overtime roster, working nine until seven now".

"Why?"

"Just want some extra security", the hedgehog wheedled, trying to put his point across in the minimum amount of time and words necessary, "putting something away for a rainy day, you know the sort of thing?"

"Yeah, but nine until seven, five days a week, that's fifty hours – you'll kill yourself", Julie put forwards, in her mind stating the obvious – to her, fifty hours in a week was a damn long time to be at work; leaving aside eight hours for sleeping, that left six hours in a day to kick back and relax, not a healthy balance in her mind. To her mingled shock and embarrassment, however, Shadow merely shook his head, apparently trying not to chuckle at her exclamation,

"Kill myself, nah, the work's a breeze, but there it is, like I said, starting next week, just thought you'd better get some early warning". The opening she needed; seizing it before it could slip away, the ex-Legionnaire closed in, her motives cloaked under a single raised eyebrow,

"Early warnings; wish I'd had a bit of that last night"; _right, here we go then_; he'd known she'd be after answers such as these – he had to make his next act convincing, "I have no idea what you were up to Shads but I nearly bit my nails down to the quicks waiting for you – it had gone half-nine when you rolled in and that's not like you, especially not to leave a message or get in touch. What happened out there?"

"Nothing, well, no, sorry that was the wrong thing to say", learning from his previous mistakes, Shadow let a prefabricated mistake out to sell Julie a dummy, "something did happen, something I really don't want to talk about right now, and I had to just run, get it out of my system, get away for a bit and think about it. I know I should have told you or let you know, but I wasn't thinking straight at the time; I was still suffering when I got to you last night, hence why I just turned in early and couldn't say too much. Don't worry now, all out the way, over and dealt with; what happened last night isn't going to happen again, I promise you that".

If it hadn't been for the relief she'd felt at that oath drowning out her other, slightly more subtle senses, Julie might have seen it than and been able to nip the problem in the bud before it really arrived; as it was though, she didn't even give the hedgehog's words a second thought; _he's not broken a promise to me yet – I can believe him_. Letting out a low, long breath of relieved anxiety, Julie stood tall and made to deliver her own news, beginning to glow slightly as a modicum of the excitement that had swamped her last night began to creep back over her,

"That's reassuring to know, but, aside from the fact you caused me to worry myself half to death, there's another reason I'm annoyed with you for not showing up yesterday; I had a bit of good news in the afternoon", the hedgehog raised an eyebrow; _great, no-one's told him – just what I wanted_; her grin grew huge as she sidled forwards, celebration jubilantly clear on her face, "Enerjak, he somehow got himself broadcast all over Echidnopolis", Shadow's eyes bulged in disbelief, fuelling her delight even more as she slapped her hands against her sides and threw her arms wide, proclaiming her gospel for all to hear, "he said basically, I'm free, completely".

Julie wasn't sure quite what she was expecting as a reaction, so she put the manner in which Shadow merely continued to stand there and blink down to shock; caught up in the tide, the ex-Legionnaire threw herself forwards, for once abandoning the usual air of collectedness she had around her to wrap her arms around the hedgehog in front of her, share her newfound freedom with the one Mobian who'd done more to help her get it than anyone else.

XXX

Shadow froze completely as suddenly Julie was at his front; of all the things he'd dreaded this was one of the worst as desire sprang up within him, battering at the barriers he'd forcibly erected around himself. His arms twitched momentarily but, no, he had to deny the urges; after a second of struggle he succeeded, reaching something of a compromise within himself. Under careful mental guidance he did reciprocate her hold but in a different way, keeping his grip strong enough only to let her know he was there, nothing more, keeping the distance between them; _if she gets in_; the thought made the ache redouble but he still had to keep it at bay, reminding himself that if he succumbed it would mean so much loss later on; _that really will be the end – I have got to keep her, keep them all, away_.

XXX

It was only then that she realised what was wrong; something about the way Shadow was holding her, it was different – Julie couldn't name what it might be but there was definitely something amiss in his arms. Before, when she'd needed some support and he'd been there, she would have sworn blind that nothing on earth would have been able to break through and reach her through him, but now that feeling of security, it was just gone. Puzzled bemusement filtered through Julie as she shifted fractionally in the hedgehog's hold, only to feel more hurt confusion as she found she was able to do so; _that's not right, before he didn't let go, not until he was sure…_; pushing herself backwards, perturbed by the ease in which she was able to accomplish her escape from his grip, Julie took a couple of steps back to regard the hedgehog anew; it looked like he was still reeling for some reason, but surely he should have recovered enough to get excited by now?

"Well", desperate to salvage something, Julie resorted to outright asking, "aren't you going to say…?"

"Sorry, but just, wow", the hedgehog cut her off after seeming to shake his head, moving his hands past his face as though indicating a dazing blow, "that caught me a bit out of the blue, in fact no, it caught me a lot out of the blue. How'd it happen?" Suddenly he seemed eager, a little too eager, pulling out a chair and sitting down regarding her hungrily for details, "what happened, how'd you find out?"

"Like I said, it was a broadcast", deflated by her realisations, Julie slipped into a seat of her own, eyeing the hedgehog opposite her up as she spoke, wondering if perhaps she'd been a little forwards by her expectations; it must, now she thought about it, been a lot to take in for someone who had no idea up to now. As she began to outline the exact circumstances behind Enerjak's surprise entrance into her living room, Julie gradually felt herself starting to relax a little; _it looks like he's taking all this in, but…_; there was no doubt Shadow was making all the right moves, the right expressions and saying the right things in the right places of her story, but at the same time, in the same way she'd felt something missing from his earlier holding of her, the echidna couldn't shake the nagging feeling that there was something just a little bit, she couldn't quite find the word that summed up what was gone – the best she could come up with was 'fake', in the hedgehog's manner. Thought overall she let herself gradually get more into her role as a storyteller, there was no doubt things weren't quite as they should be and the first few seeds of doubt had been planted in Julie's mind.

XXX

_This is okay, this is stuff I already know_; Shadow tuned the echidna in front of him in with half an ear as she regurgitated information he already knew, in fact he had been the first to know; of course, she didn't know this was new news to him, so he had to put on a convincing sideshow to feign interest in her words; _there's no chance of this getting out of hand – just keep it professional and you'll get out of this no problem_. Contented with circumstances as they were, Shadow decided against stopping his flatmate talking, waving her to carry on and starting to prepare a meal to allow her to carry on without breaking rhythm and ,as an added bonus, prevent him from looking at her too much, stopped the javelins of affection bouncing off and weakening his wall of serenity. It was only when she mentioned something as they were clearing up that he actually paid full attention to what she was saying; _oh no_; the lapse of his memory rebounded right into his face, sending icy spiders running up and down his backbone; _I'd forgotten all about that!_

"You, ah, you got it; thanks I'd nearly forgotten myself", he allowed himself to smile; it would be the expression she'd be expecting to see, "so, just get cleaned up, then go".

"Sure thing"; _good_; there was a touch of relief in his manner as the process seemed to be starting faster than he'd anticipated; _soon she'll realise, and I'll be out of this part of the mess_; quickly drying up the rest of the damp, soapy condiments, Shadow rattled them back to where they needed to go before giving a quick wave and departing out the kitchen door; before he could hear anything like a response from the echidna he was gone out the front door and pulling his phone from out of his pocket.

XXX

It took him a few seconds to realise she'd stopped pacing into line with him; looking over his shoulder, Micah called back to his lagging partner,

"Hey Honey, what's keeping you? Shadow'll be waiting". For a second she didn't answer before there was a sudden snap and she straightened again, sighing as she shook her head,

"No he won't; just had a message through, says he can't make it tonight".

"Really", that was a shame; now he was convinced there was absolutely nothing going on between his girlfriend and the Mobian she had, after the manner in which he'd managed to obtain his own employment within the C.A, talked about non-stop for a couple of days, Micah had looked forwards to his bi-weekly stroll with Shadow almost as much as he did the massage classes themselves, "any idea why?"

"He never said; just said he wasn't going to make it and that could we tell Andy sorry for that", as she stepped back into line with Micah, the smaller echidna shrugged nonchalantly, "oh well, nice of him to let us know I guess – I'll see if I can find out why next week".

"Yeah", her partner mused after a second of mulling it over, "up to him I guess – he must have his reasons".

In this assumption Micha was in fact correct, but, as Shadow alternately walked and ran in the semi-tamed outskirts of wilderness between Echidnopolis and the rest of Angel Island, he could never have guessed, not even in his wildest imaginations, the actual reasons behind the hedgehog's deviation from his normal routine.

XXX

If Friday night had planted seeds in her mind, a weekend where she could have counted the number of words exchanged with her flatmate on one hand had more than amply watered them; it was almost another week where Shadow's presence within the house for the evening had lasted only long enough to grab something out the fridge and wave over his shoulder before darting out again had allowed it to take root and burst into bloom and that really got Julie's mind made up. She'd seen so little of her flatmate over the past couple of days that she decided she needed more Mobian contact and, she admitted privately, a chance to clear her air around her, get out of the four wall surrounding her; the flat was suddenly becoming less of a home for her and more of a residence – because Shadow was out so much now, earning the extra cash he had decided he needed, it was losing the tiny little quirks, the personality, that had made it feel like a home. Thus it was that, in order to try and preserve whatever social skills she may have had and try to stop the rot before it could develop any further, Julie made a quick phone call on Thursday night to give herself something to look forwards to the following day.

XXX

With a sigh, Julie brought her hands down from where they'd been tying up a wrap in one of her dreadlocks and rested them on the sink, looking at the rest of the bathroom reflected in the mirror, remembering how it had been here where she'd finally begun to pull herself clear of the Legion; _and Shadow helped with that, so is he changing now, and if he is why's he changing – is it something I've done, or said?_ Thrusting such questions to the back of her mind for the moment, Julie quickly finished securing her hair in place and grabbed her bag from its place on top of the laundry basket, checking her watch as she did so – she'd said half-six, so she had more than enough time to get to the meeting she'd set up and, if she was honest, she wanted some fresh air, a breeze to try and stir up the oppressive, stifling feeling that seemed to have started infiltrating her life. Quickly scribbling a note on the table for when Shadow came in, Julie stretched one last time and headed for her door, pausing only to make sure it had locked behind her before taking in a deep breath and heading off towards the meeting she'd set up.

Luckily for her someone else had decided to arrive before time; pulling out her seat opposite her friend, the ex-Legionnaire sat down grateful for the rest, letting her bag drop softly to the floor as she relished the sensation of actually being around someone who didn't seem to always be looking for an excuse to leave all the time.

"Thanks for coming", she said, finally opening her eyes once more and regarding the bat before her, "it's a pleasure to finally see someone for more than a few seconds at a time at last".

"Ah, ah, ah", Rouge corrected her, wagging a finger with a playful smile on her lips, "no breaking the cardinal rule here Jules; order first, talk later. What are you having?" Plucking one of the menus from the centre of the table, the echidna scanned down the light snack and drinks part of it before shrugging her shoulders,

"Not sure, any recommendations? I've never been here before, how'd you…Charmy right?"

"Got it in one; God bless the buzz-boy's nose for a bargain", Rouge raised her currently empty glass in a toast to the aforementioned insect as Julie looked at the words before her again and made a quick choice; _after all_; she reasoned with herself as she handed the menu to the waiter who came over to collect their orders; _it's not the food I'm really here for._

It was as the drinks were served that, having tried to size up the situation and, having gleaned nothing more than the fact that something was obviously troubling the augmented echidna before her, Rouge stocked her breath before taking the plunge and enquiring,

"So", Julie looked over, halfway towards taking her first sip, "how're things going?" Julie paused for a second before, with slow deliberation, placing her glass back onto the table top and starting to talk,

"Well, they should be absolutely swimming; not sure if you know, but last week, just before the weekend, there was a bit of an unscheduled broadcast?"

"Yeah, I heard about that from the Chaotix", with a warm smile the bat reached over and tapped her glass rim against the echidna's, "look out world, Julie-Su's a free woman now; I would have called earlier but you actually beat me to it", she added at the last defensively, not wanting to have appeared rude by not calling with earlier congratulations; to her concern, however, rather than a gleeful acceptance of her words, Julie instead let her head drop with a disappointed sigh,

"Free yeah; listen, I don't want to dump on you or anything, but there's something I need to get off my chest?"

"I had a feeling there was another motive to your call than just a casual chitchat", the bat said with a laugh before nodding for the echidna to continue, "was it Amy who said it was good to talk?"

"It would have been her if it was anyone", Julie commented before steeling herself to impart her news, deciding on a little background information first, "I should be over the moon right", she opened her hands expansively, trying to convey the sense of confusion that was prevailing in her mind at the moment as she explained the conundrum, "Enerjak himself, the biggest cheese in the Legion, the main Mobian himself, gets up and basically tells most of Echidnopolis the prats who had a go at me just got the slapping of a lifetime and I've got nothing else to worry about – come on, you'd have to be a complete depressive not to get high on that sort of news right?"

"I'd go with that", more to delay the moment and earn a second to think Rouge took a sip of her drink before asking the obvious question, "and, well, it's pretty obvious you're not ecstatic about this, because…?"

"In a word", a gruff, mirthless chuckle graced her next words as she shook her head, "Shadow".

_What's he done?_; that wasn't a word she'd been expecting – suddenly Rouge had every reason to be thankful for the frequent poker games she'd partaken of when herself and her husband had been invited down to Station Square, because it was only that experience at keeping a straight face that kept the fear squeezing her lungs and heart out of her expressions. Fighting hard to stop her hand trembling as she reached for her glass, the bat tried to fish a little further in what she hoped was a casual voice,

"Shadow – what's he been up to?" To her relief and consternation, rather than immediately break down into a tirade of woe about how she'd been either betrayed or abandoned, Julie gave another sad smile,

"That's just it – nothing; right, the night I got my news I was absolutely buzzing – no word of a lie, I must have been worse than Charmy on a sugar high", at the bat's shudder and expression of distaste, the ex-Legionnaire smiled and continued, "yeah, but this was, whoa, this was the news of my life and I was just completely gone; I get home before Shadow does, and okay, occasionally he's late in, but he didn't roll in this time until nearly quarter to ten and he looked", even now after this time, she couldn't think of the right word and had to settle for shaking her head, the image of Shadow's desolated face making her shiver even now.

"Any idea why?"

"No, and I didn't ask; he said he needed to crash out for the night and I just let him. But now I really wish I had, it might have been able to stop him going like he is now – completely and utterly quiet".

The choice of word was interesting; Rouge mulled over what it might mean for a couple of seconds and making a couple of slight conclusions before deciding to dig a little deeper before she went too far in her ideas,

"He's quiet? Babe, if that's your biggest problem you've got a gem there".

"Now normally I'd agree but this, no", the quiet conviction behind her denial made Rouge sit up and take note, pay close attention to her next words, "I barely saw him over the weekend, and he's working a ten-hour day – he says he wants some extra money in his pocket but I'm not so sure I believe that now. It's like everything he does is trying to avoid me; he's working late, and even when work's over he pretty much comes in, eats, has a shower and then goes straight to bed, I'm lucky to get a word in edgeways. Why's he like this, and why now of all times; I don't know if I've done anything or if it's something I've said, but I'd rather have him doing the temper tantrum thing than like this – it's just creepy him being so, so, disinterested". Slightly drained by that confession, Julie simply sat back; she'd done her bit by informing someone who was a lot better with people skills than she was of the developments and now it was all about waiting for her conclusions to the matter. Glancing up hopefully, Julie looked over the table to see her friend engrossed in what looked like deep thought, apparently trying to weigh something up before, after a minute's contemplation, she spoke,

"This, avoiding people – do you know if it's just you or is it everyone?" Julie opened her mouth to answer, closed it again, thought for a second and opened it again, this time with an answer,

"No, not for certain, but I don't know if he's contacted anyone else – have you or Knuckles heard from him recently?"

"No"; that was a point Rouge hadn't considered, in fact, the more she thought about this the more of a certain kind of logic she saw in it; _don't think ahead – that's a possibility, just a possibility, you need more reconnaissance before you can say anything like that_; "but that's just made our job easier - it's the first thing we've got to sort out", the bat declared, drawing up a battle plan and getting down to business, "if Shads is acting weird like you say he is, it's up to us to find out why", cheered by Rouge's suddenly challenging smile, the ex-Legionnaire felt for the first time in what felt like ages the competitive edge in her drawn and sharpened, "grab your gun Jules, we're going over the top". With a chuckle, Julie threw herself right into the thick of things,

"Okay, any idea what our battle plan is?"

"No, but", checking over her shoulder to follow the bat's eyes, Julie mimicked her lean backwards to allow the waiter a clear shot at the table, "that can wait until after the meal".

"Too right".

_Amazing what a couple of hours can do isn't it?_; how could she have been so silly – this wasn't a problem, it was a challenge to find out why Shadow was behaving so erratically, and then to hopefully put a stop to it. The plan was going into action tomorrow night; by next week Rouge would have a taste of Shadow as he was now if Julie kept the diary like she was supposed to; from there they could try and discuss the most likely causes and solutions to put into action. Heading for home, mood definitely lifted following more than a week of emotional drudgery, Julie had no idea that the idea she'd concocted with Rouge, good as it was, had a serious and disturbing kink heading its way.

Long before the diary could be written, things were going to come to an almost unbelievable, explosive head.

XXX

Not that it appeared this way at first; buoyed up by her conversation with her friend earlier, Julie rose on Saturday to find, to her not so very great surprise, Shadow was already gone – masking her annoyance with pleasant thoughts, she simply thrust all thoughts of the black hedgehog from her mind and picked up the paper she'd picked up the previous evening; _okay, about two and a bit hours to get ready – even I should make that._ Chuckling slightly, the echidna felt her small trickle of joy dry up slightly as she looked at the title again; though this particular film had caught her eye a little while ago, it looked like the sort of thing you shouldn't go to on your own and she'd been making these plans since before Shadow had decided to go completely stupid on her. Letting out a slight huff, Julie totted up her options before thrusting the paper down suddenly, mind made up – she wanted a good time, she was going to get it no matter what; flicking through her phone, she came to the number she needed and hit the call button. It dialled four times before the voice she wanted to hear burst through the end of it, so full of life and lightness it might have been beamed from another planet,

"Hey Jules, what's going on?" Somehow, not matter how down she was feeling, Charmy's voice always made her smile as she answered,

"That depends on you buzz-boy", rolling her eye down to double-check the time, Julie made her offer, "you free later, about midday?"

"No, sorry, got the morning shift this week and weekend"; _damn, just my luck_; "but I know a couple of the others are – why, what you after?"

"Some company; I want to see that new show down the Kinema, A Life More or Less Ordinary, just looks like a bit of a laugh".

"When's it showing?"

"The door I was after opens eleven forty-five".

"Okay, you show up then, one of us will be there"; _wait, hang on a second_; before Julie could connect thought to mouth however, the bee rang off with a cheerful, "see you" and hung up. Tempted for a moment to ring back and demand what he meant by that, Julie was stilled by basic experience; _pointless asking him_; after a second of resistance her smile cracked through her impassive mask completely and she snorted at the way the bee seemed to effortlessly break through to her every time; _all you'll get are riddles and half-truths that'll drive you completely round the twist. Anyway, better start getting ready for my 'mystery date'!_

_Okay, mystery yes_; Julie spotted who was coming half a mile off and realised immediately her half-hour or so of preparation had been completely unnecessary – though she was certain Vector must have had a great many hidden talents, she was equally sure a fashion sense wasn't one of them; _date, definitely not_. Grudgingly however, she gave a slight wave, catching the crocodile's eye as he speeded up in her direction, the soles of his battered and boat-like trainers flapping on the concrete with every step,

"So then, you the dame in need of a date?" He asked, dangling a lure for the echidna that she duly bit on,

"Yeah, that would be me", Julie asked innocently before suddenly trying to look around him, "he should be here any minute".

"Ha, ha very funny", the reptile snorted before becoming more business-like, settling onto his back foot and appearing to size the smaller Mobian up, "right then, onto business; my basic rate's four-fifty an hour, but due ta the fact yer a friend, I'll take half'a that after the first hour".

"Give you a 10p mix for the film and we're quits, how's that?"

"Fine by me", face brightening to reveal a display of wickedly sharp teeth, Vector gestured towards the picture house itself, falling into line beside Julie herself, "now, which one we actually seein' this time?"

A few hours later, the pair of them wandered out into the bright sunshine, blinking at the sudden light after such a prolonged period in darkness, Vector stretching out his long, lithe body and looking down to the side of him,

"So, how'd you find it?" Julie lifted one hand, waving it in mid-air as her face fell into an expression of nonchalance,

"So-so"; _would have been better if it hadn't rung so true_; that much was definitely right, the sultry story of a stormy, long-term relationship eventually blossoming into a real romance made her current circumstances all the more uncertain and, if she was honest, a little more scary, "but anyway, what are you up to now?"

"Gotta get back to the job; I'm takin' over after Charm this afternoon", the crocodile informed her before turning his massive snout towards her, "what about you?"

"Nothing much, bit of shopping", Julie answered non-committally before something in her pocket buzzed as he fingers brushed against it, "unless this is anything interesting". Looking away to grant her some privacy, Vector tried hard to tune out the sound of the echidna's voice as she answered her call,

"Yeah, not much going on, what about your end - how's Amy rattling on in her course", there was a pause, "really, that well huh; good for her", a slightly longer pause this time, "seriously; oh I bet she's going to pieces if she's anything like me; she is, oh dear – wait, what can I do?" This time the pause was broken by a sudden, excited exclamation, "okay, when? Tuesday, yeah, nothing going on; you bet, looking forwards to it – say hi to Cream and everyone else for me – okay, see you then, bye". Looking around as he heard a sharp click behind him, Vector felt his spirits lift slightly as he saw Julie sudden smile; _thought she was looking a bit down in the dumps earlier_;

"Good news?"

"You bet", Julie beamed as she slid her phone away, already thinking about how she could use this unexpected bonus to the best advantage, "looks like I might actually get to live with someone for a couple of hours this Tuesday".

XXX

His thoughts were fleeting now, sitting on the mound of earth where it had all begun; as he'd expected, the first twinges of isolation were beginning to twang through his conscience but he dispelled them, a singular reminder of what awaited him if he allowed his emotions to govern his head enough to quash those rogue ideas. Taking a slight breath and sigh to clear his head, Shadow let his body relax, closing his eyes to allow himself to be lulled away to a state resembling sleep, a meditative trance where nothing changed, nothing could break through and send roots into him that would one day turn into nooses and strangle his heart; _just the way it needs to be_. Quiet in his isolation, Shadow allowed time to pass around him at its own pace, as he knew it would for as far as his mind would stretch, unaware, perhaps blissfully, of the clash of realities that was awaiting him and the fallout that would result from it.

XXX

Work, eat, sleep, work, eat and sleep; though it was definitely making sure he didn't have the time to fall into wayward traps, as he just about summoned the energy to open his front door Shadow had to admit it was a tiring way of life, and he was only a little over a week into it. _But that's good_; a weary smile spread across his face as he realised how terrifying the alternative was; _the more bushed I am, the less chance there is of…huh, oh Julie must be home_; as the handle slid down easily under his touch, that was the first rational explanation to why his apartment was unlocked, and probably the most likely to be correct. Opening his front door and stepping inside, the hedgehog took a step forwards and stretched off, sucking in a deep yawn to supply his brain with the oxygen it was going to need to get to bed tonight,

"Hi Shadow", suddenly the supply feed was cut; breath caught fast in his throat the former ultimate life-form rolled his appalled eyes downwards to the source of the greeting, "long time no see".

"Uhh", it was a few minutes before he could force anything like enough respiration out of his lungs to attempt an answer, "yeah, you got that right Cream".

_What's she doing here?_; the question buzzed around Shadow's mind, distracting part of his mental resources from the main struggle to keep himself on the straight and narrow he needed to make sure he was going to save himself. But this was Cream; despite the fact she'd done a little growing up in the few months since he'd seen her last, so much so that she was just starting to lose her adorable little girl factor to the fullness of imminent pubescence, there was still a winning, cheerful aspect in her that was clawing its way over his barriers – somehow her face, her warm, cinnamon eyes were so tempting, so inviting him to just come out from behind his cover and confess everything. He resisted, but as she held his gaze, smiling expectantly, he could feel the throne he'd set himself upon starting to fray and crumble; he gripped the sides of it, a sickening lurch in the pit of his stomach surely preceding the falling back into the world of his own eventual damnation.

"Oh, hey Shads", never had he been so grateful for Tails' voice; the sound from behind her made Cream look away for a second, a vital second that allowed him to get his emotions back under control where they belonged, "Jules is just out getting a couple of odds and ends, leant us your key and said you'd be in late; how's the extra hours going?"

"Oh, er, they're good"; _gotta get out of here_; perhaps individually he could have coped, but the pair of them together were too much for him to handle; the only option he had was to flee, regather his wits and convince himself again that this was the way, the only way he'd come out of this unscathed, "just getting a little more pocket money, you know the sort of thing?"

"You bet", luckily Cream didn't seem to have noticed the hedgehog had moved inconspicuously towards her while she'd had her back turned, "I keep trying to get a rise out of mum but she's got hold of the purse strings tight".

"As well she should have"; _good, you just keep talking_; Shadow silently pleaded as Cream snapped her eyes onto the foxboy over her shoulder as Tails smirked, "right little spendthrift you are – if it were up to you the Cyclone would be gold-plated and come with every optional extra under the sun".

"And it should do", the rabbit retorted tartly, glancing to her front once more, "right…"; _eh, where'd he go?_; a flicker out the corner of her eye made her realise with a jolt that Shadow was pretty much on a par with her in the hallway now, "…Shadow?"

"Yeah, of course", he quickly agreed, sparing Tails the merest of glances before looking down at his watch, eyebrows raising in 'surprise', "Oh no, sorry guys, I gotta make a move".

"Move; you only just got here", Tails checked his own watch in astonishment at this declaration, perturbed both by the ebon hedgehog's frantic pace and, from his point of view, apparent twitchiness; _as if I hadn't got enough of that already_. That much was certainly true; with Cream's test due at the end of next week he'd been running virtually daily flying lessons with her and her nerves at the prospect of such a monumental task were evident in even her normally sweet temper being markedly sour at times, "where are you off to?"

"Just, a couple of guys from work"; _this doesn't sound right_; as Shadow muffled the next part of his explanation in a couple of handfuls of cold water Tails felt his finely honed nose for problems tingling, "organised a bit of a night out, gotta jet off or I'll miss them".

"Even you?" Shadow dragged the towel roughly down his face as he heard Cream's voice, though the laugh at the end of it mitigated his worry somewhat, "man, they must be running a tight ship".

"Especially if you haven't got a few spare seconds, to say something", Tails added, hoping to remind the hedgehog's lax memory of Cream's date by frantically gesturing towards the rabbit in front of himself; to his shock and discomfort however, Shadow appeared to remain oblivious,

"You bet they run a tight ship; believe me if you don't run like clockwork up here you've had it", checking his watch again, the hedgehog made to move through the front door, trying to disengage himself with a smile that to Tails looked a little too wide, too thinly stretched, "sorry to leave you like this, But I, I gotta move".

"Okay then", a strange twisting sensation grabbed hold of the fox's chest as that voice filtered into his ears; Cream's voice seemed to have shrunk as she answered her elder friend, "well, have a good night Shads". Taking a step forwards, the rabbit spread her arms wide, ready to say a premature and rushed goodbye.

XXX

If it had been awful before, this was pure torture; Shadow had to screw his eyes shut as almost every part of him screamed at him to grab the golden ticket – he could just take Cream's offer, break down in her arms and hang what would happen next. And he wanted to, he so wanted to do just that; his enamel would have splintered if he'd gritted his teeth any harder, exercising every ounce of his will as he forcibly reminded himself what would happen if he sated that urge; everything would crumple like a house of cards and he'd be left alone in the ashes and ruins of what had once been. He knew this would hurt, had always known that, but even then the phantom knife cut deep enough to carve a slice out of his heart; everything seemed to have been dipped in treacle, slowing him down, holding him close to the source of his agony as he tried to spin on his heel, his left leg rose and fell in front of his right with all the speed of a tectonic plate shifting about the earth's crust, the door was like trying to open a sealed coffin lid, the struggle taking everything from him; suddenly it gave – staggering outside, the hedgehog drew in some much needed air and ran, properly began to run, hoping to turn the world into a blend of blurs, let himself get lost in the shadows outside of everyone else, barely able to see anything through the tears in his eyes.

XXX

Julie barely saw it coming and had even less time to dodge; it was luck and luck alone that prevented the knick-knacks she'd stocked up on decorating the lobby of the apartment block as she frantically hurled herself out the path of the steam train heading her way. Just about catching her breath and the descending bag, the ex-Legionnaire swore violently under her breath at the bang from behind her, the apartment block door swinging shut with a crash. _Jesus, what was…_; the blood drained from her face, chilling her skin as she had to hug her purchases more tightly to her to disguise her suddenly shaking hands; _…oh, I know just what that was – please, he can't have hurt them_; she knew Shadow couldn't raise a hand against either of the younger Mobians but, in these times of uncertainty and doubt in the Mobian she had thought she knew, what did her certainties count for now?

XXX

Even as the wind of the hedgehog's slipstream stung at his eyes, Tails couldn't bring himself to blink; he merely stood there gawping at the insanity of what had just happened; _Shadow, he just ran away – why would he run away from us?_ A shiver from in front of him made him refocus his attention; the tip of his pink tongue raced across his lip as he became aware of Cream's shoulders shaking – the hedgehog's sudden, inexplicable rebuking of their presence must have affected the rabbit's sensitive, sweet nature far worse than his more clinical, scientific one; _this time, you have got to say the right thing_;

"Cream", he took half a nervous step forwards, stretching out his hand to place it on her trembling shoulder, "Cream, listen to me; it's all going to be alright – Shadow's probably…" He tailed off, struck suddenly dumb as the rabbit suddenly turned around, the strain showing on her face as she tried to hide her hurt under a smile, fight back the tears in her eyes under a parade of nonchalance; a plaster trying to stitch together a torn artery,

"I know", even her voice was wrong; suddenly Tails found himself mentally cursing the black hedgehog, something he'd thought impossible for him to contemplate a few mere hours ago, "he, he just had to get off, see his friends, right? He…", she was breaking and Tails couldn't bear to see it – impulses far older than he was governed his actions, directing him to gently bring the girl into his body and forget the awkwardness such a situation was sure to generate; for now it was all about her, "…he's just g,getting an early start, right?"

"Of course he is", along among all his bodily functions his voice was soothing and serene, "you know what he's like; if he says he's going to do something, he gets it done quick; he just wanted a head start, that's all. Come on", as the rest of him jangled under a conflict of fear, confusion and perhaps a little completely unexpected excitement at the sudden circumstances, his independent voice injected a note of gently chiding humour into itself, "don't be silly; it's just Shadow being Shadow". For a second he held his breath, just crossing his fingers and hoping he'd done enough to stem the flow; a soft pressure on his shoulder sent his heart leaping into his throat before he relaxed slightly; _nothing's wet, she's not crying – bloody hell Shadow_; the most important part of his work dealt with, Tails was now able to divert some of his attention to the circumstances that had led to this; _you nearly made Cream cry – what the hell is wrong with you?_

A sudden thunderclap echoed throughout the apartment; he and Cream both jumped together and apart, looking around wildly as their heart rates spiralled upwards; luckily Tails, being the slightly more coherent of the pair of them, managed to piece together what must have happened first, from the way the front door was now shuddering back to the frame, the way Julie was regarding them both with eyes radiating both horror and relief at the same time as hugging her chest as though fighting to keep her lungs from bursting through her ribcage.

"For a second, everyone was too out of breath from either exertion or start to speak, before everyone started off together,

"You two…"

"Shadow, he just ran out…"

"He's okay isn't he…?"

"…took off like a bat out of hell…"

"…he didn't hurt you, you're both okay?"

"…he looked so upset, so afraid…"

"…said he was going to meet some people, friends".

"…I'm not that scary am I, Ms Su?"

"No, no of course not", trying to listen to at least two conversations at once, Julie's oft-maligned maternal instinct was her salvation; realising instinctively that Cream looked to be on the verge of tears, the echidna dropped to one knee, putting a hand on the younger Mobian's shoulder and smiling with a confidence she couldn't really feel, "you're a very pretty little girl – pay no attention to him Cream, Shadow's just got…issues, at the moment"; _and he'll have one more the second his black hide crawls through that door next_; choking back her anger for the moment, the ex-Legionnaire took a breath an tried to point out the positives – Shadow was gone and he'd quite literally left the babies in her hands, but they were unhurt, just a little shaken up by what had happened; _like I can blame them for that – I'm shaken and I wasn't even here when it all kicked off_.

"Listen kid, you as well Tails", checking for half a second to see if the fox was lending her an ear, Julie tried to rearrange her thoughts to try and present a truthful but positive picture as she tried to explain to the pair of them what was going on, "nothing you did was anything to do with what happened; Shadow's having, well, he's having a few problems at the minute – trying to take on a bit too much, got a lot of stress on his mind, that sort of thing, so he's on a short fuse. You pair probably just startled him, it got a bit too much and he needed some space". _Come on, please believe me here_; that was all she really wanted to say, but Julie knew that Tails especially had an uncanny knack for sifting truth from fiction; as she saw him scratch and ear with his face betraying his brain working, she feared the worst,

"So why didn't he tell anyone? Sonic's been going mad – every time he tried to call all he gets is answer-phone, and…"

"…he's never around when he tries to call here, I know", this new evidence made Julie's mind up – not only had Shadow been avoiding her all week, he'd lied to her as well; _he told me he was calling Sonic on his mobile_; that betrayal was a hot knife to her system, goading her into even deeper anger and setting the course of her action in stone, "listen Tails, and you Cream, now you know about this; are you staying up here tonight?"

"No, this was just a pop in before we headed off".

"Right, well I'm going to sort this out, tonight", Julie stood tall, purpose infusing her as she gave a single nod to confirm her intent, "I think it might be best if you two weren't on Angel Island when that happened, because unless Shadow's got an impeccable explanation as to why he's been acting up like this there are going to be some serious fireworks!"

XXX

Somewhere, somehow, Shadow came to a juddering halt, the breath in his throat hot and sticky as he collapsed onto a nearby street corner bench, trying to replace the wall that had so recently been undermined by Cream's innocent and completely unreserved kindness and love. _That nearly had me_; for the merest second Shadow had been dragged to the edge of the precipice – the door to eventual nothingness had opened a crack and let him see beyond, now it was taking all the force of his mind and more to pull it shut again. Over and over though, he slipped on the images underfoot, the sight of Cream's agonised, dumbstruck face and, just behind that, the astonishment written over Tails expressions and that burned him internally; _damn I knew this would hurt, but does it have to hurt them as well?_ Rubbing his hand against his face, the hedgehog went through the same old lines, how necessary what he was doing was to him, how it would prevent his eventual decline and weakening as the years past and once more, after a longer and more torturous struggle than before it was true, but eventually he was himself once more, on the right track again. Lost in time, he looked around to see with some discomfort that the only noticeable light around was being shed by nearby streetlights – it was late and there was a definite nip in the air, enough to make him shiver through his fur as he picked himself up, muscles complaining after being held still for so long. With a last, regretful sigh at the way ahead of him, the tussles he had yet to endure, Shadow flicked his eyes to the path that had brought him here and began to retrace his steps towards home.

The hole in the pit of Shadow's stomach yawned into an abyss as he pushed open the door he'd so recently rocketed through; though the reason he had was sound, the mental picture snapshot he'd been forced to take, the expression of abject pain on Cream's face just as he turned away wrenched his heart cruelly, dragging him down into layers of wretchedness he hadn't considered existing before now. All he wanted to do now was crawl into bed and try to sleep what he'd done away, let the time he had so much of flow over him and erode the pain away. Kicking off his shoes, heedless as they knocked into the wall beside him with a couple of thuds, the hedgehog started the trek towards the lounge, looking only to roll out the sleeping bag draped over the back of one of the chairs and turn in. It was only as he rounded the corner and beheld the scene before him that with a dizzying sense of vertigo he realised that wasn't going to happen.

Sitting on the settee like a smouldering volcano, Julie-Su was waiting sloe-eyed and dangerous, curled up like a hell-cat as her blazing, murderous gaze swept over him. Shadow could only close his eyes, trying to prepare himself as best he could for the inevitable interrogations by squirreling away the most important knowledge he had to a secure segment of his mind, as the echidna stood up, dreadlocks almost crackling with tension as she took a step forwards, voice preceding her like the scream of jet boosters usually announced Metal Sonic's immanent arrival,

"Ah, Shadow", _at least_; some fatalistic voice whispered in the back of Shadow's mind; _this might be a good time – end it now, while she's angry – less to explain, less pain all around_; "have a good night?"

XXX

He kept up his cheerful wave until he was sure Vanilla had stewarded her daughter inside; the second the front door to the rabbit's home swung shut, however, that was a different story. Throwing himself into the Tornado and slamming the door behind him, Tails left his normally sweet nature to one side for the moment and hammer the steering wheel; how could Shadow do something like that? Cream's test barely a week away, a perfect landing on Angel Island to get the pair of them there followed by an impromptu driving lesson through the tranquil streets of Echidnopolis, only to find that travesty of a welcome waiting for them. Blinded by his anger for a second, Tails didn't think about reasoning through Shadow's actions, trying to see what was causing them; unusually for someone with such a genial psyche, the fox thought only of payback; _and don't I know who can deliver just that?_ A wolfish smile broke over his face as the face of the one person other than Vanilla who thought the absolute world of Cream bounced into his head and, a second later, his hand whistled down to where his phone was held snugly by the side of his driver's seat.

XXX

"You've got some explaining to do".

"No", he really didn't want to handle this right now, "not now Julie, I…"

"Forget you, in fact I'm trying really hard not to think about you at the minute", the echidna told him coldly, advancing towards him until they were less than an arms-length apart, "all I'm interested in is why the guests I invited in, I entertained and I left, perfectly happy, to pick up a drop of milk and a couple of packets of biscuits, were a hair's breadth away from tears by the time I got back".

"I told them", the hedgehog said defensively, twisting his body slightly as Julie narrowed her eyes in disgust, "I was going to meet some people and I was running late".

"Who were they?" _Thought so_; she was roused to ire once more by the sudden flash of shock across the hedgehog's face, the momentary glimpse of panic that all but confirmed his previous lie, "give me three names, these friends of yours – you've been seeing them a lot, you should be word perfect".

"Err", this was completely unexpected; caught off-guard, Shadow could do nothing but stutter and look blank, "they, ah, there's…"

"Cut the crap – they don't exist; rule number one of trying to lie to someone, at least think through what you're going to say before you actually tell it", there was no mirth in Julie's words, this was a factual lesson, "rule number two is swap stories occasionally – if you'd actually had these friends, they'd probably be as sick of the sight of you as I am right now".

"Fine, there's no-one", Shadow shrugged, voice dropping both tone and volume to become a soft, dangerous purr, "I've just been running a lot".

"Running? Right, let me get this straight", Julie took a step back, almost recoiling at the clinical venom in his voice, "so now to you, Tails and Cream, people you've known for years since before you were up here and who helped you get here in the first place, they're no longer as important to you as getting a few laps around the block?"

"Of course not…" Julie gave an ugly, toneless laugh,

"Must be; you just proved that earlier…" a shrill beeping from behind her disrupted her tirade, robbing her head of steam out from under her – tempting though it was, Julie couldn't ignore the trilling of the phone, "…wait there, I am in no way finished with you yet". Spinning on her heel, the echidna stalked back towards the television and hit the green button by the side of it.

XXX

_That could have been a lot worse_; the temporary reprieve was grabbed with both hands and gulped down with all the speed he could muster – before Julie had even received the call Shadow had replaced his weakened mental bulwarks, rechecked his story and folded his arms, every aspect of himself geared towards resistance, of rejecting the sights before him. A second later, however, as the screen burst into life and Julie stepped smartly to the side, that resistance was quickly put to the test as Amy's apocalyptic gaze smashed against him,

"Shadow, there you are", the sight of her; the enemy was already inside the gates – visions of the pink hedgehog and all she'd done, everything she'd conquered and the hell she'd gone through to do it undermined his pinnacle of isolation, "I just got a call from Tails; he said that he and Cream were in your apartment not four hours ago and that you came in and then ran out again; no hello, no goodbye, no good luck, nothing – she was nearly in tears for god's sake. What's going on with you at the minute; you're impossible to get hold of any time of the day or night, Julie said you've applied for stupid amounts of overtime and…"

"Hey Ames, wait a sec"; _oh no_; the one Mobian, the only one in the entire world who could have made the fight any harder put his hand on Amy's shoulder; the second he glanced away was more than priceless as it allowed Shadow to frantically scrabble for purpose, picture what it would be like when Sonic vanished, how he'd be at a loss to cope with that, then those jade eyes fixed him again and he wilted. Anger and confrontation he could handle; his entire strategy was based around avoiding or outlasting someone in a conflict, but there was no way such a policy could cope with compassion. Not compassion, and certainly not pity,

"Shads man", the voice was pain incarnate; it would be so easy now, he could picture himself simply answering, confessing all and forgetting the rest until later, when it would be too late, "what's going on; you know us, you know what we've done together, you haven't forgotten that right? _So easy_; he was almost in a trance, the entirety of his world encapsulated by the two large white circles now appeared on the surface of the monitor screen; _so, easy, just to let it go…_

"I", the words choked him up completely, he took a half-step forwards and pulled back at the same time, resulting in a stumble that brought him to an ungainly halt, barely able to raise his head through the lump of lead in his throat, "I…c,can't, no". With his last strength, the very end of his resistance he listened to the certainties, ripping himself away from the view of Sonic's fingertips with a pain that was very nearly physical. As it had before time blurred around him, only this time he barely had the energy to run, or to move at all; as such, his escape attempt left him barely feet away, vulnerable and shivering at the trauma of trying to leave the world he knew behind.

XXX

Only then, as Shadow had tried to run away this time, just as his face had fallen completely had she seen it, and the discovery shocked her badly; it took seconds for her to understand the signals Shadow had been virtually radiating, and even after that event another couple of long, long, milliseconds passed before she truly believed it. _He's not running because he hates us, or he wants to run – it's nothing like that_; the mere idea of what her next thought must be was enough to make her skin pucker and send shivers racing all over her body; _he's running because, because he's afraid_. But that couldn't be right, it simply couldn't; what did she have that he could possibly be afraid of, or as an even better example, why did he have a cause to be concerned about Cream, who'd never threatened anyone or anything in her life? Shaking her head, dislodging those thoughts for a moment, Julie flashed a glance sideways to see the same realisation dawn on the faces of the other two hedgehogs, though in Sonic's case that realisation of the truth was drown out somewhat by the agony of rejection written in bold all over his face. Amy too was suffering to a lesser extent and it was that vision which tipped the balance; _I've already seen one of my girl-friends hurt today, I'm not going to see a second suffer the same way_;

"You two, don't worry", without consciously thinking about what she was doing Julie darted in front of the screen, standing before the hedgehogs in Station Square and diverting there attention from what had just gone before, "I'm sorting this out, right now. I'll keep you posted; bye". She hung up after that, partly because she didn't want to look at the pain etched deeply on two faces she'd become so familiar and friendly with but primarily because she was hungry for the truth; so close, she could not be denied now. But nor could she be interrupted; quickly reaching down and yanking the telephone wire out of its socket, the ex-Legionnaire paused for a second before throwing it down to her feet and taking off, following in the direction Shadow had fled.

She didn't have far to go; the kitchen door was ajar and beyond that she could clearly see the silhouette of the hedgehog sat down at the table, hands tightly clasped as though in prayer. The anger was gone for now, still present but contained; this was time to use a scalpel rather than a sledgehammer to get to the truth; slowly sliding in through the open door, Julie moved cautiously to the opposite end of the table to where Shadow was sat with his eyes tightly screwed shut; her heartbeat was certain to alarm him so loud did it ring in her own ears, but by some miracle he remained oblivious until she was in position; lowering her hands onto the table, Julie took a last deep breath and leant forwards, her voice unlike the rest of her calm and collected,

"What's going on Shadow?"

XXX

Much as he would have loved to stop himself speaking, there was no way he could hold it inside any more; tearing himself out of that room, away from Sonic and Amy as well had been as painful as any amputation and the shock and dreadful guilt were only just now starting to kick in. Shadow looked up, sliding his hands down his face to see Julie regarding him, the concern in her expression the last factor that broke straight through,

"Why are you doing this?" She carried on speaking as he tried to muster the energy to answer, "you've never acted like this before; it's like you're trying to push everyone away, lock yourself up in your own little world. I don't understand…"

"You can't", even he was a little surprised as Julie stopped talking, his barely whispered words enough to still her tongue and allow him to continue, "no-one can understand".

"Understand what?"; _she has to know now_; Shadow's fatalistic streak spoke to him as he kept his gaze level on Julie's face; _if nothing else maybe it'll let her see the way things have to be_;

"Understand", Shadow repeated the word monotonally, unable to even use emotions now as pain dulled his senses, "understand the fact that, that I can't have them around me; Sonic, Cream, you, no, I can't do that any more Julie-Su – I can not get close to people, to anyone, not now, not ever".

Once more, as it had the last time her grand ideas and dreams had been blown to dust and trickled uselessly through her fingers, Julie's mind preserved her emotions by shutting them down for now. Blotting out the spear that had ripped out most of her internal organs, the echidna let nothing show on her face save a single shudder, closing her eyes for a second before, unable to really retreat because she didn't know what she was removing herself from, she began trying to collect more information,

"I see", her voice must have been as colourless as her face, "but why not?"

"Because, some day, none of you are going to be there any more, and I'm just going to be left on my own. Then it'll just happen again; I'll meet new people, get to know them, maybe love them, and they'll be gone as well", the hedgehog shivered, breaking away from that cycle with a concerted mental effort, "I just can't do that".

"Why not? People move on all the time Shadow; you either move on or you stagnate and die".

"I'm immortal".

XXX

_The larger man had stood ahead of him, the computer screens all around him humming merrily as they filtered the data inputted to formulate the answer the scientist wanted to solve the problem he had now. Standing back a little way, aware of a presence behind him but ignoring it for the minute, he watched on also, as intent as the man he knew so well but could not name, for he knew the question was centered upon him, would have a bearing on him for the rest of his life. Suddenly the incessant beeping stopped; reaching forwards, the human ripped off one of the most recent print-outs and scanned it at the same time he felt a gnawing sensation in the pit of his stomach – this was it, the answer to all the tests he'd been put through, the reason he had the powers he did,_

_"Well", he recognised his own voice, distorted as though an echo in his own mind, "what does it say?" He was not answered for a moment, the human before his stroking one side of his moustache as if considering what to say next,_

_"Shadow, you may need to sit down for this"._

_"Why?" There was a pressure on his shoulder, a comforting touch to relieve some of his internal worry as the voice over his head carried on speaking, "what's wrong grandfather?" The man ahead of him gave a sigh before looking at him once more, trying to see into the hedgehog's eyes,_

_"Well, according to this, the Chaos power you are imbued with is stronger, far stronger, than anyone predicted, even my most optimistic estimates have been wildly exceeded – that's why we've not needed to stick to the regime so much"._

_"Surely that's good though", Shadow argued, as to him it made sense that it was – less disruption all around, less pain for him and, most importantly, for her as well…_

_"It has its advantages", the human conceded before giving another shake of his head, something like concern and maybe even pity in his eyes as he continued, "but there is a downside to this Shadow; the Chaos power within you is constantly and consistently rejuvenating your biological systems, preventing stresses from building up and, through that, the aging process itself", just as the words began to sink in, the touch on his shoulder growing in strength, a rock to anchor him as the scientist rubbed the bald spot on his fringe, a sure sign he was agitated, "Shadow, as far as I can tell, you're not growing older, the Chaos power is keeping you at the same state you were when you first opened your eyes; maybe this effect will decrease with time, but until then, a later date when I can get some harder evidence, my hypothesis has to be that, unless something radical happens you are quite possibly going to live forever"._

He remembered nothing else, least of all his own reactions to this news, though he couldn't imagine them being much different from the ones he was having at the moment; ever since Enerjak had released that memory from his subconscious mind he had been enslaved by it, the need to somehow mitigate the effects of the knowledge that he could quite literally go on until the end of time itself. It had been hard, and it could only get harder, as his next words proved,

"That's the reason Julie", he spoke as the mnemonic mist cleared from his vision, "that's why I have to be like I am now; I know that everyone I care about, everyone I grow close to, is going to pass away before my eyes and all I'm going to be left with is the guilt – the guilt that I can't follow them, that I survived when they couldn't. And that'll kill me in the end – I can't go…"

His next words were robbed from him by a lack of breath; something had just smashed straight into his face and sent a blur of colours straight through his brain, dancing in swirling patterns as a strange sense of movement, of vertigo, assailed his stomach. For what seemed like a long time, even for an immortal such as he, the state remained them same; it ended abruptly, an impact sending stars to burst in front of his vision, adrenaline alone forcing him backwards as, finally, pain began to pulse in ravaging waves from his face, from where he'd been hit. _What the…?_; his startled mind couldn't even begin to compute what had just happened; it was only the half-growled sob that began to set the ball rolling and put the pieces together to understand what had just happened,

"How the hell, could you be that selfish?"

XXX

His words had set her rage alight once more; unlike Knuckles, who had kept his anguished explanations to an absolute minimum and, following them, offered only aid, a package that had completely prevented her tortured emotions expressing themselves as an eruption of grief-fuelled anger, Shadow's deadpan preaching did the exact opposite. Almost murderous wrath that Shadow, the same Mobian who had picked her up when she'd been at her lowest ebb of all, help her get back on her feet and even hold her hand when she'd almost lost herself following Xenin's spiteful assault on her freedom, could now just turn around and show himself to be so two-faced that he could say words like that without even considering their effect, swept over her. She wasn't even thinking about what she was saying; some otherworldly force was putting words in her mouth and, like a cannon hungry for ammunition, she was unloading round after round on the hedgehog before her, spitting them with as much force as she'd delivered the punch that had sent him sprawling to his current position, hunched against the kitchen wall,

"How could you do that?", her trembling finger indicated the lounge, the recent communication with his friends on the world below, "how in god's name could you even consider abandoning them; after everything they've done for you, you're just going to completely cut them dead and walk out, no explanation, no apology, nothing? Did you even think about them, did for one second you even give a passing thought to their feelings, what they'd think about you just suddenly giving them nothing but a few words whenever you bump into them?" His silence confirmed his guilt; his completely expressionless face, wiped completely clean with shock made Julie realise this was territory the hedgehog hadn't even thought existed, let alone considered exploring and her ire rose in accordance, elevating her to some state of niranvic release, so angry she could think and see things with absolute crystal clarity. And with this clarity, she chose her words, slowly and deliberately, to inflict as much pain and heartache on the cowering hedgehog before her as he had on, not just her, but everyone else he'd known and completely rebuffed,

"You say you're immortal, you've got a memory of it", she had seen that from the way he'd been looking into the far distance as he'd spoken, just before she'd come within a hairs-breadth of breaking his nose, "well did it not occur to you, not even for a single second, that you actually knew someone who could have helped you, who already knew what it was like to live with something like that? No, of course not; because you're so desperate to be on your own and shut everyone out, you completely stop thinking about anyone other than yourself, and because of that you forget the fact that two of your former friends are already coping with a problem similar to yours; how do you think Knuckles feels every day – Rouge told me he knows he's going to live a lot longer than she is, how can he cope with seeing her every day knowing that eventually she'll pass away? You could have asked him for advice, but no, Shadow Hedgehog, he can't do that and ask anyone for help, he's got to do it on his own…"

"Stop". It was a ghostly whisper, Shadow finally had some life back in his slackened face; Julie only saw that as both an opportunity and a challenge; _he's listening, now really get the point across_;

"…so he stops everything like a normal life and goes dead – well it worked. How long did you say you spent with Sonic, trying to get your memories back – nearly two years? Well, that was two years you both wasted; if you'd have known this before you could have told him what was going to happen and just cut him off then, before he got involved with Amy and you had to burn her too…"

"Stop"; he couldn't even raise his hands to cover his ears and Julie was absolutely merciless by now,

"…but that never happened, so you had to get involved with him, and Tails as well, without whom you'd never have got here in the first place, before deciding in your infinite wisdom that you can't bear to have them close to you because your precious future matters a lot more than their piffling emotions. Well news for you; your plan worked a treat with Tails – I doubt he'll ever talk to you again after you just ran out on him completely, and that's nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to what you did to Cream…"

"Stop"; he couldn't think about Cream, that was just too painful – the rabbit girl's face, just seen out the corner of his eye when he'd spun to go, burst right in front of his face, it's mournful, heart-broken look ripping right into his heart and leaving a hole as bloody and agonising as the one he must have torn in hers. But still the echidna's voice didn't slacken; there was to be no respite,

"…short of carving a wooden cross and banging the nails into her hands and feet I don't think you could have done any more to hurt her; that girl loved you Shadow, she loves everyone, like everyone else her age – it's people like you that kill that sort of love, people like you who destroy warm, loving Mobians like her, turn them into cynical, hard-bitten bitches like me. And I've had more than my fair share of this new, care about no-one attitude…"

"Stop!"

"…for the past fortnight near enough I've had to live with a complete non-entity; I tried everything to break through to you and you just didn't want to know. And of course, your sense of timing is second to none", a wicked smile split her lips, "you probably don't know, or now care, but the night you came back so late was the same night I got the best news of life – the Legion pretty much said I was free, Enerjak himself came on in an all-channel broadcast and said there was no reason to be afraid for echidnas who've left the Legion. I was all over the place with excitement, never felt like that before, then you came in three or four hours late and decided on your new, don't want anything life. The best news of my life", her eyes hardened, the smile curdling into something rancidly sweet and all the more poisonous for that, "and you ruined it, completely, because it didn't matter to you".

That was all she said, all she needed to say; she could tell that by the way Shadow's forehead fell defeated to his knees that nothing else she said would register – he'd taken as much as he could physically and mentally soak up, anything else would just wash over him like water over a sodden sponge. In that moment, with rage still completely clearing her head, Julie knew what her next logical step had to be and, not deigning to spare the wretched creature that had once been her flatmate huddled by the kitchen door a single glance, she swept past and out of the door towards the bedroom.

XXX

He was falling, falling and knew he'd never stop, he didn't deserve to stop plunging into this pit of utter, horrified despair; the rose-tinted glasses lying shattered by his feet, broken completely by Julie's hard, harsh and completely true words, the hedgehog had no choice but to see the world he had tried to create in all it's twisted, terrifying glory. A place of drab greys and colourless swirls compounded in a picture of abject misery by the fact he was shut off from everything and everyone else; he walked alone in this place of empty souls and wrecked dreams, the rest of the world a blur all around him as he had sealed himself off from it. Faces he had once known now turned away from him in disgust, floating away and preventing him from taking one exit from this dead, decaying state of mind. _They'll hate me, because I wanted them to_; now in the cold, harsh light of the truth, Shadow could see just how right Julie had been, how completely and utterly wrapped up in himself he had become to put himself before anyone else; _I wanted them to stop caring about me, the same way I tried to stop caring about them_. A shudder ran right through him, the ghostly spear impaling him in a wave of guilt and self-recrimination – he, he of all people had committed the cardinal sin, he who had taken so much, had so many reasons to be so grateful for them all, had turned his back on his friends and walked away from them.

A distant, booming echo filled his ears and he looked up, a glance and no more; suddenly he was moving, clawing his way back up the pit he had so recently slid down so hard he almost felt pain in his fingernails. He couldn't feel motivation from the emotions of love, or care for at that moment he was unworthy of them; what energised him at that moment was sheer desperation; that if what happened next came to pass there would be no hope for him to even consider recovering. Lurching upright, lumbering towards the hallways and crashing into the wall, Shadow kept his wild eyes trained on the one thing that eclipsed all the light in his world; the sight of the bag held in Julie's left hand, the last hope of his redemption threatening to leave, was enough to make him move towards a final, doomed last attempt to make her stay. She was being delayed by the door, he could still make this – reaching forwards, one last attempt to breach over the gulf he'd made,

"Don't touch me", the portcullis smashed down coldly, piercing his aching, needy fingers; Julie finished unlocking the door and stepped outside, not hearing the desperate mewl of the hedgehog behind her as she looked over her shoulder towards him, hand on the handle, face coldly accusing, expressionless, "well, this is what you wanted Shadow – a world with no-one in it but you, and now you've got it, I hope you're happy. Goodbye". With that last, curt dismissal, Julie shut the door, not a slam, but a slow, controlled closing with all the respect, and the finality, of a coffin lid closing.

XXX

For a long time, Shadow just stood there, not daring to do anything other than breathe and blink; _goodbye_; how often had he heard that one little word, but never before had it cut so deep, or with so much pain; _Christ, that hurt_. He couldn't remember thinking what to do next, or the exact point he had decided to go to bed, but it just seemed like the natural thing to do; air rattling in and out of his lungs, barely seeing where he was going through the shock rebounding over what had just happened to shatter the world he'd thought was perfect for everyone, the way that should have allowed him to live so serenely; _but then_; shame and self-recrimination burned through him, fuelling his disgust with himself as he realised how callous he'd been, how undeserving of his friend's he'd proved himself to be. So caught up in the singeing sensation of his eyes, Shadow failed even to kick of his shoes and flumped down on the bed fully clothed, pulling the covers up over his body and sinking down into the duvet, the only source of comfort he could see he had now. Or at least, he did until something in his nose sent another wave of self-hatred coursing through him; in his unforgiving haze of virtual insobriety, he'd forgotten he was supposed to be sleeping on the settee this week; Julie had been in the bed up until now and there was still a faint trace of her perfume lingering in the blankets and on the pillows.

That final reminder was a final twist of the knife he'd stabbed himself with, willingly and fully aware of what he was doing and had done; it hurt like a liquid fire to be completely immersed in the memory of someone, yet be so far away from them in so many ways. Shadow was under no illusion that whatever chance he'd had for a life with his flatmate was now well and truly over; in fact, he'd count himself blessed if one, just a single one, of his former soul-mates didn't recoil in horror from him now, and the bitterness of that truth seared him. But he would not move, some masochistic fatalism anchored him to the spot; as the night wore on Shadow remained were he was, lying in the bed he had feathered with thorns and vipers, continually reminded of what he had lost; _no_; even now, at the absolutely bottom of his life's course, he would not turn away, would face up to the truth about his actions; _not lost – what I threw away_.

With a purgatory of equal parts despair, guilt and recrimination boiling away inside of him, lying on what might well have represented a funeral pyre of his life up to this point, it took a long time for exhaustion both of the body and the mind to drag Shadow's consciousness down to the cheerless depths of sleep.

A long time after even that, the silent tears of unconscious repentance and pleading forgiveness stopped sliding from beneath his closed eyes.

A/N: Sometimes, it all just goes wrong; so wrong, you have to ask, can anything ever be right again?


	22. Chapter 22 Watch Over Me

Chapter 22 – Watch Over Me.

A/N: Sorry for the delay, it's taking me ages to decorate my new place and that's eating up my spare time like nobody's business. Anyway, time for the reviewers to get their long-overdue mention:

HHH – A mistake, but an honest mistake – can you really blame him for losing his way like that, or would you go out with a light to help him find his way home once more?

TG – Please don't blow up; had enough of that trying to put my flat together recently; here's the next chapter for you to enjoy.

Iced-out Snowman (IOS from this moment on:-)) – If your eyes have cleared sufficiently, please enjoy this next humble offering.

CY – The Legion – hmm, there was an angle I hadn't considered. Or had I?

DS – Not quite sure about the chosen one, but I've got the suspicion it's either Tails or Knuckles (I know its not Sonic – didn't Athair call Tails the Chosen One before disappearing as Athair likes to do?) Is that right, and how's Tails going to live forever?

His eyes opened.

That was strange; as Shadow sat up in bed and regarded the clock by the bed, he realised it was actually a little early for him to be up and about – after a couple of minutes merely sitting and trying to decipher why he'd risen as he had, the hedgehog had his query answered for him as, muted by the long distance, the alarm feature on his mobile trilled into life. _Must have got used to the routine_; he accepted this mental explanation without complaint, no inkling of even challenging the theory generated by his brain as he let his legs flop out of the bed and heave the rest of his body out with them and, finally, get him back to a vertical base. Shoulders hunched and barely seeing where he was going, operating completely on autopilot, Shadow padded down the hallway, into the lounge and hit the off button for the alarm. _Right, I'm fully dressed but I need to shower_; that was strange as well, normally he never missed bathing before the morning but he couldn't seem to muster the mental energy to consider the anomaly; _yes, I never had one last night…_

Something like a dungeon door slammed shut in his mind, a last desperate mental defence blocking out all memory of the previous evening beyond a couple of half-glimpsed scenes, and even they were bad enough as he shuddered, skin puckering as dread slithered over it like an eel, beginning to suffocate him as before it all melted away once more, locked away to prevent an explosion as he couldn't defuse it now, couldn't even begin to think how to defuse the awful situation he'd caused. Silently, pausing only to gather a couple of essential toiletries from the lounge and bathroom shelves, the ebon hedgehog trudged towards the shower, hefted himself into the tub, drew the curtain closed and hit the on button.

It was only after a couple of seconds that Shadow realised something that should have been glaringly obvious; bringing up the bottle of body shampoo and flipping off the lid, he noticed was still wearing his gloves and, after looking down, his shoes as well. He remained still for a moment, observing casually how the white clothing seemed to turn more translucent as more of the artificial rainfall was absorbed into the material, before peeling it off his hand and throwing it clear off the shower. Slowly and deliberately he repeated this process three more times, casually throwing his kit clear of the dampening waterfall before returning to his washing; he knew he shouldn't have been able to do that, walk into a shower without noticing he was still fully clothed but for some reason curiosity didn't seem to light up at the idea. In fact, as he mechanically held the shower head in all the right places to rinse the lather out of his back quills, he doubted he'd ever feel curious about anything again, not even his own inexplicable lack of curiosity. He was washed as well as he normally was; hitting the off button the hedgehog pulled the towel into the bath with him, running it over his body, barely feeling the roughness of the drying material against his fur and skin, before climbing out of the tub completely and redressing himself, not even taking into consideration the factor of wind-chill wearing wet clothes would have caused and, in any case, hardly feeling it anyway.

Breakfast, or to be more accurate his daily cup of coffee, made the surreal situation slightly clearer; lowering the mug at his lips fractionally, Shadow rolled his eyes down and peered into the swirling black liquid before him, running over the last couple of seconds like a media hack re-running some of his old footage. He distinctly remembered the feeling of something hot sloshing into his mouth, could feel the sensation of swallowing as the liquid hit the back of his throat, but he could not recall the sensation of taste at any point in the proceedings. But that was odd; he knew what coffee should have tasted like, he better than most knew the intricate delicacies of the subtle textures and flavours of the different brands, but right now the stuff in his mug might as well have been hot water for all the taste he was deriving from it. He accepted this sensation and his logical conclusion was a simple one; with a very slight shrug, Shadow simply drained the rest of his drink and ran the used utensil under the cold tap; so what if he couldn't taste the coffee, or smell it at all for that matter either – it didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, nothing he was capable of doing really did any more. _Ironic really_; if there had been any sort of mirth, even the sarcastic type, left in his shrivelled, crushed soul he might have been able to smile at the thought; _I wanted to detach from everything, and I have, my own senses included_. As before he didn't really try to object to such an occurrence; it was what had happened, there was nothing he could do about it, nothing he really should do about it – it was the way things were now, and who was he, the one who'd made them that way, to try and change them?

XXX

About half an hour later, Shadow was able to reflect on the strange silence that had fallen over him; the closest he was able to come to explaining it was a sort of sensual and emotional apathy. Even here, on the walk into work, surrounded by echidnas of all shapes, sizes and colourations, all was grey and identical in his vision; the conversation that buzzed excitedly all around him tuned out into a low, continual, monotone buzz that he neither picked up on nor cared much about in any case. Here now, he really was out of phase with the rest of existence; nothing it did could have an impact on him in this numb state and similarly he couldn't even countenance mustering enough emotion to make anything like an impact on the world surrounding yet so far removed from him. It was as if there was an invisible barrier between himself and the rest of existence; he could see but everything was tinged with grey if he did, his senses of smell and taste were re-routed into detected the identical, bland, featureless textures and everything he touched felt exactly the same as everything else; from the pavement beneath his feet to the other Mobians he felt bouncing off of him as he walked single-mindedly down the street, they were all made from the same cool, smooth material that he just glided around and through without appreciable effort or intent. Yet all the time, he was coming closer to his eventual destination, idly wondering how far this silence had spread its net and wondering if he could induce a similar state of limbo into the rest of himself; _after all, my mind and senses seem to be relaxed in some sense, why shouldn't my body be the same way – then I wouldn't feel…_; he silenced that thought, clenching one hand over his chest as, finally reminded by its presence, the first sense of feeling flooded over his deadened emotions, all the more potent for them being so new, and they weren't feelings he wanted to experience again; _so can I stop them coming back, and if so, how?_

XXX

_One more thing to thank Charmy for_; as she picked herself up and straightened the blankets of her recently unmade bed, Julie notched up another reason to be thankful for the bee's evanescence. Thanks to his example, Julie had been coerced into going up and around town, finding things out, meeting new people and seeing new locations, such as this one; surveying the small, two-roomed motel placement all around her, the echidna bit back a sigh and choked down her line of thought; as far as she was concerned now she'd never had it so good. Shadow had tried to wash his hands of her along with everything else and, after all, she was n o stranger to starting afresh – if anything, this was just a little more practise on that front. Giving herself a mental shake-down to scrub those ideas and memories from her conscious mind, Julie straightened and got her day plan sorted, determined just to get through her work, then come back and figure out what she was going to go next. Thrusting her uniform on with vigorous if false enthusiasm, the ex-Legionnaire stood straight, counted enough money from her purse to grab something like a breakfast on her way into work, squared her shoulders and marched out the door, only just remembering to snag her keys from the inside lock to prevent herself being locked out by the automatic dead-bolt. _Get a grip girl_; she snarled in her own mind, unused to making such basic mistakes and all the more frustrated as, deep down, she knew the reason why she was making them and was disgusted that she felt that way; _he threw you away and wrecked everything – just forget him and move on – if you don't, you'll just stagnate and die, like he will. Now come on_; with another sigh she took another step forwards determined to blot all recollection of her former flatmate from her mind; _get to work, it'll be easier there_.

XXX

She hadn't even noticed him come in; Honey had to look twice just to double-check the back facing her was Shadows rather than the new runner who'd just started in her office, the quiet, shy guy who never said boo to a goose. _Nah, definitely Shads_; having recognised those characteristic quills even at this distance, she gave a very pointed sniff and returned to scrutinising her keyboard; _much good that is, the amount of attention I've had off him recently_. That was certainly true; the first couple of days she'd been inclined to ignore, rationalising that the hedgehog was probably just getting used to the overtime he'd put himself in for, though conspicuously she'd had no luck trying to winkle out the reason he was working so hard. However, after that, after the next five office days where all she'd managed to get from him was a curt 'good morning' and a similar benediction in the evening, and where he'd completely blanked the normal bi-weekly massage classes in favour of this new work routine, the petite echidna had reached the end of even her normally placid tether. The last straw had come yesterday lunchtime; she'd just set her tray down next to his and made to sit down when he'd just bolted down the rest of his meal, stood up and run off, pausing just long enough to slam his tray down on the empty table before getting back to work. _No hello, no goodbye, nothing_; that act of ingratitude had put her in a bad mood all day and most of the night since, so right now she was not inclined to be at all pleasant to her hedgehog colleague as he stood up from the desk and shuffled towards the exit; _right you, get ready for the real cold shou...Shadow!_

That train of thought was quickly derailed; she might only have caught a glimpse of the side of his face, the corner of his crimson right eye, but that had been enough; in that flash of redness, not caused just by natural colouration, Honey saw, or at least, was pretty certain she saw, something terrible and completely alien in all the time she'd known the black hedgehog. Cold water seemed to run right through her veins, making her shudder; _that c,can't be right_; involuntarily shivering, shocked by the chill, Honey shucked on the coat that was currently resting on the back of her chair, hoping it would insulate her inside as well as it did her out; _he, he looked like he's been crying his eyes out all night – what on Angel Island could have happened to cause that? Unless I wasn't seeing it right – yes, that must be it_; the dread within her retreated, banished by a brazen truth from deep within, repeating its message over and over to confirm its almost-inevitable certainty; _I just didn't see his face straight on, just got a blurred picture – you wait, he'll come back through that door and it'll just be a normal, everyday day…_

…_won't it?_

XXX

No, it obviously wouldn't; that was her first thought when, fifteen minutes, an almost incredible length of time for Shadow, already up there with the great runners in the CA, to be away, the door of the office opened once more and she glanced up right into the front of his face.

Her second thought was desolation – that somehow, somewhere along the line something had gone drastically, quite horribly wrong and his expression was the physical manifestation of that imbalance. He moved forwards, the step heavy and ponderous, a sole of lead to contrast with his normal soul of air, lethargy seeping through every pore, sucking the vitality, the light out of those around him. Just regarding him like this made Honey's skin go cold; it was only when he turned his face to see a full tray to his right that she managed to break her gaze, ducking behind her monitor and shuddering as those haunted, lifeless eyes flashed once more before her vision, they mourning gaze peering deep into her mind and regarding all they saw there with the same chill, unMobian indifference. _By the spirits_; she peeped her head over the parapet, seeing she wasn't the only one, hearing as well on the edge of her range the very slight whispers that were beginning to dog the hedgehog, question his virtual torpor as he trudged past, fixated on the lift at the back of the office; _what could've done that to him – something must have really hit him hard to mange that_. The oppressive presence swept past her; she had to look away, grit her teeth and screw her eyes shut to avoid squeaking in discomfort as something so close to walking death brushed past, then it was gone, she found she could draw breath again and drank air down greedily, sucking any and all emotion she could out of the atmosphere around her.

Right now in her mind, as she finally realised her finger had remained fixed upon one of her keyboard keys throughout this entire sorry episode and she hastily made to delete the string of Y's, Honey felt her anger at the hedgehog melt away to nothingness, broken in the face of concern and pity. Something, she wasn't sure she wanted to know exactly what and would lay good money that he wouldn't tell her of his own violation, had broken right down into the hedgehog and sundered everything positive he had once had, leaving behind the dry, desiccated husk that had just prowled past her. To distract her racing mind for a moment she printed out the receipt she'd finished, neatly stacking it atop the others on the side of her desk where it would wait until a runner picked it up, much like her myriad thoughts were now waiting to be sorted by her overburdened brain. As her imagination was set ablaze by thought, counter thought, dream and fevered plotting, Honey realised only one certainty at the core of all her thinking; that somehow, by hook or by crook, she was going to have to do something, absolutely anything, to try and reach out and through this dead outer shell, touch the inner Shadow that had to exist within him still somewhere. The question still remained however; _how_; she bunched her fists against her cheeks, her elbows on her desk as she tried to massage an idea out from her skull; _just how am I supposed to do anything like that?_

XXX

He had been wrong, as he had before – nothing was any easier here than it had been at home. If anything, it was actually worse; some of his mental anaesthetic seemed to be wearing off and, in place of such a blank, soothing balm, the harsh medicine of the truth, the full, revolting truth, of his folly was gaining an ever-firmer and more unpleasant hold.

Everything was a blur; before and behind him was the same grey, indistinct shapes and flickers of a dreary half-life, the life he had locked himself within and thrown the key away to. Shadow kept his head down, not accepting the dull impulses sent to him by his senses, barely realising how close, once or twice, he came to falling off his teetering knife's-edge in existence – though the traffic in Echidnopolis was light, that wasn't the same thing as it being non-existent. No-one else could trust him, he was unworthy of their faith so he trusted his judgements least of all; all he could possibly know with certainty were three things. The first was the pain that now pulsed rhythmically underneath his exterior, squeezing his chest in a glove of icicle-studded iron, drowning him in coldness and fierce agony with each breath. The second was that, eventually, in days, years or eons, for he quite literally had all the time in the world to exist under its unyielding contractions, was that sooner or later, that same grip was going to be the thing that finally broke him utterly, shatter his mental resolve completely and send him spiralling into depths of grief, guilt and eventual insanity that no mortal should ever plumb.

The third and last thing that Shadow, in his journey to final nothingness, running through a cursed half-world where no life or light existed, knew and recognised for certain was that, though this world of greys and shades was a dreadful, dreary place to be, it was infinitely more preferable to the future that awaited him in the end – somehow, he had to stave off that final plunge into darkness for as long as he could. As of yet, however, with pain and dull, poisonous self-loathing rending his sickened soul to a harrowing death by a million cuts, Shadow could see no way to accomplish such a goal, even one as basic and worthless as that one.

XXX

"Just, ah", she glance over her shoulder, a little more relieved than she let on when she realised he was still in the same spot he had been a few minutes ago as she'd joined the back of the lunch queue, "just a dash of sauce – watching the waistline", she added lamely, giving a vapid smile in the face of the chef's raised eyebrow. To her vague relief he simply dismissed her, totting up the bill as she slid a five crest note onto the counter, so preoccupied with where Shadow was that she completely forgot to pick up her change as she grabbed the tray and, squaring her slim shoulders in an effort to buoy her draining confidence, marched towards his table.

There was an almost tangible air around him, as though even the very air itself was aware of the hedgehog's emotions and was echoing them, sucking the vitality out of everything nearby. Fighting to suppress a yawn and throw off the languid effects of the unnatural stillness, Honey managed to conjure up enough mental resolve to add another tick to the already impressive list of reasons to be worried; _he should be up and about, full of beans in the middle of a work day_. That was certainly true; even over the past week or so when he'd apparently not had the time to talk to anyone he'd at least possessed energy, a frantic almost need to do some sort of work, do anything but sit still. Now though, she could see as she set her tray down, quietly, as so not to alert her potential quarry, that he was merely sitting there, almost completely detached from reality, apparently not even noticing as she slid along the bench towards him. Licking her lips in nervous anticipation, Honey glanced down towards his plate and gave a very low sigh; _at least he's actually eaten something_; the fact he'd left his mashed potatoes and at least one of the crab sticks to the side of his dish was yet another manifestation of his malady, but at least she was reasonably sure he'd had some sort of nutrition; _at least his body's not going to waste away_. The smaller Mobian smiled at her own weak joke before deciding this was it; crunch time – either say your piece and hope for the best, or bug out and leave before he notices you were even there.

"Hey", her first whisper was barely audible even to her own ears; silently cursing her last minute jitters, she tried again, forcing a note of polite curiosity into her voice, "hey Shadow, how's things?"

The seconds snailed past, so slowly she could count every single one of them individually; despite the relative coolness of the air-conditioned canteen, Honey still felt hot, sticky sweat prickle the back of her neck and under her arms as she waited in limbo to see if he would respond to her innocuous query. _No, forget it_; her patience, worn thin already by the sheer nerve needed to get to this stage, finally snapped completely and with it went what remained of her courage in this part of the venture; _he's gone – right then, onto plan B…_;

"Dreadful", the whisper made her glance around as Shadow appeared to talk without moving his lips, eyes not moving from where they were trained into the remains of his meal to regard her as his forgotten tone continued, "but, trust me, you don't want to know – it'll only depress you".

"That", the prickles were turning into a torrent; as far as she could tell, talking to someone like this was a hairs-breadth from virtual necromancy, "that good huh?"

"Worse"; that single word was his answer, the only answer he would give, of that she was certain – his shell-like eyes were still hollow and virtually unseeing as he still wouldn't swivel his head to regard her. Disguising her racing mind with an affable shrug, the echidna looked away and proceeded to tuck into her own food, hoping to disguise a suddenly departed appetite while she plucked up the courage for her next and quite possibly final move.

A dim clang impacted on the floor nearby but he didn't react to it; the noise didn't affect him, so by logical extension he couldn't actively affect it either. It was only when there was a tap on his shoulder, coupled with a slight clearing of the throat that such an occurrence did begin to actively exert a force upon him and he had to exert an equal and opposite reactionary force upon it,

"Er, sorry Shads"; _Honey is speaking to me_; the memory of the blonde echidna's name tightened the grip around him once more, spreading the cracks just that little bit further as he awaited the rest of her words, "I dropped my knife by your foot, would you…?" He knew the rest of the question and merely acted upon ingrained responses; leaning down, he quickly located the errant object and picked it up of the floor, handing it back to its owner without really appraising what he was doing and, more importantly, not inflicting his loathsome unworthiness on someone who had once counted him as a friend and was now undoubtedly paying the price for such an unfortunate miscarriage of judgement. As the world carried on in its business around him, he remained alone where he was, concentrating the little mental resolve he had left upon the problem he'd identified earlier and was now trying his utmost to solve – he'd locked himself up of his own free will, how could he possibly avoid snapping as a result of that decision?

It had been touch and go but, as she felt the reassuring weight in her lap, hidden by her napkin for now, Honey felt equal parts relief and resolve follow through her; though Shadow had surprised her by jumping the gun somewhat, she'd managed to recover and, while he'd been bent under the table, quickly filched what she'd needed and stuffed it under her napkin, shielding her theft from the hedgehog's eyes, not that he seemed to be paying much attention to anything save the secret undoubtedly concealed somewhere in his congealing meal. _Okay, we wait until after dinner_; using the other napkin she'd cleverly placed on the side of the tray to dab her lips, Honey smoothly cycled through the rest of her plan to calm her pounding heart; _then we call a bathroom break and, after that_; she glanced down, hoping against hope that there was still someone she could reach out to; _after that, it's all up to you_.

XXX

"Hey Jules", caught out by the sudden shout, the ex-Legionnaire turned around to look down the street she'd just walked along, trying to pick out who'd called after her. The sight of Huka, his thin pigeon-chest heaving like a forge bellows as he virtually collapsed to a halt next to her, pencil-thin legs shaking as they tried to stabilise even his nearly non-existent weight, shocked her so much that she inadvertently gave him time to catch his fleeing breath and gasp,

"Wait…up a minute", still she couldn't answer; _why the hell is he after me?_ She tried to quickly cycle through the list of reasons he might have to follow her in the manner he had but all she managed to come up with was a blank sheet,

"Uh, sure", just about managing to remuster something like composure, Julie looked at the younger echidna once more and asked the hundred crest question, "and you're after me why exactly?"

"I just…" he tailed off for a second, not able to look her in the eye as he tried to think of something clever to say on the fly; _damn_; his mind, as it always did in situations like these, went completely blank; _I was never cut out to be devious – ah, that'll do_; "…fancied a bit of company on my walk home tonight, yeah, that's all". He tried to smile engagingly, hoping his veneer of charm was papering over the cracks in his calm as Julie raised a piercing eyebrow,

"Really?"

"Really really". _Huka_; his moronic grin was just another twang of the stick that was at the minute buried deeply in the anthill of her rage, something else to aggravate her as the day wore on; _if you've come here to insult my intelligence you can just blow it out your ear_;

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong", each word dripped with icily false politeness as one of her metallic forearms glinted in the sunlight, flashing as it pointed off to the right of the street they were currently stood on, "but you live over there, don't you?" As she'd expected his face fell to the absolute rock bottom and promptly started to dig; she was about to throw her hands up at him and turn away in disgust before he managed to wrestle down his embarrassment and blurt out the truth,

"Okay, listen, I was, actually we all were", that made her pause for a second; now that she thought about it she couldn't actually remember anything about the day at work she'd just had, never mind anything about the other echidnas in her office, "we're just a little worried about you, that was all".

_Worried?_; that made no sense – why would they be concerned about her?

"Worried?" Her voice echoed her unease, probing for answers as Huka looked at her almost beseechingly, "about what?"

"About…?" He sounded gobsmacked, almost physically reeling backwards as though struck by her answer, "Julie, I don't know if you noticed but apart from biting Kadu's head off when he made his daily dumb comment you never spoke two words all day; you never even left your station at break time, just ate at your desk; sorry, but that's not the Julie-Su I know. Is everything okay at the minute; we all heard about the Legion messing you around a while ago, but there was that broadcast earlier – surely you or Shadow saw tha…?"

Not for the first time in his life, the slight echidna quailed before the ex-Legionnaire; there was nothing unusual in this in itself – Huka had always known he was never going to count as a guardian in either body or mind, but this time was slightly different. What made him back away here wasn't the mock-anger of Julie rearing up, bringing her vastly superior physical strength to bear; no, this time it was the expression that flashed, just for an instant, across her eyes; something so strong and painful it shook both of them, even at this distance. _Okay, bad topic there_; luckily his mind wasn't as poorly constructed as his body and he quickly arrived at the conclusion that this was ground where angels feared to tread and it was time to bail out while the going was good,

"Ah, right, well I'm sure it'll work out for the best in the end", he wheedled, plastering a wide, false smile onto his face as he became uncomfortably aware of something smouldering in Julie's emotions, "anyway, I better get going; see you tomorrow yeah?"

"Yeah"; _right, leave it there – she needs time and space_; mulling over what he'd learnt so far, Huka nevertheless kept his face politely neutral until Julie turned away, dismissing him silently and without further ado – something he was exceptionally grateful for given the circumstances. As he turned back to retreat from whence he'd come, he risked a final glance over his shoulder, just seeing his workmate disappear around a corner before being lost to his sight; _hmm, is it just me or was there something wrong there?_

It was only when he was virtually on his parent's doorstep that it hit him; the question that had persistently annoyed him like an unreachable itch since he'd taken his last look at Julie not twenty minutes ago slapped him full in the face. Galvanised by such a revelation, he dropped his keys back into his pocket for the moment, frantically sending his mind back to scour his memory banks, focusing on that final scene and seeing, yes, there was no mistaking his vision, even with his glasses slightly askew. _But_; for a second he couldn't quite get the pieces to fit together and they stuck in his mental processor; _she doesn't live down that way – she's over near…oh_; with an almost audible click he snapped the location of her former home with what had happened when he'd mentioned her flatmate and completed a most unsavoury picture; _and I said it would work out for the best – boy_; even with the evidence pointing towards a pretty dire conclusion, he was able to manage something like a grim chuckle; _have I ever got a habit for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time – I'll have to say sorry tomorrow – maybe I can help her somehow if things have gone sour like that_.

XXX

At the sudden trill Amy stopped dead, grabbed the bottom of her vibrating bag and promptly blushed deeply, thanking the lucky star she must have been born under that whoever was now ringing her hadn't done so a couple of minutes earlier. As it was, a quick poke in the back broke her embarrassment-induced stupor; quickly hurrying to the bottom of the stairs that ran down parallel with the descent of the lecture hall she'd just piled out from, Amy quickly took shelter in a relatively quiet spot just off from the main staircase and fished her phone out of her rucksack; in her somewhat flustered state and not really concentrating on what her hands were doing, the pink hedgehog didn't even look at who was calling her before she hit the accept button and brought her phone to her ear. This, undoubtedly, was a good thing; had she had a chance to glimpse the number being displayed on the front of her vibrating phone, even her compassionate soul might have reflexively shut down the attempted contact from someone who had burned her so badly merely a day before,

"Hello?"

"Err, hi, um", the hedgehog's eyes narrowed in concern, not recognising the hesitant but definitely feminine voice; _who on earth is this – must be a wrong number_; "this is Amy Rose I'm talking to right?" _Or not_; stirred to curiosity and bafflement in equal measure, Amy used all her formidable self-control to follow the recent teachings of her classes so far; _remain calm but focussed on the problem at all times – the harder you look, the more likely you are to see a solution_;

"Yep, that's me. Who's this?"

"Oh good", heeding the note of relief and calmness in her mystery caller's voice, Amy gave herself a small pat on the back – ensuring the patient was calm and unstressed was the first and most important step a councillor could make in the process, "I'm sorry, you don't know me, but I work with one of your friends – you know Shadow right?"

"Shadow!" The volume and explosive shock in her voice made every head within earshot turn; if Amy was aware of a small voice at the back of her mind informing her that such outbursts were unbecoming of a professional long-term mind healer she paid it no heed as she gabbled, "how do you know him, and why are you calling me? You're not Julie are you?"

"No; listen, I work with Shadow and I'm worried about him", the mysterious caller told her, almost turning the tables in the balance between patient and councillor as her rationality made her come back down to earth slightly, "I didn't know what else to do".

"Right, okay", shaking her head as though trying to physically clear it, Amy reasserted herself and tried to sift fact from fiction, "let's start from the top; first off, what's your name?"

"Just call me Honey, and I work with Shadow, I think I told you that. But listen, I don't know if you know but he's been really odd recently"; _oh yeah_; despite her normal tendency towards forgive and forget, the very fresh memory of trying to comfort an almost grieving Sonic for most of last night at the same time as try and pull herself together over the pain and hurt behind his unexplained cut off, and the even fresher memory of Tails's tale of grit and scorn as he related what the ebon hedgehog had done to her little sister, made Amy's heart harden a little towards her former friend; _I know that really well_; "I mean the past week or so was bad enough, but now he's really getting everyone uptight".

"The past week – how long has this been going on? I'm sorry", seeing an opportunity to cut through some of the confusion, Amy pointed out a basic and obvious fact, "I'm not actually on Angel Island; haven't seen him for a while now. Can you tell me…?"

"He's been, like, completely tense, taut as a wire", Honey must have pre-empted her question, "wouldn't talk to anyone beyond hello and goodbye; he even skipped our massage classes completely, said he was busy; I was worried he was turning into a workaholic, put himself down for all this overtime – it couldn't have been good for him. But now he's just…all today he's been – I can't really describe it – dead?"

"Dead?" Amy forced herself to give a short laugh, grateful for the fact Honey couldn't see her expression through the phone, "I hope you're exaggerating". Luckily her gamble paid off; Honey responded with her own gruff snort before answering,

"I wish; he looks like someone who's just seen the end of the world come crashing down around his ears and I'm worried, and I mean it, really worried, what he's going to do next. I know Shadow's not stupid, but this guy just isn't acting like the Shadow I know. Any ideas?"

For a long couple of seconds, Amy Rose fell completely silent, absorbed by her own ideas; _like the end of the world – yes, his face last night, he looked bad then_; she had a few crumbs but that was all and, more importantly, besides the point. Taking another breath, Amy faced a snap decision and, after the barest hint of thought, crossed her fingers and took the plunge,

"Right, Honey, you work at the C.A yeah?"

"Unfortunately yes".

"Okay, I'm not on Angel Island but a couple of my friends are – would it be possible for one of them to meet you there after you've finished work; what time would that be?"

"It'd be, say, ten past five – why, what have you got planned?"

"Someone will be there", Amy assured her new friend with a confidence she could only hope would be upheld, "they'll say Amy sent them but they're not echidnas; how can they recognise you?" Honey gave a chuckle,

"I'm the short, blonde echidna who'll be stood on the steps of the C.A.; if it'll help Shads I've got to give it a shot".

"You and me both; thanks Honey", noticing the time and realising she only had a few minutes to make her next lecture, Amy knew she had to draw this conversation to a quick close, "we were getting worried about him as well – looks like we were right to be".

"Too right you were; anyway, back to work for me. Bye". With that final salutation, the connection was cut, leaving the hedgehog alone with her now altered, slightly clearer thoughts and a plan of what to do next. _Shadow_; she shook her head in annoyance even as she tried to speed-text whilst walking at a brisk pace, half an eye on the stairs in front of her; _somehow you always pick the worst times possible to do something stupid like this – if I'm late to this lecture you're going to be sorry next time I get my hands on you!_

XXX

Hearing the tone go flat, Honey removed the mobile from her ear with infinite care, slowly touching the red button to terminate the call at the same time as let out a tension-laden sigh; _well, not quite what I'd hoped for, but that could have gone a whole lot worse_. As she regarded the pilfered phone in her hand idly, she reran the conversation in her head, trying to dissect it logically but, concentration broken by the image of Shadow finding his phone missing and, even worse, locating it on her person, especially in his current deranged, detached mood, she shook her head and stood up, making sure her ill-gotten gains were hidden well out of sight before opening the door of the cubicle she'd hidden herself inside and returning to work, all the time praying that, no matter what she'd done to make it happen, she'd done the right thing by drawing outside attention to her workmate's malady, because she had no idea how to tackle it herself.

XXX

Somehow, battered every minute of the way by the remorseless guilt nipping at his heels like a shoal of ravenous piranha, Shadow looked up at the clock to see five o'clock had past; by some miracle his husk had drifted along the river of time without breaking apart completely. _Good_; guided only by the knowledge that it needed to assuage its most urgent need, Shadow's mind directed him to head fro the exit of the place as soon as he could manage to, ignorant to anything happening behind him. The low buzz in his ears broke for a second; someone was calling his name but he couldn't bring himself to care; in the aftermath of his final mistake, this really was the best of all worlds as it meant he'd never be able to hurt anyone else like he'd hurt; _…them all_. The pain squeezed out of the corners of his eye, ice invading the broken remnants of his spirit once more and he knew he had no time left to ponder, no chance in which to think; firing up his jet skates, Shadow accepted the fate he'd fostered upon himself; right now, to blot out the fear of teetering on the very precipice of his sanity he needed oblivion and, as he fired up his skates with eyes set forwards, he knew only one place he could find it.

XXX

The road to hell was paved with good intentions; in her feverish state Julie fixed upon that old quote dredged up from somewhere deep inside her memory banks and growled as she realised how true it actually was; Huka's chat with her just a few hours ago, no matter how well-meaning, had opened the trapdoor beneath her feet and sent her plummeting into, if not hell itself, at least somewhere a good deal less comfortable than she'd been in before. Sitting on the solitary armchair in her new apartment, comparatively cheerless compared to the one she'd left behind, Julie's current mood was one that would have fascinated an outside observer; she appeared to be too busy to move. Thought her body remained immobile the tension in her arms and legs, to say nothing of the dents her fingertips were grooving for themselves in the rests of the well-used armchair, were well-marked and immediately obvious. However, the physical tautness paled in comparison to what awaited when you looked at her face; though her expression was fixed into one of deep, rigid immobility, the windows of her soul betrayed her, opening the way to a scene of haphazard, high speed bedlam.

_Damn it_; her thoughts were going round and round like the world's fastest Ferris wheel, locked in an eternal cycle of sudden thought and instant quashing of that thought, though the quashing only invited another abhorred memory to rear its ugly head, perpetuating the cycle anew; _why am I so hung up now, it's not like this is the first time I've been thrown out by someone…_; just for a fleeting second the hardness came off the lines of her face, a subtle hint of softness soothing her roughened edges; _…after all, can't have been easy for him, suddenly remembering he's going to…no, come on_; the mask reasserted itself, the mounting frustration evident in the grinding of teeth and rolling of her eyes as she tried to defeat her own memories, her mind and emotions a war zone; _…he didn't have to do what he did – he could have told you, just like he was always telling you not to bottle everything up…it was a big thing though, imagine having to live…I'd rather, if it was me I'd, I'… _With a sudden subdued roar, the fighting spilled out onto the physical arena; in one move Julie had thrown herself to her feet and begun pacing violently up and down the cramped room, the movements stiff and jerky, like a robot bereft of oil for too long. Pounding the carpet with a relentless, determined beat that would have made even Xenin a proud Mobian, Julie managed to reach above her warring mind just long enough to grab a clear second, a frantic pause in which to gulp down a breath of thought unsullied by internal politicking; _bloody hell Huka, why'd you have to drag his name up when I was trying to forget him?_

She'd managed to stay together just long enough to get home; after that though, when the door had shut behind her and she turned around only to be met with a very different reality compared to the one she was used to, had the reality, the whole, dreadful reality finally hit her like a wrecking ball to the face. Awful, gut-wrenching sickness, a thousand times worse than anything she'd ever felt upon leaving the Legion or being rebuffed so painfully from her father had churned up her stomach as suddenly it all reared up before her eyes so clearly; all the tiny little idiosyncrasies that had marked Shadow and the way he ran his life, even, she gritted her teeth as even this tiny admission rankled, the way he'd behaved around her prior to the last fortnight, as unique. Like the way that, when he was making a coffee, he'd always swill the cups out with a small drop of hot water before adding anything to them, just to pre-heat them he always said – it was laughable back then and she'd always teased him about it but now, looking back over the abyss that had suddenly yawned up between them, it was just one almost insignificant brick in the bedrock she'd built almost without realising it, and Shadow had been a central plank of that stable grounding. _But_; suddenly she was herself once more, business-like and having to do what she did best – cope with whatever problems life could throw at her; _he's not here any more, so get your head up, stop looking behind you and…_; taking her own advice, the echidna stopped marching forwards and brought her face up, seeing where she was going, only to stop dead in confusion;_ …take a look ahead – now why am I in the kitchen?_ That was odd; she definitely wasn't hungry or thirsty, Huka's words, the same ones that had started this whole ball rolling were enough to appease both those wants for a while, but she'd definitely been coming this way for a reason, even if she hadn't been consciously thinking about it at the time. Just for a second she puzzled, glancing all about her for clues; it was one of these glances up at the wall opposite that made her freeze and then, as the clock ticked slowly onwards, drop her horrified gaze slowly at the counter top opposite her and shudder in mortified disbelief.

It had just gone five o'clock; the exact time, almost to the second, when she normally took a couple of seconds to hit the switch for the kettle, making sure it was boiled in time for Shadow when he arrived home from work, provided her work out programme wasn't on.

XXX

With her hands clenched deep in her pockets, Honey was only grateful for the fact she didn't smoke; she was certain that if she had taken up even one of the offers made to her in the youth she'd have been lighting them one from the other right about now. She'd been stood for no more than six or seven minutes but it seemed like six or seven years to her; waiting helpless with jangling nerves for someone she'd never even seen before to show up and whisper the magic words that would hopefully make all this worth doing. _He or she better do_; the slim Mobian thought suddenly, a fierce desire in her eyes as the mere thought of having to go through another work day with the same semi-solid spectre flitting around in the background made her shudder; _because I can not go on like this. One day was bad enough – I'm not sure I want to think about what'll happen a week, maybe even longer, from now. Wait, who's that?_ The light was growing dim as winter set in But Honey had always been blessed with keen sight; squinting, she thought she just about managed to pick out a deeper silhouette visible in the murky half-light; here eyes widened in fear as there was a sudden glint above her, the street light reflecting off dozens of knives as the beast before her reared back and her knees went to jelly, not even enough breath to spare for a scream,

"Hey babe", the assailant spoke before he pounced, the reflective blades above her blanking out in an undulating pattern, more of him becoming visible as he stepped forwards, revealing the olive scales the covered his underbelly and the stereo around his ears, "I'm lookin' for a short, blonde 'chidna standin' on the steps of the C.A – I might be wrong., but I'm guessin' your Honey?"

"Yeah", she managed to gaps, the panic beginning to seep out of her boots soles as a very important fragment of the conversation she'd had not three hours ago whispered back into her ears, "I'm Honey, who are you – did Amy send you?"

"Yeah, name's Vector – 'fore you ask, I'm a crocodile an' we're all as ugly as this. Don't worry though", he gave what she assumed must have been his equivalent of a cheerful smile; _well, Amy did say her friends weren't going to be echidnas_; "me bark's worse than me bite".

"Somehow I doubt that; I'm not looking to test that theory though"; it sounded weak even to her, but at least it was an attempt to break the ice; _not like I wasn't expecting this_. Better than anyone Vector knew how intimidating he could look, especially to a people as formerly secluded as the population of Echidnopolis; heck, a couple of weeks prior to the Chaotix's upwards migration, he'd had echidnas crossing the road to get out of his way. He could laugh about it in the bright light of day but right now he knew he had to put himself in the echidna's shoes; she was alone talking with something a lot bigger and, truth be told, potentially a lot nastier than she was – this called for tact and delicacy, two qualities that, despite outwards appearances, he was inherently gifted with,

"Right then", he settled onto is back foot, making himself look less threatening as he tried to gauge the problem he was up against in this case, "Ames mentioned somethin' about a Shadow problem?"

"You got that right; what did she tell you?"

"Just the basics", Vector cocked his head casually, though his eyes never left the Mobian before him; _yeah, she's starting to loosen up – just keep it light and put her in control, just as long as she tells you what's wrong with Blackie it's all good_; "she got a ring from someone she'd never heard of, luckily she was out of her lectures at the time", he added, his heart lightened by the sight of Honey trying to keep a smirk off her face at his faintly baleful look before he continued, "mentionin' Shads was actin' weird. We saw it too, me and my mates, but never knew it was serious".

"Well it is, especially today", grateful for a sympathetic ear, Honey found herself relating the whole sorry tale almost without realising she was doing so, "past fortnight or so, he's been running himself into the ground; always jumpy, twitchy, never standing still long enough to talk to – trying to communicate with him was like trying to nail a jelly to the wall", it was Vector's turn to chuckle as he made a mental note of that little quip, "but today, if anything he was the opposite". She fell silent for a minute; seeing her face fall and her arms hug herself even through her coat, Vector totted up the potential involved and realised he needed a little more information before he could have a go at forming a concrete theory as to what was going on,

"Different?" He gave a shrug, trying to indicate his ignorance, "Different how? Was he a bit quieter?"

"No", Honey gave a brief, totally mirthless laugh, "he was a lot quieter, an awful lot quieter and that's why I'm worried", memories of her colleague's discomfort made ghosted before her eyes now, visions that could have haunted her dreams plaguing her even in her waking moments now, "like I told Amy, he looked like someone who's life's just fallen to pieces around his ears; it was like shock, a really massive shock to his system. He was barely running all day, hardly touched his food and that's not Shadow".

"Tell me about it"; _okay, something's gone wrong_; though he had little to do with the black hedgehog per se, the news filtered back to him from the guardians and the rest of the Chaotix had made him uneasy; this confirmation made his certain stormy water lay ahead, "he's normally a Mobian dustbin. But anyway, what happened tonight, when you all left work?"

"I don't know, he just turned on his boots and ran, never even looked backwards"; _not good – if it's as bad as that I gotta find him fast_; heeding that knowledge, Vector probed for clues,

"Nothin'? Did you see which way he went?"

"Yeah, down there and that's not right", following her finger pointing across the road, Vector twigged what was abnormal, "he lives over that way; listen", this time she leant her head backwards, the light from her eyes contriving to simultaneously steel Vector's determination to find out what was wrong with his hedgehog buddy and dazzle him in the process as she made her last words ring clear, "I haven't the faintest what's happened to him, but you've got to do something; it might sound drastic but", she glanced down, licking her lips nervously as the fear that had bitten her deepest all day surfaced; stupid as it may have sounded, if there was even the faintest hope it could make this crocodile believe how serious this was it had to be worth saying, "but I think if he doesn't get someone near him soon he could do something really stupid".

_Jesus_; she wasn't lying – even from his elevated position Vector could see the faint film starting to spread over her irises and it was that sight, as the street lamps played over it, that really hammered home the message; _this really could be that serious – no time to lose_. Mind made up, Vector recalibrated his facts and made to move into hunting mode; _but at least I've got some ideas now_;

"Okay Honey, I'll track him down", despite the haste needed he knew he had to reassure the concerned Mobian, "that way you said?"

"Yeah, but that was nearly quarter of an hour ago", she said forlornly, knowing how quickly the hedgehog could move when he wanted to, "going on his speed he could be anywhere in the city by now. What's so funny?" She snapped suddenly, taut nerves pinging as she heard a deep, glottal chuckle from the side of her,

"Don't worry babe; if what you've said' right I think I got an idea of where ta look". Without another word Vector moved off, pausing briefly for a passing car before spiriting himself to the other side of the road, a hand waved vaguely over his shoulder in farewell. Honey remained motionless for a couple of minutes, waiting until the last vestiges of the other Mobians tail were lost from her sight, before letting out a sigh and garnering herself for the walk home, unable to shake the nagging feelings of apprehension that had dogged her since five past nine in the morning, but at least some of the anxiety lifted off her soul by the knowledge that, no matter what had happened, at least someone was out looking for the hedgehog she wanted so desperately to stay safe and recover from whatever tragedy had befallen him.

XXX

It was a pretty good crowd for a week day; a seasoned veteran standing behind the pumps, Danc's singular glance told him everything he needed to know about what was going on. Exchanging a wink with his old drinking buddy Anra, the bartender quickly noticed his most loyal customer's mug nearly empty and set about arranging a refill when a whisper from the side of him made him look up. For a second he was a little confused and neglected to answer; it was only at a sudden movement from the dark corner of the bar, when with a rustle a flash of red and white became visible below two heavy, bag-filled eyes, that he recalled the guy who'd been sat there before; _I thought he'd left_;

"Another one?" He inquired semi-incredulously, thick, bushy eyebrows raised as he took in the fairly impressive collection of empties his most recent and thirsty customer had already racked up, "you sure about that pal?"

"Yeah"; _must be a pro at this_; with a voice so steady after that number of shots, Danc could only believe that whoever this guy was, this sort of binge had to be a common occurrence, a high tolerance for alcohol, especially the potent kind he was now dispensing into a small glass tumbler from a bottle along the counter top, helping the poor sap remain coherent, "you might as well leave the bottle". Taking a second to eye up how much fluid was left, Danc whistled,

"You better be kiddin' – you drink that much you'll be in a coma". Taking a peek over his shoulder, the bartender had to shake his head as the funky hairstyle chafed over the echidna's head, rubbing together as the customer laughed,

"My mind's already there", grabbing one of his empty tumblers on the second try, he offered it forwards, reaching for the bottle with his other hand, "jus' waiting for my body to catch up. Now please, just give me the rest of it".

Though Danc wasn't the strongest echidna out there, he knew through hard experience that he was more than capable of holding his own against anyone in a straight fight; against someone who was distinctly under the influence, he'd have backed himself every time. Due to the nature of his work, he also had a knack to resist intimidation; you can only be scared by a disorderly drunk so many times before it becomes old hat and you start to dismiss it, so threats and taunts weren't going to get him to part with his merchandise. This request, however, wasn't a demand as such, it was more of a plea edged with genuine need; somehow, he found himself unclipping the inverted bottle from its holder and passing it right into the outstretched hand of his customer simply because, well, his need was less than this guys'. He accepted the nodded thanks with a curt smile and quickly departed back to his original errand, filling up the pint glass and beckoning Anra to come and get it, doing his best to studiously ignore the dimly-lit corner of the bar where he could now hear the consistent glugging sound of a bottle being emptied at high speed. _Grief is a private thing_; he didn't know where that pearl of wisdom came from but for some reason it seemed appropriate at this time as he slid the foaming tankard across the bar; _and every Mobian should be allowed to grieve alone_.

XXX

Somehow it always came back to cycles; the tremor in his hand sent some of the reeking liquid onto the countertop, but for the most part it went where he wanted it to, sloshing thickly into the tumbler and rapidly filling it to just below the brim. That was just the first part of this new, completely destructive cycle he was now caught up in; well, actually no, that was a bit of a misnomer; Shadow dully debated this point of view with himself as his left hand guided itself towards the tumbler without apparent instructions from his head. His previous cycle had turned out to be the destructive one; by following it down in such a vicious spiral, he'd tossed everyone aside who'd actually given a damn about him and left himself completely alone in the world – now all he could do was hope to survive in it as he now was. So it was back to this new state of affairs – at least it was easy to remember; fill the glass, raise the glass, toss it all down; the taste burned the back of his throat momentarily but he swallowed anyway, the aftershock handily blocked out by his numbed senses and keeping the unpleasant burning itch to a minimum, check to see it if was still there. Concentrating for a second, Shadow shook his head at his lack of progress; no, he could still feel it, he wasn't far enough gone yet - time to go around the horn again.

_It's interesting – being alone yet with company at the same time_; in his newly emotionally severed state, Shadow was free to debate such points with himself, seeing the irony in such things and looking for a spot of a pattern within it. For a second his suspended his circle, letting his eyes track to the right to survey the rest of the tavern he'd somehow found himself standing outside and, knowing the oblivion he was seeking was contained within, had entered and placed his first order. Somehow it all made a sort of twisted sense now; everyone else here at this time, or at least some of them, he could pick out a few exceptions to the rule he'd come up with over the past couple of seconds, was a little like him; something had happened to them, driving them to this place and the temporary release it could bring. The guy over at the single table for instance, he was taking his time over it granted, but there was no denying he was lost in his own little world, not even noticing Shadow's scrutiny as he sipped at his drink; the same was true for the couple at the table, not sharing a word or even a glance, just two separate people wanting to be alone with their respective glooms. _Ah_; a dull bang heralded the arrival of another life to this melancholy nirvana; _the next guest is here – come in, have a drink and maybe it'll all just go away_; raising his glass fractionally in a toast to shared glumness, Shadow tilted his head slightly to regard the newest arrival; _huh, that's funny – well, actually it's not really_; nothing was really much fun any more, not now he'd thrown it all over his shoulder – but as a dull green ripple seemed to spread through the crowd towards him, Shadow could have sworn had his brain not been so addled by alcohol, he should have been able to put a name to the face.

XXX

Luckily the old nose had come through; going on the titbits Honey had fed him, Vector had done a little mental reasoning and recognised signs harkening back to his old days as a detective; if he had his facts straight, Shadow had been on a seriously depressed mind frame all day and would have been looking for a way to enhance such negativity. _And there's no better way to do that_; Vector sighed as he locked onto a familiar bristly back like a magnet, a wave of relief swamping him as he realised he'd nailed the place after only a half-hour of searching; _than to get completely and utterly stoned out your noodle_;

"Hey Shads", though the hedgehog seemed to have noticed him there wasn't a flicker of recognition in his face as he pulled up a stool next to him and sat down, smoothing out his tail for maximum comfort, "been looking for you".

"Well, you found me", the smaller Mobian replied sullenly, reaching for the spirits before him, his questing fingertips making the bottle sway alarmingly before Vector reached over to steady it, "well done, you want a medal for doing it?"

"Nah", Vector shook his head, holding his hand up as the bartender began to look interested and pouring Shadow another generous measure, making sure his headphones were carefully placed between the two of them as he did so and the slide at the top was in the right position for the new tape, "I'm more interested in what you're doin' in a place like this". Shadow didn't reply immediately; even the crocodile, granted a measure of immunity by his exposure to the ins and outs of how pubs and bars worked, winced as he knocked back the whole tumbler in one; _oww, and he's never really drunk before_; the crocodile shook his head silently as he watched his friend wipe his mouth with the back of his arm; _that is really gonna sting tomorrow_;

"What do people usually do in a place like this?"

"Go on long, meandering journeys that they think will lead them to the meaning of life but just dump them back at square one in the end?" Shadow spared enough of a glance to smile mordantly across at the reptile before replying,

"Sumthing like that".

"Well in that case Shadow", Vector drew himself up tall, reaching for one of the hedgehog's empties, "as your friend and now drinking buddy, it's my duty to accompany you on your pilgrimage. Cheers, and to the road ahead", he added before downing his own half, concealing his distaste at the pungent aftershock of the heavy spirit with a gasped breath; _whew, he's not messing about here – this is strong stuff_. He kept his eyes on the hedgehog however, almost seeing the mental gears tick around to digest his words; for a second he was afraid of rebuttal before, with a grim little titter, Shadow slouched back into his barstool,

"What's the old saying? Misery loves company, sommat like that?"

"Yeah, somethin' similar", Vector agreed good-naturedly, pouring out another round for each of them, careful to keep his intake limited to halves, "come on, the night is young and if what I've heard's true that", he pointed to the neat little row Shadow had made of his polished up spirit measures, "is just gonna be the start of it".

Not even Vector could possible have imagined how true his words were going to run; if he'd not managed to pull of a quick sleight of hand trick, getting the barMobian to replace the bottle they were using at the minute with something a lot less heavy, he reckoned Shadow would have been unconscious within the first fifteen minutes of his arrival. As it was the hedgehog was still up and, more amazingly, still almost coherent, still throwing back the drink evenly, though the pace had been much reduced, mostly by Vector having his hand on the spirit bottle the whole time and making sure to dispense it only when completely necessary. This was all part of a strategy he'd made up over the years, a little trick he called the volcano because it seemed to usually pan out that way; as he was the oldest of the Chaotix, he was usually the one who had to deal with clients and, detectives doing what detectives did for a living, there was usually alcohol involved in such transactions. This situation wasn't too dissimilar from trying to wrangle some information out of a difficult informer; currently, as far as he was concerned, Shadow was in the rumbling phase of the volcano theory – hopefully soon would come the eruption and, following that, the juicy bit, the info he needed disseminated in the venting stage of the procedure. Though this was a workable theory, it was also flexible enough to allow a little give and take; this time, with the alcohol not seeming to loosen the tight-lipped hedgehog up much, Vector decided to give the volcanic mix a bit of a stir before Shadow's resilience finally gave way and he ended up with an unconscious hedgehog on his hands and still as far away from the truth as he ever had been.

"Ah, I reckon I'm fed up wi'this now", he gave a fake slur as he hefted the virtually empty spirit bottle over his head and out the reach of Shadow's hand, "need something a bit different, keep me palette sweet".

"Wha'ever", Shadow slurred in response, barely looking up as he contemplated the dregs of his last drink, swallowed a few scant seconds previously; _okay, not talkin' much – put the court in his ball_; something about that last thought hadn't been quite right, but Vector knew he had the gist of what to do next and responded with an affable shrug,

"Your choice pal, I'm payin' this round. What's yer poison?" For a second he feared disappointment as Shadow raised his head to scan across the bar, then his energy seemed to desert him, his chin flumped onto his folded arms and he spoke right onto the bar's surface,

"Does idiocy count?"

Once he'd finished his only partially false uproarious laughter, Vector replied with a punch to the hedgehogs arm, making Shadow rock on his seat but nothing more than that,

"Now, now if you were askin' Esp, I betty'ed say yes; anyway", he topped up the other Mobian's glass before glancing over in genial curiosity, "why'd you say you were 'ere in the first place? You norrat work tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'm working", Shadow grimaced as he threw back yet another shot of liquor, feeling it burn through his belly before realising he still had a way to go before he could block out all the pain, "but I gotta do this more; I screwed up Vec". _Right, time to vent_; though Shadow hadn't erupted anything like as spectacularly as some of his previous targets in this sort of situation had, the crocodile was canny enough to take the opportunity when it presented itself,

"We all screw up Shads", he took another half-measure of his own, trying to gauge his body's reactions to the extra booze and work out how much longer he could go on for at this pace; he would have carried on talking but the hedgehog's factual lamentation cut him off,

"Not like I do we don't", he groped blindly for the bottle before giving up in his quest temporarily, not seeming to notice Vector whisking it away from his scrabbling hands, "I had everything; job, house, friends, girl"; _girl?_; the thought that this might have something to do with Julie rattled in the former detective's skull – after all, Shadow wouldn't be the first guy to drink himself into torpor after being jilted in love, but that was before the rest of his tortured speech came crashing out, "but I threw it'way, poof, gone, all gone. Now everyone'll hate me, and I don't blame 'em, not a bit. I was a, a…"

"Jerk?" Vector suggested helpfully; Shadow's answering self-assured nod was so violent it nearly sent him toppling off his seat,

"Yeah, jert, that'sah good one; I was one'a them, the worst one'a them", his eyes were burning now, a loathing flame singing his eyes as though he wished it could spread and burn every bit of him, punish himself for some sin he had committed, "I wanted 'em to leave me alone, just be by m'self; now I am, they did, and I hate it 'cos she was right about it".

"Who was?"

"Julie course", he said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, hand clenched around the empty beaker, making the glass creak, "said I was sel'ish, an I was, really selfish; put myself before everyone else cos I found out I was immorrall and didn't wanna be left alone when they all headed upwards. Well", he finished with a gruff laugh, raising his empty glass in a mocking toast to himself, "I'm not gonna be alone then, I'm alone now instead, and when that time does come, I'll be alone then too – good for me, an I deserre it".

"Sorry", maybe it was his hearing starting to suffer, but Vector couldn't quite place one of the words the hedgehog had just slurred, "run the last bit past me again, what are you thesh days?"

"Immorrall", Shadow repeated again after a couple of long seconds thought, explaining as best he could, "I no gonna die, gonna live forever anaday, alone, great". Vector whistled at the heavy sarcasm, having enough to go on and thinking he could understand something about what was going on, decided to try and bring this business to something like a close; _try and get some more info as well – first time I've ever heard him call Jules his girl_;

"Immorrall huh – gotta be bad that has. Still look at it like this", he slapped his friend on the back, grinning as he raised his head upwards to where the lights in the bar before them winked down benevolently, "you're at the bottom now, life's just thrown the whole lot at you, what else can it do? You finish up here, then we get you home; wha's the worse that could happen?" Despite the grimness of his penitent exile, Shadow seemed to be able to plaster something like a reluctant smile on his face as he answered sardonically,

"When life hands you lemons right?" Vector straightened, eyes burning bright as that line struck an idea into his mind,

"Now thasa thought"; Shadow watched on with drugged curiosity as the crocodile signalled the barMobian over and whispered something too low for his supine hearing to catch before turning towards him and grinning. Out of curiosity, he raised an eyebrow, but Vector answered the question before he could even consider asking it,

"Ever tried tequila slammers?"

XXX

A couple of hours down the line at what was commonly known as chucking-out time, Vector leant against the side of the pub he and his companion had just been evicted from and drew in deep lungful of the air around him, hoping it would clear his muggy head after a fashion. Just to occupy himself, he slipped his phones back over his ears and rewound the tape back a little before hitting the play button – great, he'd managed to get what he was after. _Okay, need that later – what should I do now?_; he knew he wasn't drunk though he couldn't be in anything like a completely sober state and as for Shadow; he shook his head at the bundle leaning against his feet and burbling on occasion – as far as he was concerned managing to crawl would be a remarkable achievement. So he needed transport, but there was another problem to consider as well, one that was stretching his enfeebled mental muscles at the moment; from what the drink had coaxed out of Shadow before it had claimed him completely, Vector knew what he was mourning the loss of most keenly and knew he also had to find a way to stop that grief. He knew he'd come to an answer sooner or later, he always did; for now though, he waited, pondering his options, waiting for his innately cunning brain to come up with a solution to the conundrum before him.

It was just under fifteen minutes later when it hit him, as he'd known it always would; a few seconds of frantic fumbling later, he fought to keep the small green blobs in focus enough to use the appliance he'd liberated from Shadow's unresisting form.

XXX

_So this is where trusting your instincts gets you_; Julie heard the thought but barely bothered to acknowledge it, merely ramming her hand down into the carton and extracting some more dry cereal flakes, not even looking at them as she shovelled them down. It wasn't that she was hungry, in fact if anything she was far from it, but she needed something, anything, to try and fill the miniature black hole that had split open inside her in the past couple of hours. Since a little past half five she'd been rooted to this chair, eating dry cereal by the handful, staring ahead as her insides rolled with misery and depression; every brief flutter upwards was instantly sucked down by the void within and consumed; _but why? Why am I – oh forget that question_; it was a mark of how deep into her dolour she'd sunk that she couldn't even argue with herself anymore; _I know why_; but knowing the reason and admitting it were two different things, normally it was the latter she had a problem with, but this time, in this state, it was as easy as wolfing down more of the cereal she'd been filling herself with ever since she'd finally realised the tumultuous change that had just rippled through her life; _it's because, this time, I actually left behind something worth having_.

And that was the crux of the issue; the Legion had made her a pariah and she'd never actually known her father figure enough to actually mind losing him much – the tears she'd shed in that episode of her life had been more for the pointlessness of her years of hard graft than for Luger's dismissal of her inheritance. But this time, in this instance she just couldn't push forwards like she had then, because this time, despite the hurt it had caused her, she knew she didn't actually want break away from the past. Ever since that singular moment where she'd actually, emotionally realised that Shadow wasn't going to walk through the door, when she knew beyond doubt that she was alone again, something had pulled her stomach, her heart and even her very spirit to the very bottom of her shoes. In that moment, doubled over from nearly crippling pain in her stomach, she'd have sworn blind that she'd have given anything to be back where she had been not twenty-four hours ago; if anything, the agony had only intensified once she'd realised that wasn't going to happen, she was left alone to pick up the pieces and try to gain something like a new life even if she didn't really want to. _But I don't have a choice there, or, maybe I do, but I can't make it_; Shadow's expression haunted her, the mortal wound cracking up his face just before she'd slammed the door on him, the remorse burning within his sunken, skull-like eyes; _he made a mistake – it was a stupid one to make, after everything he said about opening up to people – but it was a mistake, and he looked sorry about it – well he should be, he's hurt a lot of people by being so pig-headed – and I bet he's feeling it right now, are you really going to damn him because of that?_

It was a problem that circled in her head over and over again, the same argument and counter-argument repeating over and over again; once more Shadow had managed to completely tear her in two. Okay, he'd made the last two weeks of her life an uncertain, cold sort of hell, but then again, after she'd seen the reason behind such a reaction and had time to burn off her anger towards him for hurting everyone in the manner he had, Julie was logical and smart enough to recognise where he was coming from by. He hadn't been thinking straight, he'd tried to do what he thought was right and it had definitely not worked out the way he'd thought it would; as if trying to sort out her own head had been bad enough, she now had to try and figure out what was most probably running through his as well; _and as if those were my only issues_.

That was certainly true; there was also that fact that now she was on her own income, it wasn't going to be enough to keep even a roof as moderate as this over her head; her part-time work wasn't bringing in enough capital to let her build anything underneath her; the rate she was going she'd be on the street in a fortnight at the most optimistic guessing. That and the fact she had nothing much to wear past tomorrow; everything she had in the clothing department that couldn't be stuffed very hastily into a small hold-all had been left at the flat – she knew clinically she could have just wandered over and taken what was rightfully hers back but emotionally she couldn't even try, couldn't run the risk of bumping into him again. Piling misery upon misery, building a prison around herself, the ex-Legionnaire paused for a second, hand almost to her mouth, before giving in, dropping her arm and letting the handful of flakes she had scatter heedlessly to the floor, worn out by apathy, the emotional weight of the past day wearing though her resilience at last to send her into a pit of despair; _much as I never thought I'd say this_; at her lowest ebb, head falling forwards, Julie had no choice but admit the basics; _but I actually wanna be back where I was, back in that flat with my flatmate, just laughing at him and with him – dammit you complete moron, I actually miss you_.

How long she stayed like that, slumped in her chair and consumed by a torrent of conflicting emotions, Julie had no idea; it was only when she threw herself upwards, heart leaping almost out of her mouth as a sudden thunderclap of noise hammered into her ears. Cereal was launched upwards as the box was catapulted into the sky from her lap; as she clasped her hand over her chest, fighting to retake her exploded breath, it fell all around her in a confetti-like rain; had she not been so terrified she might have laughed at the analogy. _What…oh_; noticing something vibrating on the table across the room like a frog on a hot plate, Julie managed to beat back the adrenaline tide somewhat with a logical flood defence; _it's just the phone – wait_; that realisation quickly led to another, much more interesting diversion; _who'd be phoning me at this time of night? Could it – it might be it just might be!_

She was out of her feet and had snatched up the tingling communicator before the sudden surge of excitement could be contained; with a deep breath, Julie forced herself to act rationally; she was the wronged party here and, though she was undoubtedly suffering for the enforced separation she was currently enduring, Shadow didn't know that – he was going to have to make the first move and offer reparations for his mistake, not the other way around. It might have been stubborn pride, some may even have called it emotional ignorance but either way, it was what was going to happen; Julie squared her shoulders and swore that quiet promise at the same time she looked down; _easy_; she nearly broke her own word in an instant, just about stopping her thumb from hitting the receive button as she saw the number displayed on the small screen. _Okay, it's him_; hope fluttered upwards feebly but she rapidly caged it; Shadow might have been calling her, but he'd already crippled her belief once, she couldn't afford for him to do it again. With slow, deliberate precision, she pressed the button slowly and raised the phone to her ear, voice honed to a fine edge of equal parts disdain, curiosity and cold courtesy,

"Good evening?"

"Ah, hi"; _what – who're…?_; "sorry to bother you, but I just found this phone – do you know who it belongs to?" Chameleonic eyes closed for a second, disappointment squeezing her distant prayers even though the shelter she'd contained them within,

"Hey, you there Julie?" The jolt wasn't so much his voice, but the last word in his query,

"How'd you know my name?"

"It's what was in the directory; I just took a stab in the dark", it might just have been her paranoia setting in, but she could have sworn she could almost put a name to this unknown face just from the voice alone as it droned on, "anyway, who's phone is it; you know the guy?"

"Yeah, more or less; he lives over at the apartment blocks about twenty minutes from the C.A, you know where I am?"

"Yeah, and I know that's where I'm not", the stranger gave a chuckle before, "hey", he was struck by a sudden idea, "I got it; are you anywhere close by – if I hand it to you, you can drop it off in the morning right?"

Half of her was tempted to say no; after all, this was a complete stranger ringing up late in the evening and asking her address – how did she know what was going through his mind despite his noble sounding motives? However, the fact remained that, if she took him up on this offer it would be a cast iron reason to arrange a meeting with her former flatmate over a neutral subject; she could hand it over, get her gear and from there, maybe, if he wasn't still hung up on his antipathy to everyone else with a sense of vague sentience, they could just talk. _Maybe there's a way out of this mess – I've dealt with worse scenarios than this_; a couple of examples stood out in this regard – even now, Julie couldn't help reminiscing about the time she'd managed to successfully 'negotiate' the safe release of Jari from a false hostage situation during a particularly unpopular section of basic training without sniggering at the look on his face as he'd been kicked out from behind the wall that had counted as a secured bunker into the welcoming arms of the rest of the waiting squad. _And if I can negotiate for someone I despised_; the thought grew stronger in her mind, more forceful as her mind raced away to contemplate possible results of a sit down talk with Shadow; _I can sure as hell do it for someone I actually like!_

"Right", her voice echoed her now-fixated mind, "I'm in a temporary residence; you know the Rest Easy, a hostel sort of place – I'm in bed-sit sixteen there".

"Ah, yeah, that's better; I'm a few blocks away, there's a strike o' luck – I'll be round quick as I can".

"Good"; he hung up after that and Julie let the phone fall back onto the table, trying to consider what this could mean for her now; _why did I say yes, why did I actually want to think about Shadow again – because you want to get back with him again? – yeah but that's not the point, he should have come crawling to me, not the other way around – you're just handing the guy his phone back – it's the principle of the thing – didn't you say you liked principles but preferred life once upon a time? – oh don't get smart with me_; settling into a sort of uneasy truce between the warring fractions of her divided mind, Julie knelt onto the carpet to sweep up the scattered flakes before she crunched them into the carpet, never even knowing that, from the second she'd put her phone down a convoluted plan had been fired into action, the last phase now clicking into gear with the one who was actually going to have to deliver it crossing his fingers for luck that he could pull it off.

XXX

It was not ten minutes later when the knock came and Julie had to once more exert her willpower to stop herself running down the short hallway and jam her eye to the viewing slot in the door; instead she wandered down the thin passage the very epitome of classy, collected restraint and took a slight peek through the slot before twisting the lock to permit entry to the stranger stood on her doorstep. Though it doubtless conveyed the right approach to her would-be guest, such suaveness also forbade her to make a very important revelation until she'd already open the door; _hang on – I know that face!_ The image through the frosted glass suddenly ballooned in her vision, superimposing itself perfectly onto the Mobian standing before her, looking down at her with a waiting, almost wistful smile on his scaled lips,

"Hey Jules", her speechlessness permitted her answer so he made his own cue, "mind if I come in?" Still her tongue refused to move; she could only nod mute as he stepped across the threshold, looking around himself and giving a dry comment,

"Nice place you got here".

"Thanks", she replied faintly, still not taking in the surrealistic nature of the scene; Vector must have cottoned on as his long jaw suddenly cracked in two and he flipped something towards her,

"Here, this might clear things up"; out of reflex the echidna caught it in mid-flight, shaking her head as she looked down, trying to scramble her thoughts up enough to make out a reply; of course, upon seeing what was actually now in her hand, that hope disappeared as well,

"Wait, this", there was no denying it; even the plexi-glass covering had that scratch on it from the time he'd accidentally tripped over the towel she'd dropped on the bathroom mat, "_you _made that call!"

"Of course", the crocodile made to bow low, only to stumble in the attempt and nearly end up eating the carpet as he fell to one knee and Julie put two and two together after getting a whiff of his breath,

"Whew", she crinkled her nose, one hand pinching her nostrils together to ward away the evil stench, "you've been drinking?"

"I've 'ad a few" the taller Mobian said unabashed, bringing himself to his feet and lurching forwards a couple of steps, talking as he came, "but temptin' as itisch, I'm not here to carry on the good times; I'm here to get you". _Okay_; such a direct statement immediately got up the nose of Julie's stubborn, lone streak; _I see where this is going_;

"I get it; this is something Shadow dreamt up isn't it?"

"No, he never…"

"Well", something else had seized hold of her tongue, a spurned, wounded part of herself turning it into a lash with which to torment Shadow even further, "you can tell him, from me, that I'm happy where I am, in fact I've never been better", Vector made no move to hush her, merely standing a few feet away, looking impassive with his slightly glassy eyes, "and he's got a nerve even thinking something like this is going to get me back; I wouldn't step out with him if he was the last living Mobian on this planet". Something about the way he was tapping his fingers on his arms enraged her, made her reach for yet more firepower, only to falter as her reserves for once began to run dry,

"His flat's a bombsite, and his coffee's always made too weak and, and, he's got a dreadful taste in aftershave and…is it that obvious?"

She'd run out of steam; the crest of her angry wave broke on the cliff of the crocodile's unresponsiveness, letting her flail and storm away uselessly until her residual anger was spent. She tried to at least regain some of her dignity by scowling but couldn't hold it, reduced to a wry, wistful grimace as Vector guffawed a little before answering,

"I got a better idea", he paused for a second to let Julie recollect herself for a moment, get everything back under control, "why don't you tell'im in person? C'mon", he wheedled as he gaze suddenly went hard enough to shatter through concrete, "don't tell me you're happy here cos that's a loada guff, an' I know for a fact no matter how bad you are, Shadow's feelin' a whole lot worse than you ever could be"; _or at least, he will be come tomorrow_; Vector reasoned that it was near enough true as the echidna before him ran her fingers down her metallic forearms in a rhythmic pattern, sending a low, musical note through echoing throughout the miniscule apartment,

"So", she said at last, "he's sorry about what he did – you must have seen him to get his phone I assume?" Vector nodded vigorously in agreement, hoping she was finally starting to see things his way,

"Yeah, he knows he made a mess of it, an' how bad a mess it was; he told me he's immorrall, not gin' to die", he tacked on as Julie cocked her head at his slurred pronunciation, "an' he wasn't thinkin' straight. At least he wuz honest about it".

"Yeah, at least", she finally caved in, ending a phantom war that she'd always known the outcome of, "oh, all right, I'll see him; I won't promise I'll be polite but I'll see him".

"Attagirl", Vector crowed triumphantly, stumbling forwards to slap her shoulder in what he must have thought was a friendly buffet; _that'll be a bruise there then_; "c'mon, let's ditch this dive; get packed up, the ride's downstairs".

"Ride?" A sudden thought made her blood freeze; she knew how much of a dim view the EST took on that sort of crime, "tell me you didn't drive here like this?"

"Nah, course not, got Mighty waitin' downstairs; go", he suddenly demanded, wafting his hand at her in an attempt to motivate, "the quicker you pack up, the quicker we move".

XXX

_Well, maybe I made the first move_; the admission might have rankled slightly, but her sudden feeling of inferiority at the hedgehog was mitigated somewhat by the knowledge that at least she'd made him work for even this. Now, leading Vector out through her front door, arm ready to shoot over and grab the frame should the combination of alcohol and her small travel bag proved too much for him, the ex-Legionnaire closed her eyes for a moment, tilting her head downwards for a second as she tried to picture what might happen in the next few hours; what would she feel when she was face to face with him once more? A blizzard of possibilities sprang up before her, a kaleidoscope so myriad and vast it made her head spin to even think of contemplating; though it went against her nature to go into a scenario unplanned, this time it seemed she didn't have a choice. _This is it, this is the reality_; swallowing softly, Julie almost physically looked back over her shoulder as she realised how cast the gulf she had crossed was; _the Legion's exercises had possibilities, but they were all fake, you knew what was generally going to happen, the best and worst that was going on out there. But this is real life_; she didn't have that safety blanket now – out here in the real world, it was all down to using her head and her heart to stay afloat; _I could end up screaming the house down at him or he could sob his heart out in my arms, or anything in between – it's all down to me, and him_. That was another avenue, one she hadn't actually considered until now; how was his mistake, and her reactions to it, affecting Shadow – Vector had said he had to be feeling worse than she was, but how true was that? He could have been exaggerating on his friend's behalf, but she had no way of telling that. _The question is_; once more she gazed at the possibilities, and once more their complexities and interactions held her baffled, defeated in her quest for an answer; _do I really want to do this – is it really worth finding out or better just to stick where I am, out of harm's way. To use one of mum's analogies_; the change of subject made her smile, as did pleasanter memories of her still-lamented mother, one of the few bright spots the Legion had ever held for her; _do I bet or fold?_

She paused for a second, a fraction of a second, but no more; eyes hardened as competitiveness rose within her; Shadow had thrown down a gauntlet to come and see him, nothing would give her greater satisfaction that taking it up and slapping him hard around the face with it. Curiosity too, an innate desire to live this new life to the full experience and preferably savour every nuance of life, taste every subtle flavour it had to offer in various shades of triumphs, tribulations and tears. Determination added its voice to the roaring; she'd started travelling so she'd finish, she couldn't leave a job half-done, especially not as Vector had come all this way to see her; and finally, almost lost within the tumultuous keening of her stronger, core emotions, there was another, softer voice, playing on the fringes of her consciousness – for an instant it was heeded and it's message understood.

Somehow marshalling all the discordant thrashing beneath it, guiding them with a firm but subtle hand, this last song of serenity compelled Julie to move herself out the door, a combination of the others obscuring its work in events as the ex-Legionnaire emerged into the cool night air, raising a casual hand to Mighty as the armadillo, having recognised her, beckoned her quickly over. Its work done and presence almost completely undetected, the final, overpowering emotion left the raucous banquet of celebration being riotously undertaken by the more surface facets of Julie's decision and waited, drifting casually in the recesses of the echidna's unconscious mind for the opportunity to grow stronger once more and lose the feeling that had plagued it unbearably since it had left the place of its birth.

The feeling of incompleteness; of being only one half of a whole that did not want to, maybe even could not, survive on its own.

XXX

As Vector slunk into the passenger seat it was Mighty who was now edging around the back of the Chaotix's van with Julie in tow, trying to figure out what to do next; from what she'd managed to wheedle out of her reptilian friend's addled mind on the drive, she knew that the name of the game was to try and get Julie with Shadow, at least for the night. _If nothing else he's going to need someone to look after him tomorrow morning_; the sight of him had convinced the armadillo of that, to say nothing of the smell as she'd had to virtually carry him to where he was now; _and if I'm remembering this rightly_; running over her speech in her mind, Mighty came to the back doors of the hover van and paused as though in thought,

"Oh, you might want to brace yourself for a sec Jules". As she'd expected, the echidna couldn't quite see where she was going,

"What?"

"Ah, never mind; just hold your breath"; with that, and mindful to heed her own advice, Mighty pulled both doors open, allowing a rush of air from the interior to vent outwards like a demon's breath.

"Wow", a splutter from beside her made a slight smile touch Mighty's lips, obviously Julie hadn't paid her advice any heed and was now suffering because of it, "what died in there?"

"Don't worry, he's not dead", the armadillo commented dryly as she slid the echidna's bag under the nearest seat, "he might be wishing he was a couple of hours from now, but he's not dead now".

"Wha'? Okay, now I'm officially confused"; due to the darkness in the van's interior, it wasn't until one of Mighty's massive fists actually pointed the way fro her that Julie's eyes finally managed to strain their way through the gloom and see the other occupant currently residing in the back of the hover van.

Silence fell for a few seconds; Mighty darted a glance sideways to see, as she'd half-expected, the echidna to the left of her staring at the sight before her, stunned speechless as she beheld the figure slumped into its seat restraints. _Well_; a thin veneer of humour spread over her emotions, threatening to touch her lips for an instant before she quashed it; _whatever she was expecting, I pretty sure that wasn't it_.

"How", stuttering as she raised a trembling finger to point, Julie tried to reconcile what she now saw with everything she'd ever known, "how'd that happen?"

"How does it normally happen?" Mighty replied, not quite managing to keep the ;laugh out of her voice as she jerked a thumb back to where Vector was now doubtless buckled in the front, "he's not the first to use the demon drink to blot out reality". A sudden snort made her look over; Julie had her hands on her hips, shaking her head at the scene before her with a derisory scorn in her manner,

"Great", a world-weary sigh permeated the air as she rubbed her eyebrows with a hand, "I'm going to spend tomorrow morning wet-nursing a booze-baby through his first, no, sorry, his second major hangover; fan-bleeding-tastic!"

Julie took one last glance the aftermath of revelry before her before turning to face her armadillo friend once more, fully expecting Mighty to return her fatalistic chuckle; her laugh, however, expired on her lips as she saw the, if not outright unkind, certainly intense stare locking her right in her sights,

"He was there when you needed him", she paused for a fraction of a second, just long enough for that to sink in, "twice if I remember rightly. You can't deny you owe him that Jules – are you just going to walk away?"

A/N: And the answer is…coming next chapter!


	23. Chapter 23 How Could You?

Chapter 23 – How Could You…?

A/N: Okay, this chapter should have been up three weeks ago, but my laptop decided it didn't want to know; it did a Dell on me and incinerated itself, along with the first half of this chapter. So I had to wait a week for a new system, two weeks to get caught up and then had a busy time up until now. Deep breath, deeeep breaths – remember the reviewers:

Though nothing like often enough to be considered even a moderate drinker, Julie had enough experience, both described and first hand, to know the effect of excess alcohol. Luckily, however, she'd never been foolhardy or just plain stupid enough to let her hair down in that manner too often; the common joke in the Legion was that you didn't go out on a complete bender unless you had the permission of the grandmaster, a debt owed to you by the medics or a sympathetic drill sergeant; _and of course_; even now, confronted by the spectacle opposite her, she could find a crumb of solace in that snippet of her previous way of living; _the first two are rare as Xenin's good moods and the third one doesn't exist_. She spared enough time for a slight chortle before sobering up once more, regaining her previous observing mode and watching unceasingly the hedgehog before her, almost shackled to his seat to prevent him slipping as the van bounced and swerved its slow, stately way through the streets around Echidnopolis. There were no two ways about it; Shadow was out completely cold, one-hundred and ten percent sozzled out of his tiny mind; _and because of that_; seeing him like this, trying to match it up to what she'd seen in all the time she'd known him, the almost nervous wreck he'd turned into over the past fortnight or so, Julie sighed as she realised that, this time, temporarily at least, the alcohol was doing its work well; _he's actually at rest for once._

She'd not noticed it before and, now that the evidence was staring her in the face like it was, she mentally berated herself for not seeing what was under her nose the whole time. Though Shadow as he was now was a drunken, almost pathetic sight, as the echidna looked at his face, the way the lines of worry that had so drawn the skin of his forehead and mouth previously seemed to have been erased marked him out as someone so much younger, so much more vulnerable and alone than the self-assured, almost cocky hedgehog she'd gotten used to. _He almost looks young – if he dressed the part he could probably pull off a teenager look_; as she shifted in her seat, trying to view him from a different angle, another question; _how old is he anyway? I know Sonic doesn't know and, even if he did have his memories back, he spent so much time iced up that it'd be hard to even take a guess at the right figure_.

The van suddenly slewed; unsupported, Shadow's head slumped accordingly, neck twisting awkwardly, almost obscenely under the centrifugal force; train of thought completely abandoned under a sudden panic, Julie found herself unbuckled and stood up before she could remember ordering herself to move, wondering why she was breathing so hard even as she swallowed her heart back down into her chest as she watched him sink back to his previous position as the van returned to its formerly straight course. This time, as the thought behind her sudden action slowly dawned on her and she was forced to concede a great sigh of equal annoyance and relief, she didn't even bother to argue it out with herself; the reason was blindingly obvious even to someone as naturally obstinate as herself; seeing he wasn't in any immediate danger, Julie took the time to cross the cramped interior carefully, navigating the swaying floor beneath her feet to make it to the back of the passenger compartment and give it a swift rap,

"Hey, slow it up will you", she called through half-jokingly, "some of us are getting a bit of a bumpy ride back here". She thought she heard a muffled affirmation of some sort shouted back and, satisfied with this response, turned around and started to head back to her seat; _hold it_.

This time the thought that gave her pause was actually one that made a lot of sense; after a second, however reluctantly, Julie found herself complying with it; a few seconds later and holding her nose against the stench, she was sat down in the seat next to the inebriated hedgehog, ready to lend a hand should any other sudden changes of direction become apparent. _Save me jumping up like a frog on a hot plate every time something happens_; she shot a filthy look from the corner of her eyes, hoping against hope that it could penetrate Shadow's alcoholic stupor and give him bad dreams for the inconvenience he was causing her; _you idiot, of all the times to go and do something this stupid it had to be now didn't it and, you being you, you just had to go the whole damn hedge-hog! I swear_; a sudden thought made her grin, an evil, almost satanic expression creasing her lips as a suddenly seductive thought beckoned and enticed her susceptible psyche; _if you don't give me the answers I'm after tomorrow I am going to make your world a living agony!_

XXX

"Oh", remembering the guest currently plodding up behind her, Julie was forced to cut short of feeling of homecoming in the face of necessity, wondering why Vector had been so insistent in bringing Shadow up when Mighty was on hand to do the job, and stone sober to boot, "just sling him on the sofa or something, I'll deal with him in the morning". To her consternation, however, after giving a slight sound much like a hiccup crossed with a snort of laughter, Vector took a step forwards; already unsteady due to his gangly frame and excessive consumption of alcohol, Julie was left to wonder how he could walk forwards at all with Shadow's weight in his arms compromising the situation still further,

"Nah, you don' want that", he said, shaking his head in what he must have assumed was a sage manner, "Tails sed what 'appened las'time – no'nice. No'nice at all; I know where he outta go, leave it tomme". Not really in the mood to argue, Julie merely squeezed into the wall of the hallway to let the crocodile go trundling past, holding her breath in defiance of a pained squeak as Shadow's booted feet gouged into her stomach, dragging across the tissue there as he was carried along by his reptile buddy. _Ow, something else I owe you for pal_; her venomous glare was merely momentary as she rubbed her sore spot; then it was quashed completely as she recognised once more where she was, and the feeling was glorious.

Falling gently to her knees, temporarily overwhelmed by the emotion, experienced almost for the first time and so much more potent than she could ever have imagined, Julie felt herself come to the place she finally knew and recognised as home, and allowed herself slowly to relax into a steady, blissful peace because of it.

XXX

_Shadow old pal_; squinting down at the tangle of limbs on the floor in front of him and trying to judge how much of it was Shadow the hedgehog and how much of it was actually shadow, Vector decided he'd done as good as job as he was going to do under the circumstances and left the results of his handiwork behind him as his dimmed brain managed to ping the light bulb on one last time; _don't tell me I never do anything for me, or you, or anyone else for that matter – something like that, anyway_. Shaking his head to clear it of the fuzzy logic tickling it annoyingly, the crocodile decided he'd better get this last bit over with before he forgot about it, opening the bathroom door and gazed around blearily for some sign of Julie. After a second of deciphering the picture before him, he realised with some surprise that she was actually where he'd left her, though this time she appeared to be kneeling down in the hallway; _she never struck me as a religious type – oh well, takes all sorts to make the world_._ Now what was I going to…oh yeah, that was it_;

"Jules", she looked up at him as he lumbered forwards, only just catching his balance as he tried to step forwards and pivot into the hallway in the same stride, almost a fatal manoeuvre for one in his condition, "lishen, got something for ya".

"Vec, not meaning to be offensive or anything", she replied as she stood up, seemingly laughing at a joke he had no hope of fathoming, "but if it's anything like the present now fermenting in my bathroom, with the greatest of good will you can keep it". The mental gears ticked around slowly, until, eventually,

"What, like Shad's y'mean; nono, noth'n like him".

"Good, one of him's bad enough as it is".

"Shush", irked by the constant interruptions spoiling his big moment, the reptile drew himself up and wagged a finger disapprovingly, "no jokin' thish serious"; when he was sure he had her attention, he slowly drew his arm up and, after a couple of fumbled attempts, yanked his player from its normal position of over his head and pro-offered it.

"Umm, thanks", the echidna before him offered weakly as she held up a gently forbidding hand, "but music's not my thing, especially late at night". He was relentless though, had no choice but to be in this instance; a combination of strength and persistence finally forcing the appliance into her hand; as she regarded it with something like suspicion, he explained as best he could,

"No music on it, soemthin' lot more, er, to your taste", seeing he wasn't getting too far with it, gave up the scalpel in preference to the sledgehammer, "just lissen to it, trust me. Anwyay, places to see, people to go; be off now".

"Right", said a voice by his elbow; it took a few seconds for him to realise someone actually had a hand on his arm and was guiding him towards the door, then through it; it took another couple of minutes to realise it was actually Julie herself; _didn't I leave her inside – hmm, she musta followed me_; the thought filled him with confidence and he gave a roguish smile; _good ol' animal magnetism, still got it. I outta ask someone out one of these days, they'd just swoon in me arms_. It was such a pleasant thought, and such a nice daydream, that Vector didn't even notice that, somehow, Julie had mysteriously morphed into someone else half-carrying him into something and letting him lie down, and it was only when he was on the very verge of sleep that he actually realised he recognised the figure she'd turned into. _Mighty too huh_; he gave a last, dreamy smile;_ man, gottem queuing round the door – way to go stud, the croc rulezzzz…_

XXX

Having changed the guard with Mighty and watched her armadillo friend shepherd the half-comatose crocodile into the back of the van, having forced herself to stand still and return the last cheery wave as she pulled off, Julie found herself slightly surprised by her reaction to the sight of the hover-van's tail lights disappearing around the corner of the street. Rather than racing back into the apartment block in a paroxysm of delirious joy, her celebrations were mysteriously curtailed; stiffly, like a robot deprived for too long of lubricating oil, the ex-Legionnaire turned slowly around on the spot and walked, almost a slow march, back through the front door of the complex, pulling it shut behind her. As she felt the chill rush of air over her back, she turned around again and leant forwards, tiredness as well as relief combining to make her head droop down, touching the back of the wooden door onto the skin of her clammy forehead. She lingered there a moment, just long enough to let the blissfully cooling sensation suffuse its way through her fur and fan out over her face, almost seeming to alleviate the friction burns caused by the furious spinning of her mind over the past couple of hours, before withdrawing, reminded by a small voice in her ear that this wasn't the place. _And it's right_; listening and seeing the sense in the argument, the echidna pulled herself upright once more, feeling herself lighten up as without effort her eyes were drawn to the stairs behind her, the path upwards to where she really belonged; _I'm doing my celebrating where I should be doing it_; from motionless to a flat out sprint, her boot soles barely brushed the carpet as she flew upstairs, her mind completely one-track and driving forwards, spurring her on to achieve her new goal, get to her new destination; _in my damn house!_

She fumbled her key and cursed; suddenly every second was priceless; losing them to something like her own clumsiness when she should have been spending them leisurely in the only place she'd ever really called home was a travesty and she snarled at her fingers for letting her down in her most crucial moment. Suddenly the key snapped into the lock; she gave an almost brutal twist and yanked the handle, bursting inside to the wonderful feeling she'd been forced to neglect for a few moments in order to eject the inebriated Vector; every tiny detail she'd missed in those long, lonely hours of separation stood out in Technicolor, making her unable to see how she could have missed them in the first place. _Was I really gone for a day and a night?_; now that she knew how painful it could be Julie shuddered at the thought of enforced separation again; _feels like forever and a day – I'm not leaving again, no matter what…he does in the morning_. The thought of her flatmate threatened to drag her down, but it was only for a brief instant; with a smile as she ducked into the kitchen Julie realised the fruit bowl was still well stocked; as she took a bite from an apple and the sweet juices ran down her taste buds, seeming to stimulate every single one of them in a way no taste before ever had, Shadow and the questions he still posed were forgotten as Julie was lost in the moment.

And he remained forgotten as the echidna waltzed through every room in the house, soaking in the atmosphere she'd so dreadfully missed as though it were water at the end of a long slog through a parched, unforgiving desert. In kind, it enfolded her, surrounding her on all sides like a mother's embrace around a lost child; Julie relaxed as the feeling was all around her, letting her unwind after being so tense for so long, stuck in her awful limbo of wanting to come home but afraid of what would happen if she followed that basic desire and returned, the fear of the unknown keeping her grounded in her former home until a single call had shattered such a mental prison. _Ah well, it doesn't matter now_; throwing open the bedroom door, Julie landed on the bed without touching the carpet, writhing in the covers and letting the grin on her face bloom to its full, unfettered lengths; _all that matters is I'm back, and nothing's throwing me out that door again short of a world-class shot putter. This is where I want to be and where I'm staying_; her fighting spirit rose up at such words and she glared around the empty room, searching for invisible foes to come forth and challenge her; _anyone who's got a problem with that, get over here and say it to my face – no, didn't think…hey, what's that?_

XXX

The strange tangle of wires and metal on the bedside cabinet near the door made her pause and, out of curiosity, she picked herself up and headed towards it, trying to figure out what it might be; she certainly couldn't remember seeing it before. It wasn't until she actually had it in a hand and began unravelling the wires from the thin headband that the pieces clicked together and she was able to snap her fingers; of course, it was Vector's player. She'd been in such a rush to help him out the door, as much to make sure she wasn't going to have two recovering drunks in the morning as to be alone with her privacy once more, she'd just plonked the equipment he'd given her onto the nearest convenient ledge. She toyed with it idly, replaying the cryptic message its owner had prophesied before shrugging; it might have been the booze talking but somehow she didn't think so; okay Vector had been a couple over the eight, but there was no way he was completely letting the demons in the drink rule his tongue – he'd meant something when he'd spoken to her; _problem is, I don't have a clue what – ah well, what's the worst that can happen, I go deaf for a few minutes?_ With a second casual shrug, Julie headed back to the bed, unravelling the cord to free the actual headphones as she did so, wondering how she was supposed to wear the appliance; it clearly hadn't been designed to accommodate echidnean dreadlocks and that was for sure. After a few seconds of twisting both phones and head, she managed something of a compromise, sliding the metal band up under her chin and setting the beads at both ends into the correct position in her ears; as long as she didn't open her mouth, it should work just fine. _Wonder what – oh forget it_; with a sudden snap, her index finger stabbed down on the play button, throwing her patience to the four winds; _let's not wonder, let's find out_.

Her initial rewards was a painful burst of static slamming into her vulnerable eardrums; gritting her teeth, it was only then that she remembered to hit rewind, mentally chastising herself as she listened to the faint whirring as the cassette span back; of course Vector wouldn't have had the presence of mind to rewind it for her, he'd had other things on, or at least clouding his mind. When the tape hit the start of the cassette, she crossed her fingers and pressed play again, hoping against hope that this time she'd get something a little more meaningful than earache.

It was her emotional state – that was the only reason for her reaction; for a second following listening to the tape in its entirety, sitting motionless throughout the entire recording, Julie's finger trembled as she groped blindly for the rewind button, barely being still enough to keep it depressed for long to set the cassette going backwards. The ex-Legionnaire didn't really think at this time, merely doing all in her power to try and make sure she could hear the scene once more. It was during the second listening, just as the voice she'd heard the first time began to speak again, that it began – a strange, almost burning sensation took root just under her eyes, making them sting slightly. She blinked, the burning continued, she sniffled, hoping to dislodge the unpleasant warmness that way, it spread outwards like a fire – before she was really aware of what was going on, she had her face in her hands, sobbing brokenly into her fingers as the voice played over and over again, the same mournful notes echoing through to her and she couldn't block them out.

Something within her was breaking open at last and finally being set free; never before had she cried like she was now – in every other time of grief, from Luger's dismissal to the malaise of homesickness as she had struggled free from the Legion's embrace, the tears had been beckoned, controlled; this was the opposite, grief wild and unfettered as she collapsed sideways onto the bed, hugging the pillow into her face to soak up the tears already saturating her cheek fur. She wasn't feeling sad, in fact she wasn't sure what she was feeling period, but something deep within her was telling her that such a release from her normal iron mind was good, her emotions were free and letting her experience something she usually disdained as beneath her. As shudders wracked her body, Julie had no choice but to go with the flow of her tears as she knew any dam she tried to constrain them behind would simply be a wasted effort – there were some emotional forces in life that no-one, not even a cynical and strong-willed Mobian like Julie-Su, could hope to stand in front of and come out on top.

How long it lasted she had no idea; only when her aching tear ducts finally ran out of water to cry did she finally raise her head and take a breath, feeling the way the atmosphere rattled down into her lungs in a way she never really had before, sensing the coldness on her face as she ran a hand across it. _Man, what just happened there?_; she had no idea, only a vague feeling that it was the right thing that should have happened, but there was something buzzing in her ears right now and she really wanted that to stop; tucking a hand under her chin, she eased the player free, hitting the stop button with her other hand and letting the device fall to the floor; she could pick it up later, but right now there was only one thing on her mind and she knew that now, when all was at peace, was going to be the best time she'd have to accomplish it. Slowly counting down, Julie suddenly heaved herself upright, sliding her legs off the bed and swaying as she stood up; shaking her head and breathing in sharply through her nose as she aimed to stop it becoming bunged up by her draining tears. _Okay then_; taking a second to make sure she was in control again, Julie headed for the door; _let's do this now while I've got the chance_.

XXX

_Damn_; having followed her nose and pushed the door open, Julie bit her lip not to laugh at the scene before her; _he makes a lousy drunkard_. Shadow lay sprawled on the bathroom floor, limbs akimbo and twisted in a somewhat bizarre pattern – if she were any judge, she'd have guessed someone had been trying to put him in the recovery position but had given up halfway through doing so, leaving the result to fall and arrange itself in whatever manner gravity dictated for it. Just for a second the ex-Legionnaire thought about reaching for a nearby camera, but such a thought really was fleeting as she recognised the potential danger in Shadow's position; she knew through painful personal experience that, no matter how much they might bemoan their aching heads and tired, battered bodies, recovering revellers were often the lucky ones – for some who fell asleep on their backs with too much alcohol in their bellies, it was the last thing they ever did. No amount of anger was ever going to make Julie stand aside to let a death happen when she could prevent it, least of all to someone she…might just give a damn about; with a shake of her head, she knelt down and began to rearrange Shadow into the proper position, wrinkling her nose at the awful barroom stink pupating around his body; _whewee, how many gutters did you crawl through before the night was over?_

Finally she rolled him onto his side, shuffling backwards on her knees as she felt his bodyweight press onto her thighs, letting him come to a natural rest in full view of the small bathroom window. As the moonlight streaming in from the skylight suffused Shadow's dark fur with a soft, ghostly glow, it caught his face for a moment; despite herself, Julie couldn't help but give a wistful, almost regretting smile as she beheld his seemingly peaceful sleep, reaching down a hand, she gently let her fingers feather along the fuzz of one cheek. _Why'd you do it Shads?_; it was a question she was desperate to ask but, well the evidence it wouldn't be answered, not tonight at any rate, was quite plainly right in front of her; _all that time telling me not to be so bloody paranoid, then you don't even listen to your own advice – I just don't get it. Oh well_; a devious smile broke over her face; she playfully flicked the slumbering hedgehog's ear before standing up, looking for some rest of her own before morning dawned; _not long to wait, then you better let me in on what you were thinking or I'll introduce you to one of Xenin's hangover cures, and take it from me_; biting back a shudder as she relived her memories of waking up right in the line of fire; _an icy shower at that time in the morning, completely nude and in the middle of the parade ground, is not something you want to have to live through too often!_

XXX

It was a strange sort of life he was in now; all he could see before him was a faint blob of white and beneath his feet was a strange rolling sensation, not unlike being stood atop the deck of a ship in a gentle sea. He didn't try to alter this state, mostly because it wasn't a directly unpleasant state to be in and secondly because he didn't have the energy to do so; he could feel the breath wheezing in and out of his body and that was about all that was convincing him he was actually alive. _Although_; a singular strand of logic pierced the haze that seemed to have encapsulated his thought processes; _I might be dead, this could be heaven – yeah, it might well be. Funny, I thought there were supposed to be angels up here_; something was swimming slowly into focus, a smooth, marble tower that seemed to be stretching into infinity, too high up for his lazily rolling eye to follow; _and why does that look like porcelain? Do they have bathrooms in Hea…_; it was at that precise moment, just as he managed to recognise contact with some part of his body below the neck, that something deep beneath him reared up and struck home to assure him that his plight was all too mortal. His first thought, as his body flipped up and completed its involuntary jack-knife, was hurried, disjointed and completely irrational; 'Dynamite' Dasl-Ve, the hardest hitting left foot in the entire sky-ball league, must have mistaken him for a sky-ball, taken a run up and his stomach was now surely sailing out of the stadium. Unfortunately, it seemed to have seen its immediate departure coming and must have decided to eject its unnecessary baggage, leaving the rest of him to deal with that problem while it enjoyed its free trip around the world.

Only the fact that the spasm had bent him double stopped the inevitable happening; his gut contracted completely and the hedgehog heaved and bucked, helpless to try and stop what was happening. Then, as suddenly as it had arrived it stopped, leaving him weak and nauseous, and, as he felt some uncomfortable rumblings down below, under no illusion that, unpleasant as it might have been, that had been just the precursor to what was about to happen. Desperate, his pounding brain sought to break through the fog that now chained down its neural links, destroying his ability to think clearly – the white mountain suddenly flashed in front of his swimming vision and he lunged for it, adrenaline fuelling his last desire to get to relative safety before the eruptions began. His flailing hand found purchase and he began to lever himself up…only the very last line of defence, his hand stopped it this time; a bitter, bilious taste flooded his mouth and made him gag, powering up the regrouping attacks below him as his nausea ballooned and fed downwards. It was literally all or nothing – in a last ditch hurrah, Shadow mustered everything he had left and threw himself up and forwards, coming to his knees and slouching against something smooth, cold and hard just before the third spasm wracked him.

This time, there was no resistance.

Just as there was none for the next ten, twenty, hundred retches as the hedgehog's abused liver and body vented the poison he'd force-fed it the previous night in the most direct and probably most unpleasant way it knew how.

XXX

_Ouch_; once more, just as the stillness began to descend and she made to stand up there was another cacophony from the bathroom and Julie retook her seat, flicking a glance to the time on the wall and shuddering; _nearly twenty-five minutes, Vec sure wasn't lying._ If a very small and vindictive part of her was gloating that Shadow was getting, or rather, spewing up his just desserts she didn't listen to it – this alone was enough to convince her that any ideas she had for adding to the hedgehog's hangover torment were going to have to be shelved; Shadow was going through enough already. _I just hope he's not going to be too much longer_; keeping half an ear on the background noise, the echidna did a quick sum in her head and worked out she could only stay another fifteen minutes, and that was if she ran into work; _I've got to get a move on in a minute. Hello_; taking a second to snap back into the real world, Julie craned her neck back to listen more clearly, no, there was still silence; _give it another minute, then – no, get ready now, then if it's still all quiet go for it_. With that in mind, the echidna began her preparations, all the time expecting to hear her suffering flat mate go of on another bout of violent vomiting but also, all that time, keeping her fingers crossed that the worst really was over for him.

XXX

His hand rose, shaking, descending for a moment like a reluctant soul ascending to the bright plains above, then collapsed like a falling star, all energy expended, its weight alone pushing down the handle to wash away the quivering, vile sea beneath him as he rolled sideways, legs gone completely to water. Shadow was dimly aware of an impact in his back and behind but was too far gone to care about it; he had nothing, absolutely nothing, left within him. All he could do was sit there, unable to even wipe away the flecks of material that had dotted the fur of his face, splashed back by the force of his violent ejaculations; he couldn't muster the mental energy to command his arms to wipe them away and, even if he could somehow achieve that, he had no hope of scraping together anything like the effort needed from his battered, wearied arm muscles to carry out the command anyway. So it was there he sat, head still paining him and eyes closed, slumped in his own misery as he tried lamely to put the pieced back together; why was he feeling so rough? All he had was a vague impression of doing something stupid, but he couldn't remember what it was he'd done or why he'd gone out and got drunk, especially after what had happened last time and his solemn vow to never be that stupid again. He was attempting to think, but a sudden low, dull clumping noise sent vibrations into his ears and directly into his mind, rattling around in his tender grey matter; he sensed rather than felt darkness fall over him but couldn't be inclined enough to care; it was only when it began booming at him that he had to grit his teeth, trying to maintain his state of darkness and contemplations. _Right, so why would I…oww!_; a sudden explosion in his shin stopped that idea and, more crucially, provided the necessary stimulus to get him at least partially up and running. Ignoring the ache in his neck as much as he was able to, Shadow rolled his head back and braced himself for the pain that was coming.

Just as well he'd braced; the world was unbearably bright and searing, torching his sensitive eyes as he had to exert his willpower to stop himself snapping them shut, feeling them start to water as he tried to clear the picture before him. He had to blink a couple of times, but a few little objects began to make sense in his vision; the big, swimming thing wasn't as he'd originally thought, the bottom of a huge tank of water, but actually a small container being held a few inches in front of his face. Instinctively he flinched, afraid that the liquid within was about to be sent all over him in a wave of numbing cold – he waited one frantic heartbeat, another, then a third as some more booming filled his ears, though this time there was a rhythm and pattern to the sound; it dawned on him that somehow he'd been spared that icy wrath. Daring to look again, the hedgehog blinked upwards blearily to see the glass, water within still flashing dangerously, exactly where it had been before, only this time, as he looked harder and closer, he saw that it wasn't just a glass of water at all.

It was being held there by a hand.

A hand which was itself connected to an arm that sparkled and shone as the light reflected across it.

_Sparkled?_

"J", for a second the name wouldn't come to him, slipping through his fumbling fingers like a bar of soap; he clutched at it and managed to pin it down by mental resolve, "Julie?"

"Yes, J'Julie", shaking her head at the pitiful wretch in front of her, not even her hardened heart could completely block out the tugs it was feeling, "by the spirits Shadow, you're a mess".

XXX

_A truer word was never spoken_; despite having been forewarned by the noises she'd been hearing, the sight of him huddled here really hammered home the message; _man, he really can not handle alcohol_. For a second she did nothing, merely standing there and trying to let him come to terms with the fact that she was in fact real, rather than just a hangover dream; a quick mental prang about the time, however, cut such time short,

"Right, listen", she pro-offered the glass in her left hand, allowing him to take it from her and relaxing her grip only gently until she was sure he wasn't going to spill the water on himself, "swill your mouth out with this one, then drink this", she left the other glass just out of his reach, making sure he couldn't mix them up and drink the wrong one, "trust me it'll help. But right now I've got to get to work; we'll talk when I get back". Having said her piece, the ex-Legionnaire turned on her heel and headed for the door; it was only when she had her hand on it and was pulling it open gently that the voice, weak and feeble but present nonetheless, croaked from behind her,

"Wait", she paused fro a fraction before hew goals reasserted themselves, "I…"

"Not now", she cut him off brusquely before softening her tone a little, "I'm still pissed with you Shadow, but I owe you a fair hearing at least, after I get back. Don't worry, I phoned the C.A, told them you were ill. Just get yourself something like presentable for when I get done with the EST", she flashed a glance colder than winter over her shoulder, chilling enough to bite to the bone but not completely lacking empathy with his plight, "I'll have to look at you, that doesn't mean I want to have to smell you as well. Now goodbye, I'll see you later, in the afternoon sometime". She didn't linger any longer, she didn't dare lest he speak again and she was coerced into staying with him, nursing him through this trial that he'd brought down squarely on his own head and now had to go through alone; instead, Julie stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind her, just sneaking a last look before she was gone and shuddering at the sight before her. _It doesn't really matter what he's done_; even as she zipped up her coat and drew out her key for the front door, she felt her previous grumblings and thoughts of further torture for the inebriated hedgehog melt away in the face of such pitiful helplessness; _no-one deserves to feel as low and downed-out as that, not for long, at any rate – well, I guess Mighty was right – he dragged me up out the pit once_; she gave a sigh as the front door closed, shaking her head at the seemingly circular way the world was working;_ my turn to do the same for him now_.

XXX

He saw it happen, and knew he was utterly helpless to prevent the door closing again, the heavy beam of wood completely cutting off his vision to the shadowed face behind it; Julie had been there, for the briefest of instants she'd actually been stood proudly in front of him, but now she was gone again, cruelly disentangled from the mess he'd made of his life and dumping him back in his own juices again, left there to stew once more. Except, he had to take a second to force himself to realise what was actually running through the emotional phase of his mind – yes, he was right; for some reason, he wasn't plummeting down into the senseless, numbed hell that had ensnared him previously. _But why?_; having finally come to terms with this knowledge, Shadow was still at a loss to explain why the floor hadn't fallen out from under his feet; _Julie's gone again, I saw her leave and say goodbye – why aren't I cut up this time? Wait_; a rogue idea, sparked by two gargantuan thoughts in his mind colliding like a pair of continents to send shudders through his pain sensors, made his try and peel back the heavy, befuddling layers of his recent memory; _what else did she say? It must have been important…come on_; on some instinctive level he must have known this was a crucial issue and he forced his stubborn, tired mind out of the hibernation it wanted to fall in to, forcing it to apply itself and show him if he'd missed anything; _she was there, she said goodbye – no, it really doesn't hurt for some reason, so it's gotta be something important – what was it? Wait, read her lips and try and ignore the explosions she's making – S, that's an S,E, see_; with the first part under his belt he disdained his overtaxed mind's pleas for a break and pressed on ruthlessly; _see, this is tricky, looks like a U, U something…no, just U – See you, see me what, La, La-T-Er, Lat-er, later? SEE YOU LATER – did she just say see you later!_

His physical body didn't move, but inside that mortal shell his mind slumped backwards, happy but elated at the sight before it, the words hanging in huge, gold letters for him to read over and over again, as many times as he wanted before finally putting the truth together. And the truth was a very simple, very powerful one; _Julie-Su is going to see me later, I think she said something about talking as well, but that doesn't matter_; his heart rate sped up despite the moaning of his brain, the extra blood almost making his head spin; _what matters is she's going to see me, so that must mean I'll get to see…brrr!_

For the first time in what felt like eons, he managed to fuse some kind of connection between his mental state and his physical one; darting his eyes downwards and trying to ignore the sense of vertigo generated in the pit of his still-suffering stomach, Shadow trying to figure out what was causing his hand to feel so cold all of a sudden. _Funny_; he cocked his head at the sight before him; _I don't remember that being there earlier_; seeing the very thin trickle of water spilling over the lip of the small glass in his hand and the spreading water stain that was saturating his glove. After a second of observing this phenomenon, the hedgehog finally made up his mind that it was annoying and really should stop; a couple of seconds after that, the tendons in his wrist tensed up enough to let him roll his hand back and tilt the water back to where it should be, kept within its glass. Shadow remained where he was, staring at the water in front of him, seeing how clear and, as glimpses of sunlight flashed on the surface every so often, how fierce it looked, all the time aware that the rest of his body, spurred on by the movement in his arm, was gradually crawling out from the hibernation it had been in previously and bringing along plenty of aches and pains for the ride.

He endured because he had no choice; he'd been so foolish as to get himself completely and utterly palmed out of his tree so he was suffering because of it; in fact, it was only when consciousness reached his mouth that he was forced to take a hand in the proceedings; even with numbed senses, the burning, sludge-like feeling slicked across his tongue was pretty much unbearable. Just about avoiding crying out at the pain of such an action, the former ultimate life-form lifted the glass in his hand, inch by quavering, torturous inch, to his lips and swigged a mouthful in; fortunately, the water lifted the toxic tar off the inside of his mouth and reinvigorated his senses in that area. _Oh yeah, that feels so much better_; it was only as he tried to breathe again that he realised he had another problem; _but what do I do now?_ Swallowing was out of the question, but at the same time he couldn't just leave all this rubbish in his mouth; necessity being the mother of invention, Shadow managed to dredge through his recent memories and half-recall something like a set of instructions Julie had told him. Swivelling his thick, aching head around on his pitifully thin, cracking neck joints, he located the toilet next to him and spat once more, repeating the motions he'd been going through for near enough the last half hour.

The sensation energised him as suddenly his tongue was free; something else had been taken out aside from the residues of his previous regurgitations and his mouth was reborn because of such a feeling of freedom. Screwing up his eyes, Shadow opened them again with a definite goal planted firmly in his mind; he knew Julie was going to come back at some time and he also knew he was in no fit state to see anyone at this time. Taking another slug of his water and ejecting it in the same manner, just to finally be rid of the last few spots of residue, the hedgehog placed one hand on the rim of the toilet lid and the other on the wall next to him, gathering up all his energy and momentum for his biggest effort to date, the phantom figure of the partially-mechanised echidna before his eyes acting as a spur to make him try and get it right. Nerves screamed and muscles groaned in a symphonic chorus of agony; the pain built to almost intolerable levels but he forced such feelings down as he dug his nail into the wall, fighting for just a few more inches, a couple more…yes, that was it; the pain in his knees was nothing as he rocked forwards onto them, hands arresting his body's descent before his face was forced to. A half-press up that nearly killed off his shoulders entirely finished the manoeuvre completely, allowing him to look to left and see his eventual destination loom up before him; _hang on_; something else caught his eye that he recognised; _Julie said drink that first, drink, not spit out_; he took his time picking this container up as he didn't want to run the risk of spilling it, not after Julie had gone to the trouble of getting it for him and dutifully chugged it down, ignoring the slightly bitter aftertaste it left in its wake. With that done and the glass carefully replaced on the floor, the hedgehog moved on, going forwards carefully on his knees to his next destination and hoping he had enough built up in the reserves to even attempt to see though his eventual ideas.

XXX

The hardest part wasn't, as he'd originally expected, actually standing up; by supporting his weight on the lip of the bath he was able to gradually come to his feet, though his knees still felt like someone had stuffed them with cotton wool rather than muscles. Eventually, however, the feeling came back to him and he was able to stand completely upright, screwing his eyes shut as the blood drained out of his head, making the world spin nauseatingly until his heart finally caught up with what was going on and started beating to redress the balance of where his blood should be. _Okay, that wasn't so bad_; the chime of good news was a sonorous counterpart to the thump of agony still beating through his brain, but there was more good news to come as, with a little persuasion, he was able to ease his gloves off his hands without much fuss. His shoes were also removed thanks to a timely brainwave; not trusting himself enough to bend over just yet, Shadow managed to solve that conundrum by turning around and sitting on the bath itself, pulling off his boots one at a time before standing up again, this time with a little more of a spring in his step as some strength seemed to be slowly creeping back down to his legs, fortifying them enough to bear his bodyweight. The trouble really arouse when he had to hurdle the front side of the bath itself; this sort of complex manoeuvre was a real strain on his enfeebled brain and drained stamina, as he discovered when by lifting up one leg he nearly went over backwards; only throwing his weight forwards and barking his shin on the bath did he manage to avoid toppling. In the end, he managed to half-step, half-clamber into the receptacle and stand to his full height, craning his neck backwards to look up at what he was going to have to put himself through next. He wasn't sure if it would be better hot or cold so left that one in the hands of fate; with a lump in his throat and crossing his fingers to make it quick, Shadow stretched out a quavering hand, braced himself and hit the on switch.

The first few seconds were like having the full weight of a typhonic monsoon compressed right onto the top of his head, beating out a relentless pace and slamming home through his spines, each individual droplet of water impacting like a small meteorite. To his credit though, aside from flattening his ears and rolling his eyes up at the unrelenting agony Shadow refused to back down, standing there and taking it as the water rolled down through his fur and the spikes on his back. He just concentrated on his own breathing, feeling the air going in through the tip of his nostrils, a few seconds pause and then passing out again, slightly warmer this time around; he remained focussed on this state, doing nothing else to stop the deluge from above until gradually, ever so gradually and leaving a series of throbs and aches in its wake, the seismic shocks of the shower began to recede, turning a straightforward pummelling of his flesh into a slightly less painful sensation, not unlike a foot massage being done by someone who hadn't been all that diligent in watching their waistline. _Oww, that's so good_; his mind moaned as the heat from the water ebbed into his chilled body, re-invigorating the stressed, clapped out muscles there at the cost of a few more aches here and there, but so what – by this point he had so many he was pretty much immune to them anyway. Scrunching up his eyes, he turned his head upwards, placing his face right in the path of the artificial waterfall and sensing the power of the surge cleansing his face, much as the glass had his tongue, of the refuse collected upon it over the course of the previous night and morning. Shoulders popping, he ran his hands over his eyes and cheeks, massaging them as he tried to contemplate his next move – he knew, or at least, Julie had said she'd be back but also that she wanted an explanation; right, he had to come up with the reason why he'd been such a pillock. Thing was, he couldn't do that just now; the shower was still on and every time he had something close to an idea, the impact of more falling raindrops would jar his thoughts and make him lose his focus.

As he reached for the shower gel, grateful that at last it seemed the ache in his arms was starting to recede eventually, he made up his mind; he was going to finish his shower, get dried off then sit down and do some serious thinking, because he certainly couldn't remember at what point his inexcusable ideas of isolation had ever been considered acceptable by anyone, least of all himself. Julie had been exactly right; he of all people, after all his friends had suffered and sacrificed for him, had absolutely no right to treat them as he had just because some nihilistic fashion had suddenly become appealing in his eyes. _Okay_; he stopped that thought for a second as the faintly masculine odour of his shower gel touched his nose, providing him with a source of familiarity that had been absent for the past couple of weeks; _we finish here, then we get you_; he tapped the side of his head with meaning, choosing to ignore the concussive shockwave such an action generated; _sorted out_.

His last memory, after drying himself off and most importantly brushing his teeth, was sitting down on the edge of the bed, chin in his hand and pondering; the next moment someone was trying to root him out of a deep slumber with the tenacity of a dentist trying to extract a reluctant wisdom tooth. Somehow swimming upwards through layers of fog and half-sleep, Shadow was dimly aware of his own body starting to come online and was puzzled for a brief moment; what was the heavy, red-and-pink thing right in front of his eyes? _Oh yeah_; a sudden name came to him as the rest of his face started to report in and he realised something was amiss;_ they're called eyelids_; something behind them tapped the side of his cheek again – he rolled his eyes but the impenetrable curtain right in front of his stopped him making out anything useful; _and they're in the way. Okay you pair_; with force of will alone he blinked himself back to his awake state; _open says me!_

The picture was a blurred, fuzzy smear for a moment, excess tears being generated to compensate for the sudden stripping of protection from his vulnerable eyeballs; he would have wiped them away had not his arms been pinned down by something. So he had to wait for them to clear of their own accord and with the help of his repeated blinking; in the end, he would agree with himself later, the result was well worth it, as he looked up into a face he had thought, less than forty-eight hours ago, he would never see again.

XXX

It really had been just one of those days; she'd been so pre-occupied, eyes constantly straying to the clock and internally boiling with frustration at the way time was dragging its feet to spite her, that even Kadu, he with the attention span of a hyperactive moth, had commented on her lack of performance. That comment, coupled with the other sidelong glances her work colleagues had been flicking her all day as they sensed her perturbed mood, had been enough to get Julie's already touchy temper just flicking boiling point, but the real icing on the cake had been Kadu managing to actually beat her to the front door and then having the brass neck to mock her about it. Only a combination of bloody-minded iron will and his quickly-beating feet had saved the younger echidna from a particularly grisly, gruesome fate as Julie had come clomping up the stairs like a tank out of control, her doubts held behind a thin veneer of rage for the moment. Until she reached for her front door key; as it emerged shaking from the recesses of her bag, the ex-Legionnaire felt her tongue flit across her parched lips, a sure sign she was starting to feel the heat of what was sure to come next. _But there's no going back now_; with that certainty in her mind, she pushed the thin twig of metal home and twisted, letting herself in; _Shadow made his bed by acting so stupid, now I've got to turf him out of…oh how bloody typical!_

For a second she stood and fumed, angry that while she'd been out there working her tail off to try and earn a decent crust the drunken sot who'd been parcelled up here last night was now sleeping, actually having the cheek to snore away merrily, somewhere nearby. _Oooh, that is so not happening any more_; a grimace on her lips as she realised the unfairness of it all, Julie let her ears direct her to where she needed to be, quickly tracking the slumbering Shadow down to the main bedroom; _and that's a clear breech of procedure – my turn in the bed this week_. With such injustices in her mind, the echidna threw the door open, ready to administer the deserved tongue-lashing, only to have the fight taken right out of her sails like air from a punctured balloon.

Just as he had last night, Shadow looked at last to be at ease; there was something almost child-like about the way he was lain there, completely sprawled out and oblivious, that reminded her of a lost innocence; _and really lost, especially in his case_. That mental note was certainly true; Shadow had never confided anything about his childhood to her in the way she had him, so she had just imagined he'd not been able to remember anything about it, assuming he'd ever had one in the first place. Somehow where he was sleeping like this she could imagine him a lot younger; it was actually quite an entertaining thought, raising a snicker from her lips as she tried to image the mostly-serious hedgehog she was so used to slouched on his bed like this, listening to unhealthily loud rock music and throwing darts at the back of his bedroom door; _a show I'd pay good money to see, that one. All right_; she'd realised it a long time ago but only now, as she huffed bad-temperedly and crossed into the room itself, did she actually admit it; _I'm not really angry with you, just a little, er, what would be the right word here? Disappointed, yeah, that'll do, I'm disappointed with you_.

That much was certainly true; as she sat down on the edge of the bed, feeling the mattress give under her weight, the echidna recognised the hedgehog's previous binge for what it had actually been – a desperate attempt to run away from the mess he'd made, blank out the world and pretend it hadn't happened. A slow smile seeped over her face as past memories of her own showed her, no matter how hard you tried or what poison you used to try and make life leave you alone, reality really does catch up with you in the end; _you can't run and you certainly can't hide_; looking down at the sudden warmth she could detect at the base of her spine, Julie raised an eyebrow at the way Shadow's shin had rolled up against her back – she was tempted just to leave things as they were, just for a second, but then his head rolled back a little on the pillow, exposing his mouth and nose to let rip another belting snore and she knew it was time; _so you're just going to have to wake up and face the music pal_. A final sigh on her lips, Julie leant forwards and, tempting though it was to give the cheek in front of her a decent slap, she settled instead for a gentle tap; _okay_; she tapped again, a little harder this time as he didn't even flinch at the first contact; _easing off the kid gloves now_. Slowly, under her relatively gentle persuasion, Shadow began to stir and come back to the land of the fully conscious and sober, finishing his rousing with a last yawn and blink up at her.

XXX

For a while, as his crimson eyes and locked onto her iridescent ones, neither spoke, or indeed moved at all; both froze and regarded the windows of the other, trying to see past the curtains of tiredness and worry draped across them and reach the real truth hidden behind. How long they stayed as such, neither daring to be the first to break this fragile truce, neither could tell; only an accident of nature broke the spell and, Shadow would grudgingly admit years later, Julie's poker face as the black hedgehog's stomach gave an especially loud rumble. Trying hard to keep her grin to a minimum, Julie flicked her eyes back to the hedgehog's face at the same time she stood herself up,

"Come on", to her delight there was no humour in her voice; it remained as factual and flat as she'd hoped it would, "you need to eat".

"No, I don't think…"

"Just a couple of slices of toast or something", she overrode him, offering down a hand as Shadow struggled to his elbows, fighting to kick his feet off the bed and stand up, "you need to get some sort of fuel down or you'll pass out". She was half-hoping he'd make some sort of a comeback, but it appeared beyond him right now as, having pulled himself upright using her arm, the hedgehog merely cradled his gut with one hand and, having somehow recognised it was desperately in need of a refill, nodded mutely, allowing himself to be led into the kitchen. She would have said he walked without hope, but she caught the slightest glimpse of her follower in the frames of one of the hall pictures and what she saw gave her heart; though his head was low, Shadow was still walking strongly if not tall, the weight of his past transgressions still hanging heavy from his shoulders.

It was as she flicked the kettle on, seeking to add a refill to the pair of mugs now steaming gently on the kitchen table waiting for the pair of them, seeing the coffee pot on the side and hearing, over her shoulder, the squeak of a chair being pulled out; _come on, just – yes_; followed by the second, slightly slower creak as Shadow pushed out a second chair opposite his, pushing it from under the table with his feet – as that noise filtered through her ears the dam broke. Suddenly she just had to know why he'd put all of this in jeopardy, why he'd been on such a suicidal and self-destructive course of action that had so nearly cost him everything and everyone he held dear – her thirst for this knowledge was vehement and nothing, not patience and certainly not manners, were going to hold her tongue this time.

"Why?" A tense few seconds dripped by, twanging on her taught nerves until, eventually, the hedgehog behind her answered,

"I don't know".

XXX

_Now it comes_; he'd known this was going to happen, but even after spending all the energy he'd recuperated in his slumber on trying to pierce the fog and put together something, anything that might explain it to her and himself; _but I haven't got a damn thing to show for it_;

"I don't know". It was the truth, a poor, predictable response for his monstrous transgressions, but it was still the truth – the problem was, Shadow was smart enough to realise that, like it or not, Julie would have a hard time swallowing it,

"You don't know?" It could have been worse; at least she wasn't sounding scornful to his plea, more wistfully annoyed if anything, "Shadow, sometimes I really can't believe you". Somehow, from somewhere a little twinge of grim humour touched his lips and made him smile regretfully,

"You think I can?" Glancing up, he thought he saw her shoulder shake, just for a moment, before her dreadlocks swayed over her back as she shook her head,

"I did wonder on occasion, but that's beside the point", a mechanical click told Shadow the toaster had just been depressed and his stomach twisted because of it, though whether the twist was due to hunger or revulsion he couldn't say, "the point is, I can't believe I'm saying this, but after everything you said…"

"I know, I know", his head was pounding enough without a lecture to add to its misery, "I screwed up, really, really badly; I let everyone down because I wasn't thinking right, in fact I was hardly thinking at all".

"That's obvious", leaning down to the fridge, Julie hooked out the butter and a knife from the drawer, ready for the toast to pop, "so, what's your next great plan?"

"After this", the thought jarred him as Julie looked over her shoulder, rolled her eyes and nodded; _that's a thought, what do I need to do next? I gotta go to work tomorrow, but...oh no, everyone else – Sonic, Tails, Chaotix, I need them back_; almost swallowing his tongue at such a terrifying thought jumping down his throat, Shadow made his decision, "after this I am going to get down on my belly and go crawling to everyone to try and apologise, but I wouldn't blame them if they really didn't want to know".

_That took guts_; if the Legion had taught her one thing about Mobian psychology it was that it was a lot easier to apologise for being right than it was for being wrong – much as she didn't like the idea of Shadow getting it wrong in the first place, the thought of him going as wrong as he had and then not saying sorry, or even considering to say sorry, in the aftermath repelled her in some ways more than the original mistake. Julie was smart enough to know that should have been an end to it; Shadow had admitted his grievous error and his intentions of atoning for it so she shouldn't have to know any more about it, but for some reason her tongue just wouldn't stay still, a morbid curiosity letting it fire off question after question,

"What was it like?"

"Huh?" _Oh yeah, he wouldn't expect that_; "what?"

"I mean, how did you feel when you found out?" Only now she'd actually asked the question did she realise how rude it sounded – fighting to suppress a blushing shudder, Julie had no choice but to press on, "why didn't you let anyone else know – was it really that big a shock?"

"No, it was bigger, a lot bigger", though his tone was flat, the echidna began to feel slightly more relieved that she was finally being let in; Shadow was allowing her to see the full extent of this cancer and how deeply it had marred his spirit, "everything was just, whoa, blown away; I just thought of everyone I knew – you, Amy, Knuckles, everyone, just growing old, and me just not changing, being kept alive by Chaos energy. My mind just went nuts; I think I remember seeing Cream as an old lady holding an ear trumpet to try and hear me, laugh if you want to", he added waspishly a hastily stifled snigger caught his attention, "but I was scared; as far as I knew this really could happen and I didn't want it".

"So why didn't you tell anyone?" Julie moaned, picturing it all in her head now she had a Shadow-eye view as to what had actually gone on in his head in those few, dreadful moments, "we're not stupid, we'd have worked something out – come on, Tails is a fully paid up genius for the spirit's sake, if he could have done anything about it he would. And anyway", another avenue of explanation lit up in her logic and after correlating the start date of his weird behaviour to a calendar she pursued down it easily, "you said it yourself, talking helps. You must have been at work when it happened, why'd you stay there? You should have just booked an afternoon off, health issue, and come back here, talked to someone".

"I know what I should have done", Shadow sighed wearily, trying to figure out what she'd said in that last sentence that hadn't quite made sense, "but it wasn't what I did, and there's something else there".

"What?"

"Dunno, give me a minute and hopefully it'll come to me". As he'd hoped, such a plea brought him the silence he wanted, just to iron out the kinks in his mind and think straight for a second; _right, she said about talking, how I…oh, that's about right_;

"What happened?" As Julie span around, expression equal parts incredulous and incensed, he quickly clarified his point, "you said, it happened, what did you mean?" Her chameleonic eyes crossed for a second before clearing again with a small 'oh' of understanding,

"Your memory of course", at his nonplussed raised eyebrow, Julie shook her head again and put her hands out even as the kettle behind her rumbled into steam territory, "you get flashes back don't you, occasionally; isn't that what happened, how you found out you were going to live forever?"

"Oh, that, um, no, er", he could remember perfectly how that had transpired, but a vital piece of the puzzle was missing, the central plank he needed to communicate it to her effectively, "what's his name, err; _come on, big tin can man, what – ah, yeah_; "oh yeah, Enerjak told me".

XXX

All communication from her brain to below her neck ceased instantly; coffee granules scattered everywhere as the spoon she'd been ferrying them to the cup in clattered to the side as she sucked in a great, gushing gasp of air. Her mental cogs had seized up completely and no amount of effort was going to make them turn again, not until she had some more information to go on,

"S, sorry", even her normally rock-steady voice betrayed a quaver of doubt as she turned to give a weak smile, leaning on the work surface until her knees got their strength back, "I, er, I think my brain just had a moment; I could have sworn you just said you were told you were immortal by Enerjak, the grandmaster of the Dark Legion – I must be hearing things, right?" Just for a heart-stopping second she thought he was going to say no; certainly he looked up as though trying to consider what the right answer would be; _okay, panic over_; as he lowered his head to his hand she began to breathe again,

"Sorry, got that bit wrong"; _thank the spirits, just the excess booze talking_; "he didn't actually tell me, he showed me", Shadow continued, not noticing the glazed look of disbelief on the echidna's face as she suddenly had to fight to swallow, "put one of his hands on my head; next thing I know I see this guy at a machine, telling me about some tests or other showing that I'm not aging, how it's possible I might live forever. It was short, but it was…"

"Shadow, shut up!" Unable to take in this absurdity any longer, Julie's refusal to believe anything he was saying manifested as a semi-incoherent shriek, "what the hell are you on about; Enerjak telling you you're immortal – _Enerjak_! You can't, no-one sees him", desperate to try and break out of his alcohol ravings she looked for proof, any sort of proof, "not even in the Legion, only by rankings, appointment, certainly no-one from the outside – you don't even know where Necronopolis is! You've never been there…"

"I have", all that prevented her screaming at the madness in front of her was the fact her mouth had ceased to function properly, jaw working soundlessly, she couldn't contradict him as he carried on, "Knuckles leant me an emerald, and I flashed in and out, got to him that way. Just took some time to get the knack again, but I managed it in the end", at this point he actually looked up at her and his eyes widened in something like mild concern, "are you feeling okay?"

XXX

_Breathe_; when nothing else was making sense, basic concentration on survival proved to be a rock to rely on; _breathe, then work out everything else from there_; listening to a calm inner voice, Julie just closed her eyes and tried to relax somewhat, block out the scene before her while she dived to collect her scattered thoughts and come up with something like a coherent plan; _what he's saying is plain nuts, so just keep a cool head, get him to explain everything and work it out from there – it's probably just a mild hallucination of his. Come on, after last night he would probably have sworn blind that fairies existed and showed him the secret of unaided flight._ Slowly deducing that sitting down would be a good start, as much to appear calm and composed as for the fact her legs were feeling decidedly wobbly by this point, Julie stepped over to the chair he'd pushed out for her and lowered herself down onto it, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly as she began to speak,

"Right, okay, this is making absolutely zero sense to me right now; Shadow", she felt a very thin amusement as his ears flickered and he grimaced at the harsh booming of his name, "I need you to start making sense for a change; I want to know why, when and most of all how you think you managed to weasel your way into the grandmaster's audience chamber". She could see him trying to think of the answer, almost hear the internal machinery whirring as he tried to put the words in a logical order; her heart started to pound as he eventually looked up and started speaking, his tone flat and monotonal, an unenthusiastic recital of a definite truth,

"You know, uh, hang on, two or three weeks ago, the week before I went brain-dead – what was I doing?"

"I don't know";_ oh yeah_; berating himself for forgetting he hadn't let her know, in fact he'd been especially sly at covering his tracks in the hope she wouldn't find out, Shadow saw the uncertainty on his echidna flatmate's face, "you were just…no, you weren't, were you? You were up to something – what was it?" He couldn't argue with her logic or insight, settling for the truth instead,

"I was trying to learn Chaos Control; I booked a week off work, Knuckles leant me an emerald – oh damn", a point up until now completely unsuspected surfaced in his mind and he gouged his fingers into his forehead as it slapped him right in the face, "he's going to have my head on a plate for that; I dropped it somewhere and lost it, never even crossed my mind – great, something else to apologise for".

"Don't worry, he'll understand", Julie's fixed smile was beginning to strain under the weight of her mounting desperation to know the truth, the reason behind Shadow's recent malaise, "but, what happened, you figured out how to do that Chaos thing?"

"Yeah", pricked by the reminder, Shadow managed to lumber back on track, "yeah, took a while but I nailed it in the end; I remember how to do Chaos Control now, just focus really hard on someone or something and say the magic word, you're transported to somewhere very close to them. I learnt it with a bit of help from Rouge, but it took me a couple of days; I was starting to get a bit desperate but we managed to crack it together".

"Okay, neat; so now we can go anywhere in the world at a second's notice, I like it", Julie's thirst for knowledge wasn't so vehement that she couldn't take a second to step back and see the possibilities awaiting that sort of ability, "but, anyway, why did you want to know – did you remember you could do it?" Shaking his head, Shadow took a fortifying sip of his coffee before answering, still not raising his head to see her face to face,

"No, not really; everyone had told me I'd done it before, even what it was called – I just didn't think it was important before".

"So, er, what changed your mind?"

"Chaos Control, well, I figured it could get me into Necronopolis, and I was right because without I'd never…" _Wait_; somehow that made sense, Julie could see it happening now;_ if all you needed was the name of the place and the emerald did the rest, you'd end up inside the grounds, inside the bubble if you like – Dimitri's gauntlet wouldn't be able to turn you away because it'd be too late. But…_;

"Why did you go there anyway?" Just for once, brain and mouth were reading from the exact page and there was no pause between thought and word, "okay, you had a way into Necronopolis, but why the hell did you want to go there in the first place? And how the hell was Enerjak involved in this whole thing?"

"I wanted to tell him to put the leash back on Xenin and his goon squad", Shadow recited in the same tone he had in all his previous explanations, apparently not taking into account the magnitude of his words, "I wanted to tell him to leave you alone".

As he'd expected, there was a deafening silence from in front of him, but he didn't react to it; his whole psyche was gearing itself up towards mustering the resolve needed to do what he knew was right yet was so fearful of attempting, just in case it all went so wrong. He carried on breathing and glaring at the top of his coffee, feeling the resolve strengthen and grow with each breath he took; it was perhaps sheer fortune that prevented interruption until the instant, the exact instant, where he was ready to move,

"Shadow…you…"

"Save it", throwing back his head and the remnants of his coffee, the former ultimate life-form forced his aching legs up and stood swaying, looking towards the kitchen exit, "I need about an hour, please don't disturb me". He headed in that direction, pins and needles shooting up his legs, until her voice made him pause for just another second,

"Hey, where are you going?" Only then did he look over his shoulder, the shadow of a forlorn smile on his lips as he inclined his head towards the front room,

"I've got some hardcore grovelling to do". With that, and a breeze as he pulled the door shut behind him, he left the kitchen.

XXX

The sight of the blank screen made his throat tighten, but he loosened it through sheer will and forced himself to continue, already knowing who he was going to call first and recognising it was going to be the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life. _She nearly crippled me last time_; his hand was made of lead as he reached for the receiver, hearing the flat, monotonal buzz as he lifted the appliance slowly as though testing the weight and balance of it; _how am I going to act this time, and more to the point how is she? She won't…well it doesn't matter if she decides to – she's got every right to slam the phone down_. Though praying to anyone who'd listen that wouldn't happen, Shadow nevertheless recognised it was a distinct possibility, but he knew he had to try; he had to be the one to make the first move because he'd been the one to burn her in the first place. His nerves were on the very verge of snapping as he reached to hit the first key; he was just hoping both they and his voice would hold long enough to get his message across. Every single one of the rings on the other end stretched from here to eternity, so much so that, when they were suddenly abruptly cut off and he heard the answering voice, his tongue was tightly bound to prevent a quick answer,

"Hello, six-six-three?"

"Ah, um"; _what was I going to say – what, what, what!_; "Vanilla?"

"Hmm, Shadow", he almost winced at the icy precision in the pronunciation of his name, picturing the rabbit's expression with clinical accuracy and wounded inside because of it, "what do you want?"

"Er, can I speak to…"

"I doubt very much she wants to talk to you right now".

"No, please", the thought of Cream rejecting his olive branch was bad enough, the idea that he might not even be able to get through to offer it was a glowering, toxic poison of a way to lose a friend, "Vanilla, I need to talk to her, this is important". There was no answer, at least, not an immediate answer; Shadow had run out of will to hope with, merely able to roll his eyes heavenward and pray for a miracle to happen – the sudden click at the end of the line sent his heart pounding out of his throat, the disembodied voice on the end of the line calling out for her daughter the only thing that kept the floor beneath his feet intact as he realised somehow his last wish had been granted. His pulse a little easier now, the ebon hedgehog merely counted down the seconds, trying to come up with a right way to word his news before he gasped; someone had picked him up again,

"Hello?"

The rabbit girl's voice was a medicine in itself, especially to hear it so cheerful and upbeat, a marked contrast to the wretchedness roiling in his guts; he savoured it for a moment, just a fleeting second, before answering,

"Hey floppy".

"Shadow?" Her voice was incredulous but also, it pulled at his heart bitterly, a little fearful as well; desperate to banish that ghost, the hedgehog took the lead,

"Yeah, it's me; listen Cream, I've got, I need to tell you, everyone, not just you…" It was so hard, the words were on the very tip of his tongue and he still couldn't spit them out,

"Tell us, tell us what?" A child's curiosity, that was something he could, indeed had to assuage,

"I need to let you know", he paused for a second, but then, for no longer, letting his soul wash itself clean of guilt with a flood of truth, "I've been an idiot Cream, not just to you and Tails but to everyone; I was so stupid I couldn't even see what I was doing, how much it was pushing everyone, people I really loved, away from me. But I know now, and I am so sorry, I shouldn't have, but I couldn't see…" He had to stop there; he didn't trust his voice not to break down and that was the last thing he wanted to do right now; hearing that would only make Cream miserable. But it was done, or at least, partially done; he'd said his piece, it was up to her now, if she wanted to believe or if she didn't and he wouldn't have disagreed with her decision either way.

"Shadow?" Her tone nearly made him laugh; suddenly she was the shy one, not sure if what she was doing was right or not, "why did you run off, and why haven't you kept in touch with everyone else – Sonic and Amy were getting really worked up about it, that you were never there".

"I ran off because I was stupid; I thought I wanted to be completely alone", he didn't sugar-coat the truth because it would have been dishonest to do so and he'd had enough of that recently, "I had a memory back Cream, a really scary one and it made me go a little insane", her hastily stifled giggle gave him a sliver of courage to build upon and thus encouraged he continued, "so I tried to run away from everyone, that's why I haven't been around, why no-one's heard from me and why I'm ringing round now – I just got some sense knocked back into my head. Being a fool's bad enough, but hurting your friends while acting like one's, well, that's just awful, and all I can say is that, well, I'm just sorry".

_There, it's been said_; it was a strange, happy-sad sort of feeling in his chest but he wasn't really paying attention to it; his concentration was focussed firmly on the end of this line. It was probably just as well Cream didn't keep him hanging for too long; he felt he might have been ground into the floor by the weight of the tension in the air before, with a sigh, Cream spoke again,

"What did you remember?" The question caught him off-guard,

"Huh?"

"I said what did you remember?" She repeated a little more firmly, "what was so bad you had to go crazy like you did?"

"Oh, that, well", he hadn't expected this, and actually had to think about it before replying uncertainly, "I realised I, er, well, there's a chance I might actually, live, for a long time, a really long time – I just saw that, then I tried to picture a world without you and everyone else I knew in it and that was it, brain gone walkabouts, go completely mental for a while until solid left hook replants reality back into mind". His answer was a wave of giggling as his tone broke the rabbit's defences down and he was glad; after so long in a cold, dank mental place the sound of merriment was a gleeful tonic to his gloom,

"Brain gone walkabouts, oh I'll remember that next time Sonic acts up", the mention of the blue hedgehog's name knifed him until he remembered who the last of his call targets was, "you wally; why didn't you…?"

"Don't, I've had too much of that already - Julie's been making my life hell all morning", he added in a convincing moan, "anyway, I nearly forgot, your test soon isn't it?"

"Now you don't", the rabbit retorted sharply, "days away and I'm coming apart at the seams; Tails must be getting sick of the sight of me by now with all the nerves I keep dropping on him".

"Tails couldn't get sick of you"; _no more than I could_; "anyway, when it's your time to fly", his throat tightened again, he had to make it quick, "you go up and there and, an' you knock them dead, you got it?"

"You bet", was the short reply; Shadow thought he heard a light knock at her end of the pone before her voice came through again, "uh oh, sorry, I have to get going; the afters is going cold".

"Okay flop, I'll…I'll see you sometime soon".

"Bye". With that, the phone went dead.

For a long time, Shadow just stood exactly where he was and inhaling, trying not to let his breath out for fear of breaking down into a helpless sob. It was a small step, but an essential one he'd just taken and, as he fought down the sudden hotness in his chest and recalled the next number he needed, Shadow steeled himself to go through the ordeal again, and again, and again, as many times as was needed to make sure everyone knew and had their choice to damn or redeem him.

XXX

How could he do that to her?

How _could_ he!

In the space of a dozen words he'd flipped the whole damn world onto its head – how was it possible for him to go from misguided, repentant sinner to misunderstood, rebuked saint so quickly, and how dare he make _her_ feel like the bay guy in doing so! Her tower of strength, the moral high ground had just crumbled to dust under her feet, leaving her on her belly in the mud and fog, so much lower and less worthy that he should have been; _but he wasn't because he never said – he bottled up the good news as well as the bad!_ Somehow Shadow had just gone and done it again – Julie's face fell into her hands as she realised she wanted to rip his head off at the same time as put the hedgehog on a pedestal and dance around it until the end of time itself, prostrate herself before him because of the service he'd done her, the risks he had exposed himself to in her name. Suddenly it all made a kind of sense; there was no way he could have been lying for two different reasons; first off she'd have been able to tell if he was trying to pull a fast one, especially considering how cold he'd been the night before and secondly, now she thought about what he'd said and checked off a couple of dates, the story held true. _Enerjak said his policy live on national TV the night Shadow came back looking like an extra from Dawn of the Dead_; now she could so clearly see the way, almost to the point of being able to script the scene in her head, it must have turned out; _Shadow shows up, out the blue, and…I'm not sure how he does it, but he gets that broadcast made and aired, and because of that Enerjak does what he thinks is the perfect revenge, letting him know it's all ultimately in vain because he's going to be around a lot long than I_; she caught herself, blushing as her thoughts got perhaps a little too lurid by this point;_ than all his friends are – twisted genius, on both parts. Question is_; this was the bit she couldn't yet work out; _where the hell does that leave me?_

The question rattled around in her head; in a way it made a kind of twisted, perverted logic – she had to bite back a sudden chuckle as she realised it; _Shadow did something so wrong it turned out he was actually doing something right all along – perfectly insane logic. Oh man_; still completely undecided and only now realising how long she'd actually been sat trying to make her own mind up, the echidna suddenly came to a conclusion – she was the last person on the planet to be sure of how she was going to act; the only way she was going to find out was going to have to be to confront the source of her troubles and figure it out then, on the spur of the moment. Decision finalised, Julie pushed her chair backwards so violently it clattered to the floor, not that she heard it; she was already away and striding towards the front room, mind at a sort of uneasy peace as she realised something, as always, rang true; _he puts himself in, well not quite mortal peril to make my life easier, then he goes and makes it a complete nightmare instead. Now I feel like a complete ogre for running out on him after he went through all that for me – ah, bring back the good old days when sorting out through here was easy! In fact_; with a sigh Julie paused for a second, just outside the door, the hand on the wooden panel before her stilled for a minute as she recognised the false longing in that last statement; _nah, don't bother. I have no idea why and sometimes I reckon it's more trouble than it's worth_; slowly, she pushed the door open, ears and eyes alert for any indication as to what was going on; _but for some reason I like it this way_.

"Shadow", how well she recognised that expression; the giant screen containing Amy's face barely able to contain the sight of the rose hedgehog screwing her face up in a half-disgusted, half-disappointed scowl, "you complete and utter muppet! Why the hell didn't you let us know, and me especially!"

"Because I wasn't feeling myself and…"

"Not that you prat", Julie felt herself return a little of the hedgehog's suddenly caustic, if still accepting smile as Amy's eyes snapped down to where the black hedgehog had his back to her, "I've just done the module in stress and coping with the physical symptoms of it; you'd have been a textbook case, absolutely first class. I'd have aced the physical with flying colours if I'd have been working with you instead of that half-stoned teenager, all he needed to do was get something like a life". Julie had to lower her hand into her glove to stop the snickers becoming audible as Shadow shook his head and, she assumed at least, smiled,

"Let me guess, not able to tell him that".

"Unfortunately no, but anyway", with a last shrug and long sigh, Amy looked down squarely at the ebon hedgehog in front of her, "what are we going to do with you?"

"Well so far Knuckles is going to nail me to the wall, Tails thinks a full-frontal lobotomy's the way to go and I daren't repeat what Charmy came up with; anything you want to add to the list?"

"Not right now but if anything comes to me I'll let you know; I'll get Sonic to call when he gets in, shouldn't be more than a few minutes – he's the one you really need to talk to Shads", just for a second Amy's face was clouded with concern, an expression echoed by Shadow as his quills depressed, "this has hit him hard, even harder than he was letting on; I reckon he was on the verge of flying up to you and straightening this out before now, but anyway, who else have you called?"

"Everyone"; _that's a little better_; the sound of a little pride in the hedgehog's voice made Julie feel slightly more at ease, "I've rung and apologised to everyone I can think of, except Big but he hasn't got a phone to contact".

"True, but there's one more sorry you have to say", Julie saw the motion too late; Shadow had turned at Amy's sudden inclination of her head to see her standing in the doorway, "see you". With that, the picture suddenly cut out, leaving the two flatmates alone once more.

XXX

She saw the words forming on his lips after what seemed like an ocean of silence had washed between them and evaporated away, and then she knew, it just hit her exactly what she needed to do and say next,

"Hold it, me first"; he stuttered at her raised hand, train of thought forced down a different track and converted into new words entirely,

"You? You've got nothing to apologise for".

"I wish", the echidna smiled, just long enough to appear friendly, before beginning, "I should have realised there was a bit more to this than just you suddenly going freaky for no apparent reason; heck, even after you said what was bothering you I shouldn't have blown up in your face like that…"

"You had every right".

"Shut up", she said curtly, not wanting any sanctimonious statements ruining the moment, "…I did what came naturally when actually sitting down and doing some thinking would have been a better option; you're not a nasty guy Shads, even when you're feeling down and like the world's at your back, you don't snap at other people – I should have realised this had to be a really, really big deal to push you so far, and instead of helping you cope with it I just slapped you in the face and stormed off and out. I completely forgot what you did for me when I was at the lowest point I've been to and it was out of order for me not to do the same", a wry smile just about touched her lips as she wrapped up, "a little of your TLC got me where I am now, I should have realised you needed a touch of the same there and then, but I didn't, and I'm sorry for that". Shadow was silent for a slight moment and, thought she couldn't explain why, she felt her head incline slightly towards him, an unconscious symbol of repentance that she just had to hope he could accept,

"I said it before and I'll say it again Jules, you've got no reason to say sorry; I'd bet top brass that if you'd have acted like I had I'd have thrown you out myself, no matter what you'd done for me"; _okay, that's the first step over with_; "but me, no", at the sudden downturn of his voice she glanced over, seeing his eyes on the floor as he began the speech he must have said, in a similar vein at least, to at least half a dozen other Mobians in the space of the last half-hour or so, "there's no excuse for what I've done, what I put everyone through. I won't spell it out, you had to live through it and I don't want to even imagine how that must have been; I was damned lucky you're as patient as you are to hang around for a fortnight – I'd have been out after two days max. I, I just…all I can say is sorry, and I wish it could be more".

Seeing the sincerity etched deep and plain on his face made her resolve wobble, just for a minute, before she realised that this was probably the best way to make sure everything got back to the way it had been, the way she'd loved it, as soon as possible. Therefore, taking a breath, Julie let her gaze come to rest on Shadow's face and gave a soft, low growl before sighing,

"Okay, I understand; you made a mistake Shadow, it might have been an obvious one you, you especially, should have seen coming, but at the heart of it all it was still a mistake. You never meant to actually hurt anyone, that was just a consequence of it", she saw a little hope start to dawn on his face and, with guilt tingling again she decided to wrap it up fast, "you had a choice and you cocked it up big style, but I can forgive you for that". _Give him a second, just…_; she had to wait, just a fraction, just until he was on the very cusp of speaking, delivering his thanks for her magnanimity; _okay, now!_;

"I'm not going to like, but I could, that is an option for me".

XXX

The way his face suddenly collapsed like it had been undermined from below was absolutely hysterical; Julie was well gone into helpless giggles when, jarred back to reality by a shock he hadn't even looked ahead to see if he could see coming, Shadow's mouth managed to re-open negotiation to the brain in time to gasp,

"What, but…?"

"Oh, come on", Julie managed to stand back upright and gaze across at him, revelling in her triumph, "after something like that, you expect me to accept a simple sorry? Not a chance pal; you want me to forgive you, you gotta damn well earn it off me".

"But", the unfairness of her statement was so huge it was only now starting to sink in, "but, you said sorry and I…"

"And I'm very grateful for the fact you did", Julie commented graciously, giving a perfect smile in response to Shadow's rapidly hardening features as the trick she'd just pulled was finally grating through his rusty mental cogs, "but that still doesn't mean I have to forgive you in turn".

"Well in that case", he lashed out petulantly, desperate to recoup something after such a huge hit, "consider yourself unforgiven". Julie merely shrugged and her grin grew, if anything, even wider,

"Not a hope of that pal, you already did it; you can't take back what you said – sorry Shadow, you just shot your bolt too early. Now, what could I make you do with this hanging over your head?" She cocked her head to one side, tapping her finger against her cheek in a gesture of deep thought even if she was having to hold down her urge to laugh with an iron rod; out the corner of her eye Shadow appeared to be ballooning with indignant rage, stalking towards her one doom-laden footfall at a time, spearing her with a single digit at the same time as try to come up with words to describe her,

"You…", another couple of paces, Julie having to bite her lips closed to avoid bursting out laughing, "…you, devious…twisted…", any second now he'd be on top of her but she couldn't feel afraid; the part of her brain that could feel fear was currently on vacation and released from its shackles her independent, daredevil spirit rose up to its next challenge, "…sicken…"

"Aww", suddenly bringing her head up to look right in his burning crimson eye, Julie gave a pout and whipped a hand forwards, pinching his cheek, "you li'l sweet-talker you".

Nothing moved for the briefest of instants; it was the split-second before the typhoon crashed onto the shore, when no atom dared shift for fear of being the one to break the ultimately fragile serenity; then Julie's smile grew a millimetre and the peace broke with an almost audible shattering sound. Suddenly as Shadow drew back to his full height, quills standing on end and teeth bared, making him look more like a small demon than anything else, Julie's fear suddenly came off extended leave and took back over – for a second she was fooled and reverted to instinct, throwing up her amrs as a futile defence when, with a roar that echoed throughout the apartment, the hedgehog lunged for her.

XXX

The second after Shadow stopped moving and Julie realised what was going on, her arms feel limp to her sides and for the first time in almost a fortnight she let herself relax completely and utterly in both the mental and physical sense. Whatever had been lacking in Shadow's grip before was now back with a vengeance, holding her in tightly and not letting go; some might have called it restrictive but to Julie it was what she'd longed for, what she'd craved and what Knuckles, the Dark Legion and even her own biological father had been unable to provide – a feeling of stability. This time and this time alone she submitted; knowing from experience that trying to run her hands up his formidably armoured back would only entail an urgent need for band aids, the former Legionnaire instead leant in a little closer, if that was possible, brushing the metal of her forearms up and then lowering them in from above, burrowing through his quills the way they ran naturally, preventing them spiking her. So close she could feel his chest rise and fall with every breath he took, his heart humming the melody of life as it beat within his body; as she realised he must have been able to feel the same from her, and must have actually wanted to do so since he had been the one to hug her, Julie felt a shudder run through her, had to blink as a sudden tear threatened to fracture her vision. _Spirits above, I actually wanted to walk out on this at some time_; a glance out the corner of her eye brought her the sight of Shadow's ear pricked upright, though slightly floppy at the very tip, a sure sign that he was relaxed and happy where he was – straight up meant he was alert and waiting for trouble while flattened in any way indicated depression or agitation at something; _we must have both been out of our tree to feel like we wanted to leave this_.

The moment, if it was a moment; as far as either Mobian was concerned it may have been anything up to days, was broken at last by a noise directly in front of Julie's vision; alert once more, she opened half-closed eyes and, after a split-second snigger, she leant over to whisper,

"Shads, I might be wrong but I'd lay good money it's for you".

"Funny", his gentle growl in her ear breathed against her dreadlock, making her shiver a little, "I was thinking the same thing".

"Well", she pressed, a little concerned that he didn't appear to want to answer the ringing vid-phone, "aren't you going to answer it?"

"Good point"; _about time – even given the circumstances I know for a fact Sonic's got the patience of a gnat – hey_; it was only when her waist belatedly began to register some centrifugal force being applied to it she realised that, despite her dropped arms, Shadow hadn't let go;_ what's his game?_;

"Shads", confusion reigning for a moment as she watched the wall revolve slowly as the hedgehog dragged her round to where he wanted her to go, "what are you doing?"

"Answering the phone"; _with me?_;

"Well could you…" it was only then that she realised she was being half-carried backwards towards the vid-phone and, perhaps more importantly, what someone would see when the phone was actually answered, "…you embarrassing swine; let me go, now!"

"Not a hope", any thoughts she may have had of struggling free were dashed when she felt one arm detach from her back; all she could do was hold herself in tighter to hedgehog and hope his head would deflect Sonic's gaze from her virtually combusting cheeks,

"Hey Sonic".

"Hello Shads, and Julie"; _here we go then_; bracing herself as much as was possible, Julie just tried to view the scene from Sonic's position and squirmed – from his point of view on her it looked a lot less than flattering , "what's going on here then?" She felt rather than heard the black hedgehog's answering chuckle, tried to jerk her head away as he nuzzled his cheek against hers,

"Just a bit of kiss-and-make-up". She just had to defend herself somehow,

"Without the kissing"; somehow Sonic's laughter from behind didn't reassure her that he'd heard that part of the message – it was a long, torturous time before he seemed to be composed enough to speak again,

"I'll bet", the echidna whispered a silent, vehement curse concerning the hedgehog's immediate ancestry in the fraction pause before he continued, "Amy told me what happened; you dolt".

"Tell me about it".

"I shouldn't have to; just looking in a mirror should be enough of a reminder, but enough of that";_ typical bloke_; Julie felt herself in agreement with her thoughts as she recognised the dramatic pause vacuuming behind her; _always has to draw it out_; "I know you're sorry Blackie, you went a bit mental for a while, so I guess I can accept that…" Shadow gave a weary, if not completely downhearted sigh,

"Why do I get the feeling there's a proviso coming here?"

"Because you know me too well", Sonic gave a chuckle that Julie had to shake her head to; _love him or hate him so much you end up loving him anyway – you were just too right there Shads_; "the condition is, no more 'dumb-Sonic' jokes, okay? We gave up on the 'echidnas extinct' for Knuckles after the rest of the island came back, this is enough to get me off that hook, fair enough?"

"I guess, oh, speaking of dumb, you done any of your exams yet?"

"Yeah, actually, scraped a B in geography, okay it was the right belly-end of the pass scale but they all count right?"

"I bet they do, probably better than you can; don't look at me like that; you walked right into it".

"I know, just glad to have you back, great twit that you are. But listen, I better go, Amy's cooking tonight and I need to watch her waistline", Julie could only assume Shadow gave the questioning look she was aching to deliver, "I have to eat most of the food before it gets to her; helps keep her slim as she is".

"Tough job right? Get out of here, and ring back soon, got it?"

"You bet", once more one of his arms fell away from her side for Shadow to touch tips with his compatriot back in Station Square, "see you around Shads, now, I'll leave you two love-birds to it". _Right, not standing for that!_; fortunately for him, Sonic's reflexes kicked in just in time; just before Julie could whip around and snap at him, the screen had blanked out.

XXX

As she'd expected, by the time she turned around and cooled off from Sonic's pun Shadow had regrouped himself slightly, stood just in front of her with a strange half-smile on his lips.

"So", he gave a shrug, then they both winced as something went snap in his shoulder; to his credit though, he managed to put a brave face on the sudden popping of his joint, "what now?"

"Well, for a start, sit down", taking the lead, Julie headed for the settee and seated herself, Shadow sloping after her and taking up residence in his favourite chair, feeling the tension ebb out of him as he relaxed against its soft material, "I'm still not sure what you were doing in Necronopolis and I have no idea how you got Enerjak to dance to your tune, so", she clapped her hands once, making him flick his gaze to her suddenly as she smiled, "tell me everything, from when you started cooking up this hare-brained scheme to when it actually worked". There were a few moments silence, just enough to let Shadow begin to get his mind back on track and build up a chronological order of dates and events before he looked across and his eyes met with Julie's; they held for the briefest instant, before he deferentially nodded his head,

"Well…"

A/N: At last, done! Hopefully I'll get the next chapter posted quicker, as long as my new machine doesn't decide to spontaneously combust as well as my old one did!


	24. Chapter 24 Different Kinds of Hell

Chapter 24 – Different Kinds of Hell.

A/N: Okay everyone, I have many apologies to make because of an oversight made during my last update; I was so desperate to get the latest read up that I didn't realise I'd updated an older version by mistake and all my comments to you guys were missing. So, belated apologies to:

TG – Whew, reader bomb defused – just in the nick of time. Anyway, I guess you've been busy with exams recently so I hope this next chapter didn't have quite so much angst in it (if your schools are anything like the ones we've got over here you've got all the depression you could ever want from that place!)

HHH – Ah my ever-present hamster, good news for you on three counts; summer (and by extension summer school) is now over, Weird Al's new CD just hit the shops and this chapter's here for you to have a read of!

DS – Tails an immortal? How did that come about – was it something to do with the way he's got two tails – i.e., was he exposed to Chaos emeralds while still inside his mother?

PB JJ - Ah, another Tails fan! I always liked the little guy but, as you said, he always seemed to get left in the background. Unfortunately this story arc doesn't really focus on him in particular, he just has occasional sparks now and then; I would like to write a story focussed on him someday, but I'll have to finish what I've started here first. Hope you can wait that long!

IOS – Put it this way, if my new system bombs out the same way my old one did, PC World is going to get one very irate customer coming back! Damn you Bill Gates!

For the most part Julie was a perfect audience; aside from the odd peep of disbelief not even she could fully restrain, she mostly just let the hedgehog talk at his own speed, allowing for the fact that he still wasn't fully out from under the dark cloud his drinking the previous night had enshrouded him in. Some of what he was saying was fantastic but still she kept her thoughts to herself, not wanting to break his rhythm, at least, not until he got to explain the first part of his daring mission in Necronopolis and, caught unawares by his description, she had no choice but to burst out laughing,

"All, all that", she choked, hugging her stomach and pounding her knees at the same time as look up weakly at where Shadow was merely waiting for her to finish, "and all you ended up with was an early shower for your troubles?"

"Not what I had in mind I'll admit", the hedgehog answered grudgingly, though under the influence of her hysteria he couldn't help but smile a little himself, "especially when I realised that you weren't joking about them being unisex". That comment made the ex-Legionnaire stop her spluttering and look up, attempting to appear stern but somewhat undermined in this regard by the grin threatening to tear the corners of her mouth apart,

"You sleazy ogler", she turned her nose up as Shadow rolled his eyes, "all that power at your fingertips and all you wanted to do with it was turn up and get an eyeful of skin; I'm revolted".

"Nowhere near as much as I was", the black hedgehog countered, just about up to drawing his verbal blades and testing her defences with a couple of practise jabs, "six of them in the middle of a water fight; wet fur and steam everywhere – urgh, haven't been able to face a swimming pool changing room yet. But anyway, I ended up there because, just my luck, that was where he happened to be at the time".

"Who? Enerjak?" Julie raised her eyebrows, having to get the gears to whirr to try and take that idea in; _I know it's supposed to be rust-proof, but still…_; "I would have thought that would be the last place you'd find him".

"Huh? No, no, Enerjak wasn't the guy I was after. Well, in a way he was, but I knew I wasn't going to be able to just appear next to him in a big green bang and expect him to listen to me; I needed a bit of leverage first…" _Yep_; as he heard the groan and looked over to see Julie with one hand over her eyes, leaning back into the settee he knew; _she guessed it_;

"I just know I'm going to regret this", the palm of her hand raised; he caught a glimpse of her left eye regarding him piercingly but not altogether unkindly as her tension-heavy voice rolled out the dreaded question, "okay, who'd you nab first?"

"He was, er", snapping his fingers, Shadow realised the name had escaped him for a moment; the face he could see as plain as day but could he put a name to it? "former boss of yours, ugly piece of kit, got a big claw; your sort-of brother?" That last detail came back to him at just the right time; he looked across with a hopeful smile to see Julie gazing at him goggle-eyed,

"K…Kragok! You, you kidnapped Kragok!" It was an unplanned outburst triggered completely by the shock; _how the hell did he get away with that one? Dimitri's last, legitimate_; the last clause in that tile still rankled a little but she wrestled it down to carry on her train of thought; _heir – they'd have moved Angel Island to get him back_; "how'd you get away with that, and how'd you put him down? He's one of our top troopers, even after he got his tail torn off and handed to him by the grandmaster". Taking a few seconds to run through the events in his mind, Shadow suddenly realised he couldn't mention the little toy Locke had given him; that would lead to too many awkward questions and he had to be careful around the topic of the Brotherhood with Julie; _not that I don't trust her, but I'm going to have to go at their speed on this one – I'd hate to think what Hawk'd do to me if I cocked that one up_;

"Easy really", he replied at last, tapping his bottom lip with his index finger as though in a deep thought, "Chaos Control does something funny with time when you use it; for a few seconds, it's like everyone around you's moving in slow motion, you're the only one doing anything fast. I remembered what I did to Xenin without the, ah, shoe bit and hit his arm, knocked it cold; once I got that up his back and him on his knees that was pretty much it – the rest of them looked too scared to do anything once they saw I had him".

"Rawies", Julie murmured to herself, picturing the scene in her head; it was only when she saw Shadow's curious look that she realised the unfamiliarity of the term for him, "green troopers, new recruits; I heard on the grapevine that he'd been put right at the bottom of the heap again, so they'd have stuck him in with a load of kids who wouldn't have a clue what to do in that sort of situation; any of them make a break for it?"

"No, but a couple of them wouldn't have taken much provocation", the memories of their expressions as he'd faced them down, the mingled fear, hostility and stupefied shock so much more explainable now he realised they'd been the very worst the Legion had to offer, swam back at him and he suddenly recalled his hostage's mysterious compliance, "in fact I reckon only Kragok actually kept them from bolting; he just bawled a couple of orders and they all just fell into line; they were still completely white-faced, the whole lot of them, but he just kept them in check. Just as well really; last thing I wanted just then was publicity".

"Like I said, he was one of our best rodneys; officers", Julie quickly amended before pressing on, more eager than she let on to hear what happened next, "so you were there in the shower with Kragok; urgh, that sounds like a scene out a bad porn movie", Shadow screwed his eyes shut at the inflection, wondering how long it would take before everyone on the world below heard he had added 'blue movie worker' to his already impressively long list of former titles and professions, "but anyway, then what did you do?"

"Well, I wanted to negotiate, so he told one of the other five, uh, rawies", he looked over at the unfamiliar word, seeing Julie's nod to assure him that he'd said it right, "to go and fetch someone; poor kid was so shocked he actually came back and asked what he needed to say".

"Poor guy"; _especially when he calms down and the rest of his squad get around to hearing that one_; commiserating with the young trooper mentally, Julie was nevertheless desperate to get to the crunch of this tale, "but anyway, he found someone?"

"Yeah, this blue girl, officer, name of…er", he snapped his fingers together, trying to force his mind back over the murk of the raid on Echidnopolis, "oh what was she called, blue girl, tight ki…aha, yeah, Dion, she was called Dion-Yi"; _Dion_; that was a name she'd heard before – though nothing showed on her face, Julie recognised the echidna Shadow was describing and half-recalled it as having something to do with her half-sisters' research team; _she must have taken over when Lien died – mind you, she always looked like someone who'd go far_;

"Yeah, I've heard of her; never actually met or anything", Julie was quick to make that point as Shadow looked over with eyebrows raised, "just heard the name, she's, or at least she was when I was around still, going up the ranks quite sharpish – must have got a recent leg-up".

"Or a leg-over someone important".

It was the sheer unexpectedness of Shadow's snapback, so lamentably absent for the better part of two weeks, that broke straight through her resistance, dissolving her to a sniggering heap as Shadow, doing his best to look innocent, gave a shrug,

"Hey, you were the one who said it happened". Giggling as she was, Julie had to gasp to even begin her answer,

"Y,yeah, sometihahahames"; _okay it was funny, now get over it soldier_; forcing her body to obey her mind, Julie shook herself down and glanced over at Shadow once more, "but enough of the inner workings of the Legion…"

"Oh believe me Dion looked like she had some…"

"Enough", tempting as it was to listen to what he'd come up with this time, Julie couldn't let it happen or they'd be simply trading quips all night, "what did she do? Please tell me she didn't join you two boys in your soak?"

"Well, yeah in a way, but she was fully clothed at all times", Shadow made a point of that as Julie had to fold her lips inwards to prevent another onslaught of the dreaded giggles, "just showed me she had no weapons when she entered the room to negotiate. There was a bit of give and take, but in the end we thrashed something out".

"Which was?"

"Basically, after I set the other five free; all I had with me when Dion got involved was Kragok, the emerald and something that seemed like a good idea at the time", having quickly outlined the basic situation, Shadow moved on, "they gave me the audience I wanted; Enerjak was willing to talk to me and was waiting in some sort of auditorium. So all three of us went there; I told them to evacuate that level of the base before I moved off, and had Kragok as a bullet shield in case they tried anything, but it was fine in the end, though Enerjak had some guards with him when I stepped inside the auditorium".

"He's always got them around", Julie explained this point, trying to put herself in Shadow's shoes and realising how intimidating the honour guard must have looked to an outsider, "they're there to, theoretically at least, lay down their lives to protect him if he commands them to; they've not had a casualty yet in recorded history like, but I suppose it's something to put on your C.V." This time it was Shadow's turn to smile; tracing his fingers as thought writing something on an invisible sketch pa he spoke flatly,

"Big, nasty brute of an echidna seeking employment; skilled in intimidation, weapons training and generally looking nasty and 'ard. Physical work preferred, thinking required minimal".

"That's about the size of it", Julie concurred with his neat diagnosis of the grandmaster's honour guard before returning to the scene in her mind, "anyhow, so you're there holding a wet Kragok and Enerjak's looking at you from his throne, screened by a pretty hefty meat-shield – so, what now?"

"Well first off he actually dismissed them, the honour guard", Julie's eyes widened in disbelief but before she could utter so much as a squeak Shadow quickly added, "in exchange for me letting Kragok go; fair was fair after all, and I did really want a private discussion".

"I'll bet; first time I've ever heard of the grandmaster seeing someone completely in private, without even his honour guard present. But, hang on; you said you let Kragok go?"

"Yeah?"

"So, in that case how'd you convince him to get up in front of the cameras like he did?" Having tried to weigh up the factors as much as she could without having an accurate idea of what Chaos Control could actually do, Julie still couldn't quite see it happening; _now this'll be interesting to hear_. Shadow had been sat still for a few seconds, apparently trying to puzzle through her question, but then he seemed to understand and, to her surprise, waved a hand before him,

"Oh, you meant the broadcast, no no, that wasn't anything to do with me"; _what! That makes no…_; "he'd already done it, said it was going to be aired later in the evening, or tomorrow morning, can't remember which; I just got the first viewing. So, you were always free Jules", he smiled across at her, nothing but joy for her sake contained within the expression as he extended his arms in a gesture of giving, "the Legion was never after you at all; it was all just a rogue's move by Xenin and his idiot buddies".

XXX

She took a second, just a single second, to let that sink in again; though she already knew such a thing was true as the words had come from the mouth of the grandmaster himself, hearing them come from Shadow seemed to somehow make it all that much more real, that much more acceptable. _Freedom_; the concept was all at once welcome and not a little daunting, but as she gazed across the room at where the black hedgehog sat, rubbing his forehead as though the thinking was making his brain chafe, she couldn't help but give a small smile; _and I know I can fit in somehow – you idiot, going through all that for me, how did you feel when you realised?_;

"So", he looked up at her voice and must have seen her suspicious smile from the way his face dropped, "how'd you react; risking life and limb to try and get an answer, which I am, by the way, extremely humbled that you did", she tried to convey her appreciation through her eyes and, as Shadow's gaze averted itself and his expression became more awkward, she guessed she'd succeeded, "and then that? I'd have been…oh, I don't know".

"Cheesed off?" Shadow suggested diplomatically; taking him up, Julie nodded enthusiastically,

"Yeah, at the very least – what did you do?"

"I believe me I felt like screaming; what had I done to offend the karma gods to this – it was going to be released the next day for God's sake; if I'd have waited until Friday like I was originally planning it would have been completely unnecessary. But, anyway", shaking himself he recomposed his answer, wanting to move on to the next bit of his story, "yeah, I got all that jazz done and was all ready to get out of there – I have to say Enerjak was taking it all well, treating it like a bit of a joke really, but it was when I was about to leave, you know, Chaos Control out of the place?"

"I wasn't expecting you to try and walk out the front gate", Julie cut off those necessary explanations easily though she couldn't help but add, "I would have said I know you're not that stupid, but after the past week…"

"Thanks for that", Shadow's glowering look let her know she'd got her point across before his face set once more, reminiscing, "but he stopped me; said he had some questions for me this time".

Leaning forwards, intrigued at the plot twist she hadn't seen coming, Julie felt a few cold fingers creep over her flesh as she leant forwards, listening intently to what Shadow was saying; seeing her unspoken request, the black hedgehog continued,

"I didn't know about this, but you know I said earlier, when I first slipped out about Amy? How Dimitri had all of us prisoner?" Julie nodded, trying to work out in her mind what could possibly be coming next,

"Yeah".

"Well apparently, according to Enerjak, while he had us there he, ah", somehow, despite the fact it was trespass of a most basic and brutal nature, Shadow couldn't bring himself to condemn the former grandmaster for scanning the minds of his foes; _man, first Amy, now me – at this rate we'll be venerating him as a saint any day soon_; "he used the Bloodstone to, er, peek, um", unable to trust his speech too far, Shadow tapped his temple, "here, took a look, inside, if you like".

"Mind-reading!" Julie's eyes were wide as saucers, mouth almost hanging open as her breath puffed out in shocked squeaks, "he could…do that?"

"Apparently, but this was the thing", sitting forwards, hunched slightly as in his mind he was transported back to the scene of it all, the vast expanse of the auditorium with Enerjak stood directly ahead, speaking to him about things he knew nothing of, in riddles and rhymes he couldn't even begin to decode, "my report said something, two things actually, that interested him; as the current grandmaster Enerjak had access to the files Dimitri left behind upon his disappearance, and they mentioned me specifically for two reasons. First one", he moved on quickly, not wanting to draw this out any longer than was necessary because it was as painful for him as it must have been enthralling for Julie, "was that I had a highly developed Chaos, affinity, or something like that; Dimitri thought I was using it to screen his mind-reading. The second was that, like him", Shadow gave a sad shrug before looking across, "I was, am, immortal".

XXX

She was trying to picture it, see the form of the grandmaster stood across from Shadow and the two of them talking; the scene was there, but the messages, what Shadow had told her didn't make, as yet, much sense,

"Okay, I get that much, and I understand why that would pique the grandmaster's interest", she said eventually, exhausting all lines of exploration before shaking her head, defeated, "but, I don't get it; you never knew you were going to live forever, and you said you had to relearn how to do that Chaos thing; how did you block out Dimitri when he was trying to read in your head, assuming there was anything up there in the first place". _Just couldn't resist it could you_; matching her gleeful glance with his sardonic one, Shadow nevertheless took the opportunity Julie's quip had offered him to put the matter to bed,

"And that was the whole point; there wasn't anything up there"; only when she saw the seriousness in his face and stopped sniggering did he continue, "Dimitri couldn't see much because, hell, I can't see much; my amnesia's still going strong. I wasn't trying to resist anything, it's just that there is quite literally not a lot to see; my memories, especially compared to others he had caught with me, were definitely nothing even resembling complete".

"Your amnesia", Julie repeated, cursing herself for forgetting that one basic fact about her housemate, "Shadow, I forgot, I'm so sorry".

"No problem", he reassured her, temporarily forgetting the horrendous injustice she'd done to him earlier by refusing his appeals of atonement, "but that was it; by the time he'd figured out, or I'd told him about that, it was too late; he'd said things about suffering from the same curse as Dimitri and how did I cope with it; I had no clue about what he was on about, so in the end I just had to know. He tried to warn me off, I can't deny that", the hedgehog admitted, recalling how the cyborg echidna had insinuated it would be better if their conversation had never taken place at all, "but I didn't, I couldn't back out; he knew something about me I had no idea of – what would you have said?"

"The same thing you did", for some reason completely unfathomed by her brain Julie stood up and paced over to Shadow's chair, placing her hand on his shoulder as she spoke consolingly, "and he showed you, didn't he? He told you what…what was coming?"

"Yes", it was taking an effort of will not to let the encroaching tears break through by now; somehow he stood up, responding to the pressure, the warmth on his body and needing more of it – Julie had no time and even less inclination to avoid him as he pressed against her, needing some support, "but he helped me get out of there when it was over; showed me what I needed to see, then helped me use the emerald to get away. From there…"

"I know", Julie breathed the words into his ear, the reassurance that at the end of the day he'd needed from the start but neglected to ask for coming now at last, "you screwed up because you never had your head screwed on right in the first place".

XXX

She felt a slight chuckle at her front, then everything fell still for a few moments; _thank goodness_; Julie made that observation as, little by little, she felt the tension ease away from the hedgehog, draining out of his body as he reaffirmed his ideas and directions in life. The fight was over, Julie knew that much and was more grateful than she let on about it; Shadow was over the worst of it and, despite the fact his condition was still going to take a lot of brainwork to size up to, he could at least begin that process now; _and, I'll help you_; she clung to that thought as fiercely as she did her housemate now; _any way I can…_;

"You can stop messing about and forgive me now". _Except that one_; satanic smile hovering just over her lips, Julie took a step back, cocking her head at Shadow's beseeching expression,

"Oh no I can't", his only response was to carry on with the sympathy act, but she knew that wasn't going to cut any ice with her iron willpower, "you gotta earn back my good will, if you can". Suddenly his face hardened, eyes like rubies as she smirked nettlingly,

"Is that a challenge?" Her smirk matured in the face of his simmering rage into a disaffected pout,

"You bet it is".

"Right", he pointed at her, right at her heart as though his finger could pull it right out of her chest, "by next weekend", her eyebrow raised as if to mock his optimism but he remained undaunted, "next weekend, we'll be even Julie-Su, you mark my works on that one".

"Sure I'll mark them", the echidna started looking around, and moving her hands quickly as though trying to pluck butterflies out of the air, "got a pen handy? That way I'll know which ones you'll have to eat next Saturday".

A second later, having picked herself up from where Shadow had barged past disgustedly and knocked her onto her back end, Julie flicked her tongue out at the hedgehog's path of passage and sauntered over to the settee, retaking her seat and reaching for the remote at the same time as begin to prepare her mental barriers; she'd seen in Shadow's eyes that this was going to be a big thing for him to try and make good on and she had no intentions of giving away her new trump card without a damned hard fight. _And best of all_; she gave a little wriggle of pleasure as she realised her favourite programme was just coming on, another cherry on top of her already perfect dessert; _he's never going to know I've heard all this before_.

XXX

_That's better_; the second she glanced up from her keyboard into a face that was this time familiar, Honey let go an unreserved sigh of relief – having heard Shadow had been too ill to work the day before had made her stomach tighten into a ball of writhing knots, even Micah becoming a little concerned as he saw her after work. But now, as she observed the black hedgehog pick his running bag up from the stand, hefting it by a single hand and apparently testing its weight and balance, that could all be forgotten; somehow that heartbreak had lifted its grip on Shadow's emotions and she could breathe a lot easier knowing he was suffering a lot less. A crackle of static suddenly hit her ears; startled, she shot her vision downwards to see her monitor blink into life, dutifully awaiting her password to allow it to continue further in the process of powering up. With a shrug and the same hum she gave every day before the business end of the C.A kicked into gear, Honey tapped a couple of the keys in front of her; _what?_; at the touch on her shoulder she broke off and glanced up,

"Hey"; _it's okay, it's Shadow_; her heart rate began to spiral down to normal levels once more as his vermillion eyes softened and looked deep into hers, "I'm sorry Henu; I've been a jerk over the past two weeks".

"Wha, hang on", she hadn't been expecting this and tried to hastily sort out something close to an answer, "you, what did you say?" His mouth twitched into a regretful smile as she watched on; huffing down a sigh she heard him say once more,

"I said I'm sorry, to everyone in this office, but to you in particular; I must have treated you like dirt these past two weeks and there's no excuse for that", just for a second that infamous, silky smile swept over his expressions before disappearing without trace, "even if your desk hasn't been dusted since the Island was in the sea". As he'd hoped, the impromptu insult caught Honey slightly off-guard and stoked her battle fire up to give as good as she got,

"Cheeky whatsit", she sniffed up at his grinning face before falling into a more serious look, "what happened to you though; I thought you were doing a Jevu for the past fortnight, and the day before yesterday…", she broke off slightly, shuddering at the ghostly image of what had appeared to be a dead Mobian risen from his grave and continuing with a grim parody of life in front of an enraptured, horrified audience. Seeing a potential cue, Shadow stepped in,

"Yeah, I know; it was bad enough being me then, I don't even want to think about what it could have looked like to you guys. I had issues"; _don't really want to rake over that rubbish again_; hoping to nip her morbid curiosity in the bud before it could really blossom, Shadow held up a hand and gave a brief but not entirely inaccurate version of events, "but hopefully they're all straightened out now". Hearing this last piece of information, Honey nodded vigorously,

"They better be – I do not want to be sat here seeing anything like that again. If you've got a problem Shads, just talk to someone; believe me it's less hassle than trying to brazen it out yourself". _Thank goodness_; as the black hedgehog gave a slight snicker at her weak quip Honey felt her spirit relax; _he's back to as normal as he ever was – now to punish him for making me worry in the first place. Hmm…_;

"Oh I learnt that lessen the hard way; got some sense knocked into me", he elaborated as a blonde eyebrow rose questioningly, tapering his fingers down the length of his jaw, "got the bruises to prove it too". Beating down an encroaching smile, Honey nodded in understanding,

"I see – who did it?"

"Who else?"

"Well tell her thanks from all of us", Honey's sweeping gesture took in most of the office before returning to him, "now she's kicked your brain back into gear we might actually be able to shift some paper at some stage".

"You bet", stretching upwards, the hedgehog limbered up the same way he did every day before running; despite his phenomenal experience at the field events, even he wasn't immune to the risks of tearing or pulling muscles if he didn't exercise properly, "I'm going for the rehhehehehey!"

Just this once his speed let him down; he saw something shoot forwards out the corner of his eye but didn't have time to react to it; all he could do was spring to the side, narrowly avoiding careening into the desk parallel with Honeys as the blonde echidna electric shocked him. Slapping at the empty air left behind as the hand retreated as quickly as it had arrived Shadow squinted down as her and dropped his voice to a growl,

"You are so going to pay for that".

"Yeah right", the corner of her eye told the truth, it was so nearly coming together; _yep, she's turning, she's just…now_; "make me". She saw his face set immovably and his hands draw back; despite her plans he shrank back in her seat, curling into as close a ball as she could manage as he began to advance menacingly, hands raised to retaliate,

"Fornication is not permitted in this office"; _gotcha!_; just this once Snappy was her salvation – though she tried not to, Honey couldn't have called herself Mobian if she hadn't smirked at the sight of Shadow being cut down to just about an inch in height, "and neither is molesting co-workers – keep such behaviour private". Though no-one in the office was stupid enough to draw the next round of fire from the elder echidna swivelling back around in her seat, Honey was under no illusion that hers wasn't the only mocking glance to be spearing Shadow as he glowered at her, mouthed the words 'you're history' and took off, snatching up the first five papers that came to hand before shooting out towards the elevator at the back of the office. _He'll probably make me pay for that later_; despite her jubilant mood a note of warning still chimed as she turned back to her work, though it was nowhere near strong enough to displace the grinning smirk from her face; _but it was worth it_.

And only later that night, when she suddenly blasted off into space with a squeal that probably deafened Micah in his right ear and Shadow's snickering laughter ringing around her, did Honey look back at that word of warning and wish she'd taken a touch more notice. Her discomfort, however, was swiftly overridden by the circumstances and who was present in them; Micah took the lead with his handshake and warm words of welcome, but when the penny finally dropped for her she more than enthusiastically joined in; after a brief group hug, the three Mobians resumed their journey, chatting away amiably as though nothing untoward had ever come between them.

XXX

In his life of confusion and change, Shadow had come to realise only one enduring constant that never failed; he would have bet his apartment and everything in it that he could have wandered in after a ten-year exodus with green fur and an extra head and he'd still get the same unwavering smile and genial greeting from his partner,

"Hello Shadow, how have you been?" Just this once, knowing that in this case there was no ill-will between him and his massage partner for the simple reason that Andy just didn't have any ill-will in him, the hedgehog grinned back as he gripped the echidna's hand,

"Hectic and sometimes just plain daft; just occasionally my life makes even me confused. Have I missed anything much?" Knowing it was a wasted effort to try and reciprocate questions into welfare as he knew the answer he'd get off by heart Shadow moved onto the issue that had chilled him ever since he'd set foot though the door of the old hall where the class took place; the relief that steamed out of him must have been virtually scalding when Andy, having mulled the question over as he did every time someone said something to him, replied,

"No, not really; I think you have been surprisingly fortunate really", somehow Shadow kept the laughter inside as the incredulity of the statement smashed into him; _lucky, yeah, getting back to where I am after what's happened – yeah I guess that is lucky. Never thought of it like that – thanks Andy_; "most of the work was to do with the intricacies of dreadlocks and the positions of nerve points in the scalp, but I think it would only really work on echidnas".

"Oh well, not a real problem then", chuckling slightly, Shadow reached up and teased a couple of his head quills free for inspection, "I don't reckon these are ever going to be long enough to braid in any way, shape or form". The vapid smile deepened as Andy stepped to the side, one arm extended to usher the ebon hedgehog to the table awaiting him,

"I should say not, but we are moving on tonight"; _interesting_; this was something Shadow hadn't really considered – as far as he was concerned they'd covered most of the major body areas, "apparently having mastered the basics we are revisiting the legs, learning, as one of the instructors who's name escapes me put it, a touch of finesse this time". This time Shadow really did laugh as he eased himself up and onto his front, feeling the material underneath him give softly as he mentally tried to put himself in the right frame of mind for this kind of work,

"Fin Essie, never met him; oh boy", hearing the time-honoured bell chime to signal the start of the class, Shadow twisted his head to the side and breathed out the corner of his mouth as Andy came to stand at the head of the table, craning for a better look, "this'll be a learning experience".

XXX

An experience it certainly was; though he still had to take it steady there was no denying that by the end of the class both he and his partner had parted ways with limbs revitalised; as he walked as far home as he could with Honey and Micah, Shadow couldn't help but agree with the red echidna as he realised there was a fair bit of skip in his step now. _And as if that were the best of it_; more than just his legs, Shadow felt his mind eased as well – somehow it seemed that Andy's gliding fingers had helped lift the lid off the pressures that had been building up inside his skull, letting him think with an unfettered mind for the first time in what felt like ages. And the first thing that unfettered mind was getting to grips with was the problem that now hung around over his head like the sword of Damocles; somehow, and knowing how stubborn she could be when she really decided to dig her heels in, he had to force his apology down Julie's throat and hold her mouth shut until she swallowed it, feeling and all; it was just going to drive him mad knowing that she had that over him, niggling away at the back of his mind, an undying favour she'd be able to call any time unless he managed to pay her back somehow. _Question is, as _always; he gave a sigh, hoping for some muse of inspiration to suggest a theory he could work with into his rejuvenated brain; _how do I do that, especially with her being as stubborn as she is?_ Tapping his chin, the hedgehog pondered such a riddle as he crossed the street towards his apartment, the thoughts in his head swirling around like brackish water, heavy with potential ideas.

The first certainty was that it would be pointless trying to go for a direct assault; Julie was just too strong to be overwhelmed by one sudden gesture designed to sucker her into granting him absolution for his sins. _Right, so that's out the window, not like I could do much with it anyway – what do I have that could tempt her?_; burying that hatchet, the hedgehog knew he was going to be in this for the long haul, a campaign of undermining her defences culminating in a savage over-the-top offensive his only chance of coming out on top. But he needed something to get his campaign off the ground, a couple of tiny little irksome details just to edge his flatmate off-balance – what was it that really got under the ex-Legionnaire's skin? _As if you had to ask_; a slow, dangerous smile crept out from its hiding place, magnifying to an all-out devilish chuckle as Shadow just knew the answer to that one;_ just leave it today, then tomorrow, you just run rings around her and make sure she can't do anything. And that's nothing compared to what I'm going to do Sunday…_

XXX

As far as Julie was concerned, the only thing wrong with every day was the fact that you actually had to get up to actively take much of a part in it; so it was that, with her customary cavernous yawn and grumblings about the evils of the morning, the echidna eventually decided that she'd better get something like awake if she wanted to achieve anything in the day and bad-temperedly blinked her eyes open. The picture was a little blurry at first, but gradually bits and pieces began to swim hazily into view and make a little more sense; _ah, there's what we need_; the dressing table near the wardrobe poked up into her field of vision and, dimly recollecting that she had her essentials kitted out in one of the drawers, Julie threw off the covers and made to stand up.

"Hey, whoa", something burst into the audio field like an atomic bomb going off, "that's a sight I could do without seeing this early".

It was only reflex that snatched the blanket up for her despite the fact she was wearing her normal nightgown; terror at the sudden shock leant her strength she knew it was going to demand back with interest later on, but for now the jolt of adrenaline blew out all the cobwebs and no mistake. Shooting her legs back into a more defensive posture the echidna looked around wildly, trying to see who was in here with her; there was a sudden flash of nothingness against the magnolia of the left-hand wall and her panicked eyes focussed on it without a second thought; a second later and with an aggrieved groan, Julie collapsed back into bed, the soft pillows cushioning her fall as she held one hand over her eyes, feeling the endorphins racing around her body to combat the results of such a panic so early in the morning,

"Shadow", lifting the palm of her hand a crack she snarled at the hedgehog sat patiently one the stool near the dressing table, leaning forwards with an almost eager look on his face, "what in the spirit's most holy names are you doing here?"

"Whatever you tell me to".

_Okay, that was unexpected_; a frown creased her face as she tried to digest his words; _whatever I want him to – that doesn't make sense. Why would he be…oh yeah_; suddenly the mists cleared before her and she knew what he was up to, why that unusual answer had been the one to cross his lips; _that's why. Oh the possibilities…_

"I see", a flicker of recognition passed the hedgehog's face; he must have been hoping it would have taken her a second longer to guess his intentions, "well, this is an interesting predicament you're in, isn't it?"

"Oh yes, yes it is", something about his almost puppyish expression and false, over-excited voice grated very slightly on her nerves but she let it pass, revelling in the moment, "so, what can I do for you?" She took her time, she knew she had plenty; relaxing luxuriously and snuggling down into the warm embrace of the blankets surrounding her, she looked directly across at the hedgehog's seat and smiled,

"Well, having been so rudely awoken", she paused for a second, just long enough to let Shadow begin to look a little put out before continuing, "I need a kick-start for the morning – go get me some breakfast, and make it a decent one". Immediately he sprang to attention, leaping off his seat and hanging on her every word, question shooting from his lip like a machine gun round,

"Sure, what would you like? Coffee? Toast?"

"Sounds good", Julie agreed, sizing up her options and quickly coming to a decision, "get me a large mug of coffee and four, no, what the hell let's go nuts, make it six slices of toast, medium brown, oh and don't forget the marmalade. Why are you still here?" She suddenly snapped as Shadow stood still trying to memorise her request; _always wanted to do that – hmm, nice snap in there, Xenin eat your heart out_; "go, go!" Her only answer was the rush of air and suddenly whump of the door as it was opened at high speed, the trademark signs of Shadow's exit. _Oh yes_; settling down in the blanket of luxury that she now floated upon, Julie let her eyes drift closed, not quite able to dispel her triumphant smirk as she relived that first order she'd given out over and over in her head; _this is the life_.

XXX

_This is not the life_; she didn't even know how long she'd been here like this, pretty much helpless under Shadow's constant on-hand scrutiny, the black hedgehog watching, just sitting there and watching her as he waited for her next command, which he would unhesitatingly obey to the best of his ability as long as he could see the point behind it. Her back was starting to go numb and she was certain bed-sores were developing on her rear but every shift of position, every tiny twitch generated by her muscles was instantly spotted and brought along the remark she'd begun to loathe intently,

"Are you all right? Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No"; it was the only answer her tightened lips could grate through themselves audibly; the urge to move was so bad now, her legs were starting to send pins and needles shooting up through her hips as they resented their sudden redundancy but she wouldn't give in; she knew what he was doing and why – it was all just a matter of outlasting him and if there was one thing Julie-Su did very well indeed it was endure. _It must be hours now_; without something to mark the passage of time she was forced to rely on her own rudimentary guesswork to estimate how long she'd been sat like this; _he can't have much left in him – his patience isn't that great. Any second now he'll give this one up_.

It had started when, having polished of the breakfast he'd brought her, Julie had made to get up and take the tray out only to have it whipped from under her nose, cutting her movement off dead; a few seconds later Shadow reappeared and sat down again, looking into her expectantly as she tried to take in what had just happened.

"Umm", she had to take a pause as she tried to reason through what had just happened and failed, "I was going to do that". His face, the way his face had imploded in on itself was all at once comic and not a bit alarming; in the tone a priest might use as if cursed at with the most unholy words of blasphemy, he'd gasped at her like a fish out of water,

"Move? You m,move; I won't hear of it", he'd shaken his head determinedly, folding his arms as a statement of intent, "you don't need to do anything today Julie; leave it all to me and you just relax. Anything you need, anything at all, just let me know and I'll be there and back before you know it", the hedgehog had fixed her with a resolved glare for a second before sinking back to his seat, poised and expectant once more, "you're having a completely relaxing day for a change; you deserve it and I'm going to make sure it happens, get it?"

"Yeah", the thought of a completely lazy day, of just lying there with nothing to do; after a life structured around always being in some kind of motion when not asleep the idea was just too tempting to pass up – settling down once more, Julie lay still for a moment before making her next request, "I guess I am owed a day off after having to clear up your mess for the past two weeks", oddly enough he didn't react to her gloating leer but she was too far gone in her joy to acknowledge it, "so, next thing, I need…"

It had seemed so perfect then; now she was kicking herself mentally for not actually realising Shadow's game plan; though she was doing the ordering, somehow he was the one with the winning hand as he was actually doing something. He was keeping her a virtual prisoner in bed by means of his superior speed at the same time as, she glowered at him as she realised just how well he'd fine-tuned his performance, not doing any more than following his self-imposed instructions to the letter; by literally doing everything for her, she was left with nothing to do and the boredom was becoming absolutely mind-numbing. _And as if that weren't bad enough_; somehow she kept her discomfort off her face at the same time as she pressed her legs together; _I really, really need to go – I know he can't do that for me but in the mood he's in at the moment it wouldn't surprise me if he came back with a bucket._ This was her final, desperate gambit; she knew she couldn't go on like this much longer and had to wear him down; patience wasn't his strongest point so she refused to give him any more orders, ensuring she at least had some company in her nihilistic nirvana. So the two foes remained locked together in a silent, bitterly contested game, and both knew there could be only one winner.

Suddenly, it was all over; the swing of the bedroom door made her heart suddenly stop as the truth struck her right between the eyes; _he's gone_. Shadow had just bolted, gone right out the door and away – he wasn't there any more; _that means, I can move_; as though reading her mind her legs gave a sudden little spasm of joy, aches and pains flaring all the way along their length as long-dormant muscles powered up again; _I won, I just beat him_; a triumphant yell was building, she could feel it humming away inside, gathering impetus on it's way to the surface as her arms began to slide upwards, the blanket sloughing away and freeing them up as she once more quaffed from the sweet cup of victory; _champion…_

Then the door banged open again; instantly, as she saw what Shadow held in his hands all thoughts of winning died, replaced instead by cold, naked fear; goose-bumps rising onto her skin, Julie couldn't stop herself trembling as a tiny peep of a voice, all she had left now that the energy powering up her winning yell had been dissipated forever, came quavering into the silence,

"What, what's _that _for!" He was a good actor, she had to give him that; his face never twitched as he looked down upon her, fatherly gaze and smile reaching out to her in all its cloying, stifling glory,

"Well I knew you'd need to freshen up so I got this ready. Now hold still, this won't take long", he carefully put the basin of lukewarm water down and unwrapped the flannel from his arm, dunking it in at the same time as cry out the name of the most awful, distressing experience that he'd ever been exposed to pre-Enerjak, the worst torture he knew of; the most degrading single act ever carried out on him throughout his recovery following the attack of the Metal Overlord,

"Blanket bath!"

XXX

It took every iota of his willpower but he somehow managed it; save a slight twitch his face remained impassive as Julie erupted up and to the side, throwing herself away from him at the same time as bellow,

"No, no way, not in this life time, ever!"

"But", he tried to sound wounded as the echidna scrambled to her feet, breathing raggedly at the same time as regard the damp flannel he was holding as though it were an unsheathed katana, "but you need…"

"I need to move for the spirit's sake!" Julie shouted back at him, all pretence of calm well and truly torn to shreds as her frustration finally boiled over, "I've been caged for the past, oh I don't even know how long, by you, and don't kid me that you've just been trying to help". The finger she thrust out at him could have put a dent in a concrete post as he just stood and listened, watching her red face continue its tirade as he tried to store up the reserves necessary for what was sure to be coming next,

"I know your game boy – you want me to accept your apology by trying to annoy it out of me, well fat chance sonny", she dusted her hands off in front of his dramatically, sneering arrogantly as she continued her rant at a slightly more relaxed pace, "you think that'll get you in, not a hope, not a snowball's in hell – it'll take more than just sitting still for a couple of hours to crack me"; _you think I didn't prepare for that?_; the sudden thought nearly snapped his resistance from within – he had to exercise his control completely to withstand it, "now I am going to get dressed, get dinner and get on with the day you've been trying to deprive me of and if you try, if you so much as think about stopping me; wham!" Julie's fist met her open palm at high speed; the noise was still bouncing off the walls as she stormed forwards to the wardrobe and flung to doors open, picking out something to wear for the weekend.

Considering it was a pretty much impossible task he'd set himself to start with, he did well; his eyes remained nonchalant even if he had to bite his lips sealed shut to avoid laughing as Julie's shoulders suddenly slumped forwards; _don't laugh – laugh and she will hurt you_. Somehow even the warning of imminent pain couldn't quell his mirth; the urge to collapse completely pounded ever stronger as the echidna began to turn around, face set in a rictus grimace as she spoke without moving her lips,

"Shadow, one last errand for you", he tried to look attentive at the same time as clutch onto the nearest wall for support for his juddering stomach muscles, "I don't know how you did it or where you put them and I don't really care, but if you have a grain of sense in your head you'll get them now before I rip your legs off and stab you through the heart with them". A single cheep of laughter slipped through the net; somehow it was the pebble that started the avalanche of Julie's anger as, framed by the yawning empty space behind her the echidna bellowed at him point-blank,

"Go and get my clothes out of whatever hidey hole you've hidden them in, give them all back to me in immaculate condition and then disappear, completely, for a very, very long time, as much for your safety as my sanity! Get going! NOW!"

XXX

"Evil!" As the cloud of steam hissed upwards to obscure his face Shadow snickered across at where Charmy was trying to act accusing at the same time as try not to laugh too much, "evil, evil, evil, evil…_evil!_"

"But very funny", Mighty chipped in from the settee, glancing over at the mound of pressed laundry Shadow had created before adding, "though could you have phoned us in advance? I mean, it was a bit of a shock to come back from work to find something like that waiting on the doorstep". Having a hanger gripped in his teeth at the time, Shadow had to hang up the shirt he'd just finished before answering the armadillo's query,

"Hey, I left a note", the hedgehog defended before smirking, "besides, what would I have done if any one of you'd have said no? I wasn't going to shuttle these over to Knuckles' place just to shift them back next day, especially 'cause he doesn't have an iron".

"That's very true, but come on", Charmy acknowledged the logic behind the hedgehog's argument before starting a new tack of his own, "what were we supposed to think; we get home from a hard day's slaving for the guardians and what do we find? Bin bags", the bee feigned incredulity as he stood tall and gaped down at an imaginary object somewhere near his feet, "six or so bin bags sitting on the doorstep with a tiny note of explanation saying you'll pick them up tomorrow; I thought you were kicking her out for a minute".

"Nah", the hedgehog answered with a shake of his head, pulling the iron in his hand up from where it had been gliding over the back of the new shirt he'd been working on and inspecting the creases with a professional eye, "much as it's been tempting occasionally I don't think I could sling her out the door now; if nothing else the const of repairs to the front door step would cripple my buildings insurance policy – I don't know about your insurers but I'm not too sure mine cover damage by raging ex-Dark Legionnaire".

"Probably not", Charmy agreed before shooting a filthy look from the corner of his eyes, "but I'm sure ours don't cover damage by clumsy armadillo". Mighty groaned, the magazine held loosely in her powerful hands flopping forwards over her face, muffling her voice somewhat as she replied,

"Am I ever going to hear the end of this?"

"What do you think?"

"I, er", loathe as he was to interrupt the brewing arguments between the Chaotix team-mates, Shadow knew he didn't have enough pieces to take even a vague guess of the picture Charmy was trying to describe, "I miss something?"

"Yeah, too bad Mighty didn't", the bee commented caustically, seemingly immune to the withering glare being transmitted to the back of his neck as he continued, "I was in the kitchen, last Thursday this would have been, just getting some breakfast with Esp; next thing we know there's an almighty thud, a girlie scream, a sound like someone rolling a couple of paint tins down a steep hill and then this awful, damned loud crunch. I immediately thought the worst and rushed into the hall and what do I see?" Shadow simply shrugged at the rhetorical question and, seemingly spurred on by such a symbol, Charmy threw his hands up in the air, a finger spearing the reclined but far from relaxed form of Mighty, "there she is, crawling out the wreckage of the cupboard in front of the stairs; gone clean through the door like the world's most lethal bowling ball".

"Str-rike", Shadow quipped gently before raising his eyebrows at where the armadillo's expression was growing ever blacker, "so what happened? You didn't do a Sonic special did you?" _That did the trick_; recognising her ears prick up, Shadow knew he had Mighty attention as she turned to regard him,

"No, well, I don't think so; what's one of them?"

"Forgetting to open the door before you try and walk through it", Shadow smiled fondly, catching the hint of a grin on her face before she could completely smother it and moving in for the kill, "ninety-nine times out of a hundred that's an argument you'd come off worse in; guess you're the one in a hundred exception".

"Lucky me", the armadillo grunted before flipped her publication down into her lap and kicking her legs up and around, coming to a halt in a sitting position and looking across at Shadow directly, half-reluctant half-accepting expression beginning to slip over her face as she shook her head, "could have happened to anyone – I get out the bathroom, just thinking about breakfast and heading for the stairs when I trip over my shoelace; face first into the carpet I go. Just my luck I'm right on the lip of the stairs and, it's not my fault my shell's so heavy, it starts pulling me down, I do what comes naturally and curl up – next thing I know, crunch. It was a spur of the moment job – believe me I didn't like spending most of the afternoon getting the replacement fitted any more than you did so quit looking at me like that". Suitably chastised, Charmy averted his eyes to elsewhere as Shadow shook his head, picturing it all so perfectly and, somehow, letting his mind transubstantiate the part played by Mighty, replacing her with another Mobian and finding the whole scenario funny just in doing so; _yeah, that is just something Julie would do – complete accident but only she could do it_.

A couple of minutes later, just after Vector had returned from his stint at 'rock-watch' and brewed up some herbal refreshment by Mighty, Shadow quickly paired up the last set of socks and, checking outside to see with immense satisfaction the sun just starting to dip below the horizon, began picking at the pile he'd created to fold each article of clothing and place it in one of the fresh bin bags he'd requisitioned from the Chaotix's storage space under the sink. It was a slow but carefully done task; after all, he'd spent the better part of the last two hours ironing all this lot flat; he wasn't going to ruin all his hard work by rushing to get it home.

"That you done f'the night? Y'could start on ours if you wan' the practise?"

"Er", trying to feign deep contemplation Shadow steepled his fingers, "how to put this politely…no. But to answer your question, yep, I'm done, done again and out of here. Oh", he pulled up suddenly, first two bags out of five swinging as he threw them over his shoulder, struck by the sudden thought, "unless any of you can help me". He saw all three of the Chaotix present share a mutual glance before Vector, acting spokesMobian as usual, came up with the answer,

"How?"

"I need to get to Julie tomorrow as well and haven't got…"

"Again?" Mighty overrode him, looking at his ironing agog, "haven't you tortured the poor girl enough with this?"

"Nowhere near as much as she has me", Shadow retorted crisply, remembering with venom the cruel expression gloating all over the echidna's face as she let him in on her little play on words and set down the gauntlet he'd had no choice but to take up, "I tried apologising for acting like such an ass but will she accept it? No, so I have to annoy it out of her and as you lot are the epitome of annoyance", bringing his free hand towards him in a bare-faced plea the hedgehog appealed to the better natures of the three Mobians before him who were currently digesting his earlier statement, "please sensei, teach me all you know. What other sneaky tricks can I use to bring down the great stubborn tank that is Julie-Su?"

For a second he feared disappointment but then, as he knew it would, Charmy's face suddenly darkened ominously and a cruel snicker broke through his lips,

"Oho, this'll kill her", suddenly aware of his interested audience the bee looked up directly into Shadow's anticipatory, pleading face, "now, what's it worth?" _That got you going_; though he had every intention of telling the hedgehog his plan, he was still able to derive a great deal of pleasure from the way Shadow's face fell through the floor as quickly as Mighty had steamrollered through the door a few days earlier. There was a very brief pause before, with a tone like a static burst right before an imminent impact, Shadow glowered back at him with almost glowing, coal-like eyes,

"It's worth you remaining a viable part of the Chaotix; I don't think you could guard the shrine very well from the Echidnopolis general, unless you had Locke hook up some kind of remote control". Charmy was tempted to try and brazen through that threat, or at least he was until Shadow took a potent footstep forwards and he found himself taking a good half-dozen backwards in the opposite direction and thrusting his hands forwards,

"Okay, okay, I'll spill"; _thank goodness for that_; just as well his words had stopped Shadow's advance, he couldn't have thought of much else that would have, "just, er, don't let her know I let on?"

"Of course, now out with it"; Shadow waited a few seconds, then, at Charmy's beckoning finger, advance over to where the bee had recomposed himself and stooped low enough to let the insect whisper in his ear.

A short time later, filled with malicious chuckling even Eggman would have been hard-pressed to beat in his heyday, Shadow picked up the remains of his ironing and, bidding the rest of the Chaotix a good night, left their abode, still not quite able to force the vestiges of a dark smile from his lips and apparently oblivious to the sudden energy behind him as the rest of the Chaotix present mobbed the smallest member, desperate to be let in on the secret he'd divulged and, if necessary, what they could do to get grandstand seats for the resultant fall-out.

XXX

This time it was a real struggle to open her eyes; not only was she having to actually wake up in the morning which was a hard enough struggle on its own, but the memory of what had gone on the previous night still loomed large in Julie's mind. Her entire day, or to be more precisely whatever of the day had been left when she'd finally managed to intimidate Shadow into going to fetch her clothes back from wherever it was he'd buried them, had consisted of laborious drudgery as she cleaned, hovered and meticulously dusted anything and everything that had crossed her mind as even remotely needing a clean, hoover or dust. By the time Shadow had actually reappeared which a few large sacks containing her belongings and an innocent comment that he'd had to make sure they were immaculate before he could even begin to countenance giving them back to her, it was a sign of how apathetic her emotion state, clobbered ruthlessly into the dirt by mind-numbing boredom, had become that she hadn't even been able to muster the energy to beat him up.

Instead, barely registering anything other than the need to consign this awful passage of hours to the waste bin of memory, Julie had just taken her kit and stored it away before falling into bed, awaiting sleep that was a long time coming. _But now, nice as it was_; though she barely remembered her dreams, the ex-Dark Legionnaire was almost certain she didn't have nightmares and, going on the logic, was prepared to take the rough with the smooth on this occasion; _I have to face the brave new dawn, and if any smart-arsed, mouthy hedgehogs try and stop me this time_; a snarl lit up her face as she threw off the covers and a gauntlet at the same time; _they are going to get their backsides kicked so hard their tails'll shoot out their foreheads. Now_; an ominous rumble from somewhere in the region of her abdomen demanded she pay attention to it and sort out her priorities accordingly; _plan so far, get breakfast, then think about punishing Shadow. Okay, off we go…_

Luckily he hadn't repeated the same trick he'd used before; snagging the first thing she saw off the rail in the wardrobe, Julie allowed herself to smile in reminiscence as she suddenly remembered his rule from what felt like years ago – no cheap laughs. Well, the previous day had been a cheap laugh at her expense; as she tugged the sweater over her head and rearranged her dreadlocks, making a note to sort out her mechanical augmentation as soon as she got the chance to as it was approaching six month since she'd had an in-depth look at it, Julie took a long look in the bedroom cabinet mirror, decided that was as good as it needed to be and taking a couple of steps, pulled open the bedroom door.

And walked headlong and helpless into the teeth of Shadow's next avenue of attack.

_No – he wouldn't_; even as she tried to raise something like resistance, push away the visions that even now titillated and teased her imagination as she licked suddenly dry lips, pupils mere pinpricks of horror, she knew it had to be true, there was nothing else he could do to make her feel like this; _Shadow you…you… - it could have been anything but this!_

XXX

It had been an early morning coupled with copious amounts of sweat, occasional tears and bad language galore, but as far as he was concerned the sudden gasp echoing through the kitchen door made it all worthwhile. Relaxing, Shadow allowed himself enough time for a smug smile, just a short one, as he basked in his completion of Charmy's original idea. A sudden bang broke that train of thought almost immediately and dragged his attention back to the pan at his hands, rolling the thick sausages he'd brought the previous evening over to ensure one side of them didn't crisp while the other side froze. A sudden noise at his back made him glance over his shoulder; _not a second too soon_; somehow he couldn't help but grin evilly at the sight stood in the doorway to the kitchen, the way Julie's huge eyes and slightly parted, almost panting lips combined with her body posture to give the impression of someone who'd just walked in on something that was at the same time their idea of paradise and their worst nightmare. _And believe me_; pricking one of the bangers in the frying pan, the ebon hedgehog could barely suppress a shudder of pleasure as he saw the juice from inside run clear, an indication that they were well and truly cooked; _no matter how much you might think this is bad, it can always get worse_;

"Ah, come on in Jules, just dishing up now", her eyes flickered to him and he did his best to keep his expression cheery rather than outrightly smug, "right, here we go; nothing like a fry-up on a weekend to make the rest of the day go like a song hey?"

"But", once more her gaze was drawn magnetically to the table before her, the full spread that her eyes were currently banqueting on complemented by the odours overpowering her nasal receptors, making her mouth water, "but, I'm dieting…"

"Julie", with a shake of his head Shadow gave a not-entirely melodramatic sigh as he spelt out the truth she seemed to be blind to, "you look fine as you are, now enough of this, sit down", he gestured forcefully towards the seat opposite his own; there were a few last desperate seconds of resistance before her will capitulated entirely, her stomach riding roughshod over any noble notions of abstinence as it demanded its due. When he was sure she was ready and glowering up at him, he slapped on an affable smile and, holding the pan by the tip of its handle to prevent the volatile food in front of it spitting up at him, Shadow sauntered over and began to tip the results of his frantic morning of impromptu cookery onto her plate. At her first glance inside the frying pan, Julie's face went white,

"No, Shadow, you can't; I'm not that…" Her words fell on deaf ears as at least half-a-dozen sausages and a few extra rashers of bacon tumbled onto her plate, splatting down into the baked bean sea and nuzzling up into the valleys created by mostly buried slices of toast, protruding from under the bean's sauce like the skeletons of long-drowned ships at low tide. The calorie count spiralled up and away into numbers uncountable as she simply stared at the sight in front of her, apparently unaware that her hands were steadily inching towards the utensils to the side of the plate as Shadow topped his own, much smaller platter off.

"Right then", he turned around to put the frying pan back on the hob and switch the cooker off, giving everything a chance to cool down before it needed to be washed up, "dig in – oh", he feigned surprise as he saw Julie already launched into an all-out offensive against her meal, "you already have. Righty-ho then"; picking up his own utensils with a smirking smile, Shadow sliced the end off a sausage and speared it with his fork, bringing it up to eye level for a momentary inspection before popping it into his mouth.

"You know", a voice muffled through a mouthful of mush reached his ears a few seconds later and he looked across, not at all surprised to see Julie glare across at him, intimidating appearance in no way diminished by the trickle of bean juice on her chin as she grated, "I really hate you".

"You better forgive me then", he let her look confused for a second before finished it off with the coup de grace, "otherwise I'll start wheeling out the big guns and you'll really start regretting you kicked this whole thing off". There was a silence for a second before, with a metallic bang, Julie slammed her knife and fork onto the table and half-stood, leaning across to boom her next words right into Shadow's smirking, smiling face,

"Forgive you? After this, after the hell you've made my weekend – spirits above, I never thought I'd say it but I'll be grateful to get back to work. You've ruined everything and nearly driven me completely out of my mind, and you want me to turn around and _accept_ your apology!"

"Well", after a theatrical pause Shadow's answer was a carefully measured drawl, "I do yes, and you do too unless you want this to carry on to next week; I don't know about you but I'm starting to enjoy myself". Her glare hardening into a basilisk beam, just a shade short of an actual Look, Julie spoke back through clenched teeth,

"Listen to me Shadow; if this continues into next week you won't be alive come next weekend".

"Ah, you've given me so many death threats the words have lost all meaning".

"Oh really", Julie's fists bunched into the tablecloth; she'd teach this upstart what it meant to really get on her bad side, "try me, come on, I dare you. One thing, one little thing and I'll snap, that's how close to the edge I am right now – you say I'm not threatening, put me to the test. You try anything and you'll see how scary I look when I'm really steamed".

There was a pause, a long one; _come on_; more so than she was letting on she was spoiling for this fight, a chance to pound her flatmate as legitimately as he'd had her a prisoner the day before; _I dared you, you've never let me down yet – one little thing and the fists start flying_. Then he moved, she tensed, this was it, he was giving her the excuse to give him what was coming to…her heart stopped beating as she saw what was in the hand currently snaking her way. She aught to stop him but for some reason the fight had blown out of her like a punctured balloon and she couldn't even protest as Shadow's fork ferried its cargo over her plate and then dumped it there, adding a sausage to her already full meal. Completely outfoxed, Julie looked up mute only to be hit by the forthcoming verbal volley,

"There we go; had to get rid of that", Shadow merely beamed up at her, not betraying a morsel of fear as he carried on, "can't take a full meal too early, though by the looks of things you obviously can. Now eat up quick or it'll get cold; I was slaving over this for ages, the least you can do is choke it all down with a smile". As her legs seemed to give way beneath her, mind still positively reeling from the hedgehog's audacious and simply blameless manoeuvre, Julie just complied with his order, head down and chewing away stolidly, taste almost lost on her numbed state as she tried to absorb just how well Shadow had landed his hit and tried desperately to even begin to come up with a plan to top that one.

_You evil git_; somewhere at the very back of his mind even his own conscious was starting to plague him about this little trick; _after all the exercises she did to try and make herself feel good again you have to spoil it like this – look at her, she's all quiet now because of that nasty comment– hey_; he fought back with his own logic, explained his point of view; _she asked for it, catching me out like she did, and what about those exercises? She's damn good-looking as she is, I don't want her to change at all, I…er_; suddenly looking down at his own food, Shadow began shovelling his fry up where it was supposed to go in an effort to hide the thoughts in his mind, hoping against hope his face hadn't given him away this time.

The rest of the meal, indeed, most of the morning, passed in silence, each Mobian lost within their thoughts and plans for the near future as the situation between them remained unchanged, no matter how much effort had gone into reversing their positions. Julie still held onto the trump card and Shadow was doing all in his power to take it off her, but, somehow, the events of that morning, and certainly the events of the morning after, changed the rules they were playing by completely and forever.

A/N: Ohh, sneaky shadowing at the end there, just give you enough of a line to keep you honest while I get cracking on the next chapter. Before I do, though, I ask that you read the following with seriousness; as I mentioned at the chapter beginning, last time I update I missed off all my reader appreciation bits because I updated from an old disk. But also missing last time and as such much overdue was this.

I would like to give my thanks to a man who's spirit of adventure, of looking the possibility of death in the face with a smile and typical Australian spirit gave me a good deal of confidence in my own abilities; surely if he could tame wild snakes and deadly beasts in their home turf, I could at least attempt to start my writing career and see what everyone else thought about my style? I wrote the first chapter of Angel and Darkness and Ice, the beginning story in my works, straight after watching one of his shows and I've never looked back; thus I would like now to express my profound grief and regret at the passing of Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter extraordinaire and one of the people I drew a great deal of inspiration from. My prayers are with his mourning wife and children; the world is a poorer place now his spirit of adventure and love for the natural world has gone from it.

So long mate and thank you for everything.

Obsidian Dreamer.


	25. Chapter 25 Love Hating or Hate Loving?

Chapter 25 – Hate Loving or Love Hating?

A/N: Wow, didn't take as long as I thought it would this time; just as well as I can now talk once more to an oft-missed reviewer:

HHH – Welcome back to the fold, oh sufferer of the dreaded flu; had a cold recently myself, so I feel your pain. Anyhow, Shadow wasn't being sadistic, he was helping Julie all weekend long – she just wasn't seeing it that way. She'll come round…eventually (Evil author laugh as a fevered mind dreams up torments to inflict upon the Sonic universe).

OIS – Umm, fattening goodness all around it seems – of course no-one could say no to a full fry-up, bacon and sausage feast straight after getting up! And why do you say I'm evil, when have I ever put any of my characters in breakneck, life-or-death situations? Only thirty or so times, so I can't be that wicked to them right…?

S2L3 – A couple more pranks in this and the previous chapter for you to feast you eyes upon; what made you think Shadow was going to come out on top in the first place anyway?

_Nope, not a clue_; slapping both hands into her forehead to stop her hair blocking her view, Julie shot a look at clock on the lounge wall and cursed fearfully under her breath; she really didn't have an option now, she just had to get going or she was going to be late. A snap decision loomed up before her and, with a final bad-tempered huff the ex-Legionnaire threw her hands up at it all, striding away from the detritus now littering the living room and telling herself she'd sort it all out when she got home. Still the knowledge rankled as she swung her bag over her shoulder and headed for the front door, doing a quick spot of mental maths to make sure she still had enough time to get to the EST HQ in time to start her shift despite the anomaly in her normal routine; _I don't get it_. Gritting her teeth she tried to force the issue from her mind but this time it seemed the old perfectionist spirit, installed ruthlessly into her by Xenin and yet to be fully exercised by life outside the Dark Legion, wouldn't be dissuaded, returning to the parapet it was lodged behind and sniping away merrily as she went over the same old argument again; _I've had this apartment upside down, inside out and back to front looking, so where the hell could it have gone? There's just no way I could have lost it in this house!_

It had started first thing in the morning; now as a rule she and the start of the day never really saw eye to eye, especially not at the start of a week – of all the days to get up on, Monday was by far and away the worst. Something completely unexpected and, Julie shook her head in chagrin at the truth as she pulled her hood up over her head and took her first step outside into the drizzle that had been parked resolutely over Echidnopolis since late Sunday evening, usually maddeningly irksome always happened to her just as she was trying to sort herself out in time for the coming seven days. _And today's no bleeding exception – of all the days it would just have to be today, and right when I need to speak to that hair stylist I went to last time. Nothing special but at least she kept the hot tongs off my metal dread._

Once more, as she had countless times already, Julie ran through the order of events, starting with when she'd first got dressed and stood up only to realise she was somehow off-balance; checking her pockets swiftly, she immediately saw the problem – her purse was missing is normal counterweight at her other hip, namely the phone she usually kept in her left pocket. Unfortunately, recognising the problem and solving it were to completely different things; she must have gone through that house like a whirlwind, ripping up cushions and moving chairs like there was no tomorrow in a frenzied attempt to find her missing appliance but to no avail. Her original theory, that it had slipped out of her pocket and down the back of the sofa on Sunday, where both she and Shadow had been sprawled for most of the day watching videos and generally lazing off their far too heavy breakfast, had quickly been blown out the water and from there a hundred and one different avenues had opened up and each had proved to be equally fruitless upon exploration. In the end time had decreed she would just have to lump it and go without for the day; the cold, hard fact was that she had to go to work and if she hadn't moved out the apartment when she had she wouldn't have made to EST HQ in time. So now, driving forwards against the pouring sky, Julie put her head down and let her mind pore backwards, trying to think if there was anywhere she hadn't looked, some little crevasse the small appliance could have been hiding in she hadn't yet explored; try as she might, however, her memory was, as of yet, failing her as miserably as the weather.

XXX

"Still raining is it?" The sardonic comment as she shook out her rain-drenched hood hit right in the irony spot; looking over at where Yesa, the desk sergeant sat primly, the former Legionnaire countered with one of her own,

"Ah, but where would we be without your fascinating observations and diligence to details Yesa? What'll be your next trick, actually managing to find shoes in a shoe box?"

"Maybe; wipe your feet", the normally laid-back echidna suddenly barked as Julie made to step off the front door mat of the EST HQ, "some of us have to clean this place up before we go home at night". Looking at the already mud-caked entrance way, the water and dirt congealing together to form a messy, half-baked clay, Julie shuddered,

"Ow, is Kusl expecting you home late?"

"Now and every time a spot of water hits the damn street", the sergeant growled in reply, watching as Julie moved past as though calculating how many seconds each one of her footsteps was shaving off the time he left himself to mop up at the end of the day. Padding quickly down the hallways she knew like the back of her hand by now, Julie breezed along until she pushed through the door to her workstation, typing pool four. Briefly nodding a curt hello to Huka, hunched over in his normal station right in front of the door as always, Julie's eyes flicked left for a second and she gave a soft sigh; _damn, seems a little smaller without her here somehow_. That was certainly true; the physical space left by the absence of Nesi, currently enjoying her honeymoon with her husband, was miniscule in comparison to the gap left in the office life as Julie often described it – the ebb and flow of random bits of chit-chat and useless if entertaining messages between the echidnas who staffed the pool. Still, it wasn't to be helped; forging her way through the aisle and whispering curt morning benedictions on the way there, Julie eventually sat down at her desk and booted the computer in front of her into life, running the password she'd been allocated over and over in her mind like a mantra. Logging into the system, the first thing she did was check her daily worksheet; a single glance to that, followed swiftly by one at the clock, told the ex-Legionnaire that today, for all the misery the weather was heaping on it, was going to go swiftly if nothing else.

It was a perfectly ordinary day; in fact the closest the whole office came to excitement was when one of the older workers Julie didn't know slipped on a patch of wet floor and came perilously close to burying Nesi's empty desk under a mountain of printer paper. Aside from that, nothing was happening and in such an atmosphere of dreary calm Julie toiled alongside everyone else; pulling up files for cross-referencing, filling in data files for the new and habitual criminals the officers on the street managed to haul in and sneaking in a quick hand of Hearts or three when the system was feeling sluggish in giving her new work to do. It was such an ordinary day that, when the time came for something extra-ordinary to occur, the routine had Julie embedded so far into it that she didn't react to it quite as quickly as she might have done otherwise.

_Ohh, suckered_; along with pretty much the whole of the typing pool Julie winced as the first peep of the forthcoming trill broke and an unearthly silence swept over the assembled echidnas; _someone's in for a grilling later. They better hurry up and shut that thing off actually_; her thoughts evolved after a couple of seconds of the ringing persisting, followed by a virtually tangible groundswell of upwelling suspicion and confusion; _man, I wouldn't want to be whoever owns that tone when Remington gets hold of them…_

Her hands fell flat on the keyboard as quickly as her jaw fell open and the blood was vortexed away from her cheeks; now, of all times now, had her brain actually broken out of its comfortable pattern and made the connection her ears had been screaming for. Feeling her head tilt down without being aware of her neck moving, Julie panned her vision down to see with mounting horror, as she knew she would, her bag giving a rhythmic jiggle in time with the inharmonious melody being piped out for the whole of the office to enjoy. _Oh, no, it's me, me he's going to kill_; suddenly she was in motion, far too late to be of any use but desperate to atone anyhow, Julie shot toward her bag, randomly stabbing various protrusions in a desperate attempt to shut her crying phone up; _that's my bloody ring tone!_

XXX

Holding up his customary pen, Remington did his best to hide a slight sigh as he saw the door before him open and Julie sidled in; he had to admit doing what she had done must have taken a bit of bottle as she'd come to him rather than forcing him to leave his precious crossword and go seeking her.

"Okay, usual drill; sit down", he added after a couple of seconds as Julie didn't seem to want to move, instead standing where she was and staring straight ahead – only at his command did she actually enter the office properly and take her seat, the door swinging shut behind her. With another slightly louder sigh, the chief of the EST leaned back in his seat a little and looked across at her directly,

"Julie, sorry if this insults your intelligence but I have to ask, was it your phone that went off in typing pool four about fifteen minutes ago?"

"Yes sir, it was". _Strange_; Remington hadn't done as well as he had without enhancing his ability to empathise with others and right now that ability was sending uncomfortable pangs right into his consciousness; _she sounds angry rather than ashamed – is she worried about something, had to keep her phone on?_ That was the most logical assumption,

"Is, er", he tried to think how best to word his question on the fly, "is there any reason your mobile should be on at all – you know we can make exceptions given extenuating circumstances".

"I do"; again that same guttural growl; somewhat affronted by the seeming lack of repentance displayed, Remington added some edge to his voice and drove it forwards with a little more force,

"Well, assuming these circumstances didn't apply to you, why did it go off? You've read the policy; employees are required to have any personal communication equipment switched off when they enter here, including mobile phones. I'm not too fussed about a first offence, we all forget sometimes, I just want to make sure it's not going to happen again".

At these words it seemed he'd somehow caught Julie's attention; rather than gazing into her lap this time she looked up and across the desk at him; the flame in her eyes made even someone as used to life as he was sit up and take note as the dark smile slit her lips open, allowing the heathen promise within to slip forth,

"Believe me sir, this is never going to happen again; I just need a longer break, say about three quarters of an hour, to make sure of that, if it's okay with you of course?" Smart enough to realise that this was one of those non-negotiable scenarios, Remington merely nodded and gestured towards the office door.

"Very well; just make sure I don't see you in this office again this side of New Year, okay?" She merely nodded and stood up, looking to leave quickly and, judging by the way she nearly wrenched the door off its hinges pretty determinedly too. Something had really gotten her goat this time and he'd be damned if he could think of what it was; in fact he was so occupied with this thorny little problem that by the time his eye was snared by the puzzles page of his paper the break bell had rung again; _that'll be another night job then_.

XXX

_He got it from somewhere yesterday and made sure it was switched on, then he put it in my bag some time in the morning, when I was still asleep_; hindsight being the perfect vision it always was, Julie could freely curse herself for not seeing the plan back at its beginning and nipping it in the bud before it could bloom and deliver this noxious fruit. Shadow had set her up royally and dropped her headlong into trouble from a very great height; now she was storming through the drizzle without even a raincoat as her mind screamed the need for vengeance at her and she obeyed it before any and all further considerations. _And of course_; more little thorns of aggravation pricked her as she relieved the memory of her recent disgrace at the hands of her erstwhile mortal foe; _he put it the inner pocket of my bag, hardest bit to get into, just so it can ring for as long as possible, and he sets the volume up to as high as it can possibly go, just to make it all that little bit more unbearable. I swear to you_; she rolled her eyes upwards as though imploring for the might of the ones above to aid her in striking down the one who had fatally wounded her pride;_ when I get hold of him…_

"Hey gorgeous", a sudden oily voice was poured into her ear like a dripping honey, "going my way?"

XXX

He'd given up his lunch break, been forced to postpone Honey's telling him of the disaster that had been her weekend shopping trip and stood out in the pouring rain for the past fifteen minutes under the shelter of nothing but a flimsy plastic veranda in a shop doorway, but somehow the sight of Julie marching past with a face worse than the thunder rolling in the distance made it all worthwhile. _Ha ha, got you_; his psyche grinned smugly as he mentally taunted his housemate, the prelude to the killing blow he was about to deliver; _you walked right into it and never even saw it coming – now you've got no choice but to say it or I can make it just go worse._ Grin threatening to split his head in half, the hedgehog stepped out from his temporary shelter, barely even feeling the moisture in the air as it saturated his fur in a clammy blanket, and quickly nipped across the street. Some little imp of mischief had seized the reins for a second; why else would he be shadowing the partially-cybernetic echidna before him, about a pace or two behind, rather than just revealing himself and sorting this whole business out; _because it's fun_._ You said you won't forgive me Jules_; his eyes narrowed for a second as he tried to think of how best to word his next idea; _well now you get to see how damned aggravating it is having something like that hanging over your head. And that's just too perfect to pass up_; his brain had done it, come up with the way – picking up his pace a touch and stepping as close as he dared, Shadow let his voice become as gentle a purr as he could make it and did the Mobian equivalent of bellowing down the tiger's ear,

"Hey gorgeous, going my way?"

Not for the first time in his life he had reason to be thankful for his lightning reflexes; even as the echidna's knuckles grazed the patch of white fur on his chest he found himself fighting not to laugh, a witty retort already primed for launch on the tip of his tongue,

"Whoa Julie, not here surely"; aside from a heavy growl the echidna didn't reply, merely continuing to press forwards with her fists cocked ready to swing, oblivious to any sort of scene she might be causing as everything apart from the hedgehog in front of her was blotted out in a haze of crimson. _Uh oh, not good_; falling back quickly with one eye over his shoulder to make sure he didn't knock into any one, Shadow was suddenly grateful for the weather's awfulness – at least there was no-one about to witness this quick display of fisticuffs;_ but still_; he weighed up his next moves at the same time as lean back from a strike designed to tear his jaw off from his head; _better get this somewhere a little more discreet_. His quick eyes alighted on an alleyway, a little behind where Julie now stood, ready to storm forwards and attempt to deck him; thinking quickly, the hedgehog threw himself forwards and to the side as she drove in, just about avoiding the headlong charge and coming to his feet in time to back up as she spun on her heel and lashed out; _whew, that was too close_. The air was still skimming over his stomach as he moved quickly to where he needed to go, the wrathful echidna following him like an iron filing drawn to a magnet, only this filing had a mean left hook, a right cross that could derail a subway train and the magnet it was chasing had a great deal of interest in experiencing neither. Suddenly grateful for the respite, Shadow zipped backwards into the welcoming relative privacy of the alleyway and in the second's grace he had before Julie appeared, plotted his next course of action.

XXX

_There!_; her anger had burned off by now, leaving behind it an unsullied core of cold, precise murder to direct her – she knew Shadow was too fast for her to hit in a straight fight, she needed to outthink him if she was to stand a chance of getting her point of annoyance across. The hedgehog looked like he was trying to catch his breath and she gave a feral grin as he hove into view; _bad move pal, there's no elbow room in here and you're already puffing like a chimney_. Her endurance was going to beat him, just as she'd always thought – he was all about speed, in a lasting fight there was no way he could come out on top because he'd run out of steam too quickly. Her military training sized up her surroundings and with a mocking chuckle decided it liked what it saw; the alley actually grew narrower the further along its length you got and that just meant even less room for him to work with; _plus, as an added bonus_; she raised her fists as she saw his eyes flick to her face; _down here it's harder for people to hear you scream_.

Her face must have betrayed her slightly; he moved a little before she did and because of that her first attack missed wildly – with a slight stab of panic she realised she'd left the back door open a crack and if he put some gas into it he could possibly escape from the trap he'd snared himself in, but no, luckily he didn't see it and backed off rather than pushed around her and back into the open street.

"Hey, Jules, cool it a sec"; _what?!_; his remark would have been a touch humorous had it not been so unbelievable – after everything he'd done to her he expected her to calm down! She responded the best way she knew how, upping her attack speed, fists slashing through the air before her as she went at it hell for leather. Suddenly one of her arms was heavy, something was grabbing it and trying to force it still; she demanded power from her cybernetics and dragged it backwards anyway, seeing Shadow hanging onto the end of her arm like a fish on the end of a fishing line. He stepped forwards out of the blue, reaching for the other hand she'd pulled back, pressing into her as he fought to immobilise both her arms, prevent her from striking; he might even have been about to say something when, having thrown off the shock of such a move, Julie growled and went forwards quite literally headlong; _not nice, not pretty_; she felt heavy contact and wrestled down the slight vertigo caused by the sudden impact jarring her head; _but it damn well works!_

XXX

He saw what was coming but had no chance to disengage; all Shadow was able to do was throw his face to the side as the echidna's forehead thundered forwards at high speed. Brilliant white light burst in front of his eyes as he was rocked right back to his boot soles by the force of the cataclysmic strike, the teeth in his jaw rattling as he stumbled backwards unwittingly, only just able to keep his balance from the blow. Not able to see anything through blurring vision, the hedgehog clapped both hands to his aching cheek and spoke words of pure honesty through muffled lips,

"Sweet Jesus son of the Lord that sodding well _hurt_!"

"Good", his watering eyes homed in on the source of the guttural snarl, picking out Julie's form shimmering through the tears as the ex-Legionnaire clenched her fists again, "because that's nothing compared…"

"Nothing", he shouted back, ignoring the resultant starburst of pain from his face as he tasted a slight trickle of blood in his mouth, "you just bloody well smashed half my face down my throat and you call that nothing!"

"Not compared to what I'm going to do you son of a bitch! Do you realise that I've just been officially cautioned because of you! Two more of those and I lose my job – why the hell did you do something like that?"

This was all wrong; the taste of blood seemed to be stoking up the furnaces of his fury – rather than the wit he'd been expecting to employ here, instead there was only rage to equal Julie's ready to be equipped as it seemed she still couldn't see what she was putting him through,

"Are you really that sodding dumb!" He glared at her, almost pleadingly as she took a step back against her will, thrown violently off track by this unprompted accusation, "why do you think I did it, the same reason I've been doing everything I've done for the past three days – I've been trying like hell to get it through to you and you still don't bloody get it do you?"

"No", just about scraping her collective thoughts together Julie made to reply even if she couldn't see exactly where Shadow was going with this, "but I know for a fact you are about to!" He could have screamed as his hands flew into his head quills, about ready to yank them out in sheer frustration,

"What did I do to deserve this?! You're putting me through an absolute hell and you can't even see you're doing it can you? You just don't care! I've been trying to earn your apology back and everything I do you just ignore or take completely the wrong damn way!"

"Apology?" Against her will a snort of disbelieving laughter broke through her lips as his words started to sink in a little, "wait, wait a minute; you did all this, embarrassed me in front of the entire EST for the _second_ time over something a stupid as _that_! And you want me to actually _accept_ that you're sorry now! Not a bleeding chance!"

"That's just it isn't it?" He threw up his hands in despair; he really was going to have to spell it out for wasn't he? "everything I do and feel about is stupid to you isn't it Julie? Well how about this; I actually give a damn about the fact that you're still sore about the way I acted, I still feel god-awful and ashamed about it; I tried being nice and asking but you weren't having any of it…"

"So you started pulling tricks like this?" She cut him off with a voice dripping sarcasm like acid, face screwed up like she was chewing on a lemon, "and you thought they'd work, how exactly?"

"That's not the point", he thrust through her argument brusquely; he had to make her see where he was coming from here, "don't you get why I'm doing these things – because, amazing as this might sound, I actually want to say sorry to you! I know I ballsed it up royally and you suffered because of it – now you're not accepting anything I do it's a bloody torture. I've been sweating my damn skin off for this for days because it actually _means _something to me, what you think actually means something to me, but you just can't see that!"

"No, because all I can see is Remington marking down a big black blot next to my name at work, all thanks to you", she shot back, rearing back like a cat about to strike even if she was trying to take in what he was saying, "I'm not sure what I prefer; you doing what you're doing now or you as you were before; at least then you weren't screwing things up like you are now";_ what are you saying – he was a robot back then, it was awful_; "in fact I know what I loved more than anything else; that night, on my own, just away from you";_ that was the worst night of my life – why are you saying this?!_; "that was just bliss".

Julie wasn't sure why she'd said what she'd just said, especially when it had all been a pack of lies and untruths, but she couldn't take it back, least of all when Shadow, face blacker than the fur surrounding it, stood tall and darkly powerful to deliver his answer,

"Right"; _don't say anything stupid, please_; "you want out? Fine, go"; _no, no that's too much, don't…_; his finger speared towards the front of the alleyway, away from him and everything he was and could offer, "I'm not going to stop you"; _oh god, if she takes that one up – why the hell did I tell her that lie!_

The tension crackled audibly, almost coalescing to spark off the tip of Shadow's outstretched finger as for a long, long time neither of them moved, nothing moved at all; a silent apocalypse was raging in hearts and minds and neither of them could afford to let up for a second, the merest slip could be enough to precipitate the whole thing. Their eyes were locked onto the eyes of their opposite, each a pair of windows for their partner's glare to blast through and scour for weaknesses, for hope, for anything that might just tip the scale into their favour. The silence dragged on and still neither was aware of the time, or the fact that the rain had become heavier, was running down the sides of the alleyway in great rivulets and soaking the pair of them completely to the skin; none of that mattered now. In fact the only thing that did matter to Julie and Shadow was the Mobian stood less than five feet in front of them, five feet that, unless an effort was made to bridge the gap, might as well have been an eternity.

"You want me to go?" Julie had spoken without moving her lips, the voice a harsh, monotonal growl; Shadow's response was likewise,

"No. You want to leave?"

"No".

"Good", not even registering the cramp in his arm when he dropped it after being tensed for so long, Shadow let it fall to his side and stepped forwards, "let's leave it at that". He said nothing else, he didn't have to, as Julie shimmied to the side to let him past, still not dropping her gaze from his face as he wasn't hers; both kept their eyes closely scrutinising the expression of the other until with an audible whoosh Shadow fired up his jet skates and blasted away into the mist coagulating at the mouth of the alleyway.

XXX

Her knees were suddenly turning to water; she reached out to press her hand into the wall behind her, not feeling the rainwater running down the side of it drench her glove as some much-needed stability was regathered. _Where the hell did that just come from?_; not for the first time in dealing with the ebon hedgehog, Julie found herself wondering out loud why she was acting the way she was – she never lost control in front of people, yet there was no denying the fact she'd just been at least one half of an out-and-out screaming match in a grubby, trash-filled alleyway in the middle of a driving rainstorm; _and all because of him_. Shaking her head, the echidna moved to follow the hedgehog out of the small space between the two buildings on either side of her, running over what had just transpired in her head and becoming more baffled than ever; it wasn't so much the actions that were confusing her, it was the words he'd said that wouldn't leave her mind. Trudging out into the open and suddenly having to grit her teeth against the rain she could have sworn she hadn't felt a few seconds before, Julie raised a hand in front of her face and tried to work out which way led back to the EST HQ and resultant warmth and dryness it was offering, all the time contemplating what the hedgehog had meant, the logic at the centre of his fury. _You're putting me through a torment and you don't even know you're doing it? Not a clue_; she had to give a snort of laughter though, just one, even in the middle of these depressing circumstances; _but 'I tried to be nice' – that's a laugh. What happened over the weekend could be called a lot of things, but I can guarantee you that nothing you did then was nice…_

…_can't I?_

For the rest of that day, throughout the long, cold and wet walk back to her workplace right up until she closed her eyes to sleep that night, Julie looked back over the events of the weekend, regarding them this time through different, this time crimson eyes. Suddenly she found herself ashamed and rebuffed as she was forced to drag a heavy television into the main bedroom and plug it in, set it all up, then complete the whole manoeuvre in reverse as the vain, corpulent god she was worshipping decided there was nothing worth watching on.

Now she was exhausted from an early morning, hot and sore after wrestling with the cooker for hours previously and presenting the fruits of her labours to someone, only for them to try and throw it back in her face, undermine her confidence completely as it stuffed its face with exceeding ill-grace and not a word of thanks.

Her need for revenge on this monster was wholly justified; it was the work of only seconds and the repercussions would be nothing compared to what she'd gone through. Soon there would be a reckoning with the creature that had crippled her with words of pettiness and scorn, she'd see to that.

And all that time, as the scenarios ran through her head with positions reversed, Julie found an idea in her head taking root and growing stronger all the time; the idea that, outlandish and pagan as it sounded to her former thinking, she had taken a step too far in not patching things up with Shadow immediately after his realisation of what he'd done, how badly he'd acted. _After all, his actions towards me were all mistakes and I'm doing this to him in cold blood_; the choice of mental images made her skin creep cold – she lowered her head even further at her work desk, a couple of drops from her still-soaked dreadlocks splashing onto the keyboard; _does that make me worse than him? Am I really being that wicked? And does he really think so much of me and what I think?_

_Why?_

_So many questions…_

XXX

The previous night had been…odd; that was about the best way he could describe it – Julie had (he assumed) been in bed when he'd come in and he felt much the same way himself; he'd just had a simple supper and taken a night out to do some serious thinking of his methods and reasons. The first thing he'd hit upon was an iron certainty; he couldn't carry on like he was for two reasons – the first was that his tricks were no longer having the desired effect; rather than being merely aggravating, they were now becoming almost malicious, starting to drive a further wedge between him and the ex-Legionnaire and he couldn't and wouldn't let that continue any further. Second and more importantly, his last attempt had landed Julie in hot water with authority and that was a serious breach of pranking protocol; he hadn't known just how stringent the EST were about their no-phones policy but ignorance of the law was no defence against it. So that had been the easiest bit out the way; the harder part had come when he had needed to try and sort out what he was going to do next; in absence of intolerably affectionate pranks, what else could he do to try and get back into Julie's good books? He'd had no clue and didn't dare even think about trying to ask one of his other friends – the mere thought of what Sonic could (and knowing the blue blur as well as he did, Shadow had to reason probably would) do with that kind of ammunition in his tank made his skin crawl and quills stiffen in panic. _Hence_; he sized up his target and held in a sigh of relief – at least getting a hearing would be easy; _why we're going for this option_;

"Hey Honey", the petite Mobian looked up from her magazine startled as Shadow set his tray down next to her and smiled, "how's things?"

She seemed to take a second to come up with an answer; in fact if he were to hazard a guess he'd have said she was shocked for him to ask her. After a bemused second and a slight shake of her head however, the smaller Mobian folded her publication in half and slid it smoothly into her bag at the same time as answer him,

"Just about going all right, how about you?"

"Ah, they're not too bad", the hedgehog wheedled, hoping to disguise his true intentions for at least a little while; _ah well_; he saw Honey's eyebrow raise slightly and he gave a shrug; _it was worth a try_; "but listen, mind if I ask you something?"

"I had a feeling that was coming", the echidna smiled before giving a nod and, taking his cue, Shadow put his cards on the table, careful to word his query as innocuously as possible for fear of causing offence,

"Well, I just wanted to know, and I'm not looking for specifics here, but you know Micah?"

"Yes I know Micah; I've been living with him for the past I-don't-know-how-long so I reckon I ought to know him, don't you?"

"Quite, but this is the thing; I'm, er, I just want to know, something like, when he did something wrong, and I mean really, really wrong, how did…how did he try and make up with you?"

The blonde echidna stared straight ahead for a couple of minutes as though not fully comprehending what her workmate had just asked, gawping helplessly like a fish out of water; Shadow was just about to ask his question again in the hope of a better response when she somehow snapped out of it and he braced himself – he could see mischief written all over her shapely little face,

"Oh, now why would you be asking a question like that Shadow?" _She knows_; the hedgehog thought fatalistically to himself, not able to prevent her having her moment; _but that doesn't mean she's not going to milk it before she answers me_; "do I detect a hint of someone caught with his hands in the cookie jar perchance? And what could you, oh saintly one who is forever lecturing me to give my boyfriend a little more of what he wants, what could you have done to earn the wrath of your beloved?" _Okay, that's going too far_; blush just about concealed by a combination of iron will and dark fur, the hedgehog grimaced at the hit and then leant forwards, growling,

"You listen here Blondie; Julie is a lot of things but my 'beloved' is most certainly not one of them – not at the moment anyway", he added almost as an afterthought and half to himself; intrigued, Honey pressed for more information,

"Why; what's she done?"

"She's making me miserable; nothing too unusual in that I'll grant you", the hedgehog quipped with a self-depreciating smile as Honey shook her head and grinned a little, "but this time, nah, now it's different", leaning forwards again he brought his hands into play to really emphasise the point he was making, "the thing is I made a mistake, a really, really big one…"

"Again", Honey cut him off with a snide quip and even snider smile, "nothing unusual there"; _if looks could kill…_; Shadow's answering glower would have dented a bank vault but didn't last as he pressed on with his lamentations,

"…and the thing is I tried saying sorry, but she won't take it. Now everything I do, and I've been, a little bit awkward I'll admit, but it's just to try and get her to realise I'm sorry and accept my apology, you follow? I just need some advice on what to do, 'cause everything I've come up with so far had been a blank".

Pursing her lips for a second Honey sized up the situation; Shadow was certainly being genuine, no two ways about it, and though she was tempted to try and worm her way in to finding out what this thing he'd done actually entailed she resisted the temptation; he was her friend after all. _He needs a good example of what to do – hmm, what has Micah done for me recently, and how did he make up for it, and somehow I don't think a box of chocolates and a bottle of red's quite going to cut it here_; it was actually a taxing little poser, she was quite surprised. Though the great lug she lived with was forever screwing up half a dozen things at once and driving her frequently to the limits of her tolerance, she couldn't with hand on heart say he ever really did anything malicious intentionally; he'd never had to really pull out all the stops to break a shield of ice around her heart because he'd never forced her to erect one in the first place. But then again, there had been that one time…

"Okay", Shadow perked up as, after a minute of gazing off into the distance Honey refocused onto him, "well there was this one time Micah, I know he didn't mean to but I could have killed him for doing it", seeing the question just brewing in the dark face she divulged the secret before Shadow had to ask for it, "I had this favourite little yellow dress I loved, I mean I absolutely loved it; it was my cousin's, a hand-me-down sort of thing, but it was the business and what did he go and do? Only washed it at the wrong temperature with all his coloureds as well", the hedgehog at least had the good grace to flinch on her behalf as she relived that awful moment; squirreling through the damp laundry with mounting dread and hope, only to see her prized possession, limp and defeated, lying crushed beneath a ball of masculine jeans, shrunk to the size of a glove puppet and spattered with so much dye the yellow was hardly visible at all.

"Not good; Sonic did much the same thing once – oh, my mate down on the world below", Shadow tacked on as he became aware of Honey's glance, "he opened the door when the wash was still running; took us half an hour to mop all the suds off the floor. But anyway", with a slight clap he brought them back on track, "what did you do, and more to the point what did he do about what you were doing?" Honey's eyes crystallised into raw shards of bitter spitefulness,

"He got the cold shoulder, and believe me I mean the really cold shoulder; I just completely ignored him for ages, didn't even look at anything he did – even stood him up at a restaurant for half an hour, said I was looking for the right dress to wear. I know, I know", she felt obliged to defend herself at Shadow's horrified look, "childish and stupid, but I was really mad right about then. I thought for a little while we might break it off then but luckily he came through, useless git that he always is, eventually he had to get something right".

_Just as well really_; though she was forever moaning about his personal habits and the fact his memory had all the retentive qualities of a Swiss cheese, Shadow was almost certain that the echidna sat beside him now would be nothing like she was had she not fallen for her current long-term partner. In all honesty he'd been a little worried when she'd let slip that fear of separation as he simply couldn't imagine Honey being on her own; his relief at the final clause in her last statement would surely only be matched by his relief in finding out what it was that Micah had done right,

"So", he wheedled after the pause turned a little too long, Honey having wandered off into her memory bank a little too far to return with any great ease, "what did he get right in the end?"

"Hmm", she looked a little bemused for a second before suddenly picking up from where she'd left off, "oh, yeah that, sorry, got a bit lost"; Shadow's raised hand forestalled the need for further explanations, "yeah, well we'd been saying that the house needed redecorating for a long time, nothing too major, just a lick of paint and a general spring tidy-up but one thing kept popping up after another and we never seemed to have time to get around to it. But anyhow, I just get in from work, open the front door and it hits me; the whole place stinks of paint, and it's all wet too". Shadow's eyebrow rose appreciatively; _sounds like a lot of work if this is going where I reckon it's going_;

"He did the whole place up?"

"Well he tried to", Honey answered a little contritely, almost as though something about that response had been her fault, "he'd taken the day off and wanted to get it done for when I'd get home, but there just wasn't enough time. But long story short, I ran upstairs, threw on the oldest kit I could find and lent a hand with the last couple of rooms, wanted to get it really finished; we got chatting as we were working and by the end of it if I remember rightly he'd swept me off my feet and I was screaming at him not to baptise me in one of the paint tins", Shadow turned away quickly as an irrepressible snort of laughter ripped through his nose and Honey smiled, getting lost in the memories of the day again, " so yeah, we'd both meant to get that done for ages, but he actually went ahead and did it; just as well really, the former owner called around a couple of weeks later, wanted to know we were looking after the place right and…"

She was so engrossed in her memory that she didn't register Shadow's change of expression, nor the fact that he was actually moving beside her; in fact, she barely registered anything at all until a paw settled on her left shoulder, a voice in her ear whispered,

"You're a genius" and there was a very light pressure on her right cheek. _Huh?_; by the time that train of realisations had rattled through her mind and she looked around the hedgehog had gone; _wow, not seen him go like that for a long time. Must have given him an idea_; as she gently touched the cheek Shadow had pecked and tried to force herself not to go crimson, the blonde echidna watched the canteen door swing shut and bit down a grin; _just as well really – hopefully pretty soon he'll have someone other than me to kiss!_

XXX

Julie had never been into excessive contemplation or navel-gazing, it simply wasn't anything that had ever crossed her mind particularly; at the end of the day, she was an actions Mobian. Though most of yesterday had been taken up with thinking and massively convoluted arguments, the result had been a simple yet elegant solution to the crisis of faith seemingly taking place inside her formerly iron resolution; no matter what he does or how irritating it can possibly be, if it was originally or primarily for your benefit just say a few words of thanks. _Seems to be working as well, though he was a bit cheerful last night, almost suspiciously cheerful_; ever guarded, the ex-Legionnaire detached her mind from what was currently on display before her and saw again Shadow breeze in the previous evening, seemingly perfectly contented with the world and everything and everyone in it; _he might be up to something, keep your eyes open_. Though that might have been a tad harsh considering he'd barely said a word all night, and even then everything he had said had been in some way positive, the horrible wailing of an expertly-placed mobile phone still rang loudly enough in Julie's memory to edge her onto her guard as far as Shadow was concerned, at least for the foreseeable future. _Speak of the devil_; the familiar slam of the door sent her eyes flicking to the clock above the TV, taking her gaze off the routine before her for a couple of seconds to confirm the time; _he is bound to appear – bang on time too_;

"Hey Shads", she called through to the kitchen without turning her head, a feat that would have been impossible a mere couple of months ago, a tribute, she professed, to her rising fitness levels, "put the kettle on will you? I'll be done in a few minutes".

"Get it from the start did you? Running home to catch a gym programme, how sad is that", there was a muffled chuckle from the kitchen and Julie rolled her eyes,

"A lot better for you than running home for a caffeine fix; now shut up, final five minute burn"; with that she switched off to the outside world – the last five minutes of this gruelling hour were by far and away the hardest, a non-stop sprint of fat-metabolising exercise that always left her feeling half-dead on her feet no matter how well-prepared she was for it. As the timer appeared at the bottom left of the screen, Julie felt her breath quicken, the instructor counting down, all the time remembering what was waiting at the end of this long, fiery tunnel…

XXX

He breezed in like the wind; it had gone like a complete and utter charm and now he was flying away with himself, picturing what could, no, would be a mere two days from now – his only minor, insignificant stumbling block now was having to cobble together an excuse for Julie to stay in on Friday night and the deal was as good as done. _Not like that's going to be a problem though, she never really does much on weekday evenings anyway_; with endorphins flowing right through his body and helping to elevate his pride and self-esteem to as yet unscaled height the hedgehog pulled open the fridge, grabbing a cold drink and the first ready-prepared thing that caught his eye as a celebratory snack for his dogged persistence over this and the previous day; _took a while but I found out where he worked in the end – heh, if I ever get bored of the C.A I could always ask Vec if he wants some help reforming his detective agency_. The mental images of himself as a freelance private eye made him smile as he raided the utensils cupboard for a fork and sat down at the table, just leaning back enough to push the door open a crack, hearing the stacco beats from the lounge tempered with the heavier 'thump, thump, thump' rhythm as Julie tried to keep pace with the last, labouring set of exercises as delivered by her televised slave-drivers. Shaking his head even as the first forkful of chocolate delight flooded over his taste buds the hedgehog found himself sighing again; _I give up – I, and everyone else for that matter, keep telling her she's fine as she is but she just won't listen. Like talking to a brick wall, with a bad attitude problem…_; he suddenly snapped out of his thoughts and chortled uncontrollably – his mind joined up words to mouth at the speed of thought and he found himself leaning back to shout down his interpretation of the instructor's rallying call back down the hallway,

"If that's a groove the Silver Sea's a puddle".

He didn't hear any answer but then again that wasn't surprising; he'd seen her go for this last segment of her programme hammer and tongs and knew for a fact she'd need all the air she could carry to walk out without a stitch, though he had to admit she'd been getting better recently. That was certainly true; without really thinking too hard about it Shadow found himself recollecting the first time he'd seen her last the full hour and contrasted the way she'd crawled into the kitchen on her hands and knees with the way she could walk in now, only a slight hitch in her walking pace betraying her exertions. _No two ways about it_; he agreed with the evidence his memory placed in front of him without anything like a debate; _that echidna really never says die – if anything she's usually saying kill, and she's usually pointing at me when she says it_. The thought made him smile so much that he didn't realise the music from the front room had actually stopped; in fact it was only when he heard the sudden swoosh of the door behind him that he suddenly found himself in the presence of company.

Glancing over his shoulder and seeing her leaning on the door frame with hand compressed into her left side, Shadow merely raised an eyebrow,

"Go okay?" Her answering grin was both haggard and corrosive in equal measure,

"Fine, up until the point you opened your big mouth", gritting her teeth she forced herself to stand up straight and ignore the flaring pain in her left side, the stitch there burning away like a branding scar, "you have any idea how hard it is to do a full aerobics routine while trying to stop yourself laughing?"

"No, because unlike you I know better than to even try to do full aerobic routines", he countered smartly as she walked past on her way to the fridge, opening the door with a rattle and peering inside; Shadow was about to heap another forkful of his snack into the ready position when her voice came back to him and he lowered his fork again, caught by the confusion in her voice,

"That's odd; seen my treat anywhere?"

"Treat, nah", Shadow shook his head as he ran his most recent memory of the inside of the chilled food receptacle and came up with a blank, "what is it?" Her shoulders shrugged and she began to stand up, answering as she did so,

"Just nipped into the delicatessen on the way home, managed to get a little chocolate square, last one they had left; should be in…"

Her voice tailed off at the same time Shadow's fork clattered the plate, hedgehog and echidna seeing the same thing at the same time and drawing the exact same conclusions from the sight that awaited them; a formerly perfect square of gooey chocolate-infused goodness on the plate in front of Shadow, one of the corners missing and crumbs flecking the hairs around his lips.

"Oops…"

XXX

_It's okay, he didn't mean it_; though her suspicions had originally been inflamed by the sight, the merest glimpse of Shadow's expression told her everything she needed to be sure that it really had been a complete accident; _not even he can fake gormless surprise quite that well_. Pursing her lips up wryly, the echidna took a step back and shoved, the fridge door banging shut with a whoosh as she tapped her fingers together, voice stern but at the same time a little amused by the sight before her,

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but if I remember rightly you're the one always telling me I don't need to diet", she pointed an accusing finger at the plate before him before swivelling the digit up to point out a spot in the centre of his forehead, "so why are you now physically making sure that I have to?"

"Sorry", he mumbled in response and, satisfied with that, Julie began to move forwards with her eyes on her prize; suddenly she froze, Shadow's head had shot up with his lips set in a diabolic grin and the very devil cackling away in his eyes, "no, actually, I'm not". _What the…?_; before she could even come close to guessing his intentions there was a rattle from the table top as his arm, swooped down; next minute the plate was held upright in his hand; _…okay, go after me and I'm fine with that_; battle fire raged within, coupled with the extra set of aches and pains now making themselves felt following her recent exercise to fire her up into confrontational mode; _but you mess with my food and that's a different matter completely_;

"Shadow", her voice was soft, the kind of tone a panther might use when trying to lull an unsuspecting deer into a false sense of security; no little one, I'm not going to pounce, I'm a vegetarian, "put that down, now".

"Sure"; she had to bite back a growl as the plate was deposited back on the table; somehow the sight of her chocolate square nestling in his glove was more maddening than when it had been served up properly.

"All of it". That strange smile one his face seemed only to grow as he shook his head slowly, mockingly,

"Nah, sorry, that can't happen", he slewed to a halt there, raising his eyebrows in a method that suggested deep contemplation before drawling, "unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Well, put it like this", Julie had to start the count in her head; she was not in the mood for talking right now and if he didn't give her back her due in the next ten seconds she was going to teach him what pain really was, "I say sorry to you, and you say…?" An awful lot of choice terms sprang immediately to mind but, reining in her tongue, the ex-Legionnaire gave the question a second's more thought before, having made her selection, she lent forwards slowly and spoke the two words with perfect malice and pronunciation,

"Get, stuffed". He gave a sigh and a shrug, though for some reason that smile was still there…

"Well, if you won't say it, I suppose I'd better". With that remark he opened his mouth and, before Julie could think of doing anything to stop him, tore a huge chunk out of the chocolate square in his hand.

Her mind and body stopped dead, refusing to believe what they'd just seen, the sacrilege committed in full view of her naked, unprepared vision; now the slow, rhythmic movements of the hedgehog's jaw as he chewed away at the huge mouthful were transfixing, the pleasure in his face obscene as his teeth eventually reduced the tasty mess to the appropriate size for his throat to bob and swallow down almost half the treat she had brought, she had exercised for and _she_ should be eating!

"Umm-um", he licked his lips, staining his fur with a light brown paste as he did so and smiling over at her without a care in the world, "this is a delicious chocolate square".

"Unhand that sweet!" His words had broken through the barrier of her disbelief; suddenly, now, this was all real, all happening – if she didn't do something now she was going to have to stand and watch the whole thing disappear down the greedy hedgehog's gullet, "it's mine – give it back!"

"Nuh-uh", he shook his head and grinned, "you're not saying what I need you to say, so"; his mouth opened again, the teeth showed and all her barriers burst – plunging forwards, Julie tore after her housemate headlong, shrieking the whole time to try and keep him distracted and at least some of the gooey goodness out of his unworthy mouth,

"Don't you dare, don't you even dare thinking about daring to dare; that's mine, I earned it, I worked for it and you", she lunged; just this once her frenzy-fuelled burst of speed and his lack of a decent run-up meant she just nicked a hold on his arm on the way into the front room, half-spinning him as his feet tangled together, he unbalanced and they both went to the floor, "aren't getting any!"

"You want it?" The bellow was deafening in her ears on the way down; she barely felt the landing, merely pouncing towards where she hoped the hand holding her cake was, screaming back her answer,

"Yes, it's mine!"

"You really want it?" She couldn't see what she was grabbing, he was struggling too hard and she never saw his smile,

"Yes, I…" The rest of her answer, in fact the rest of her movement entirely, was cut off completely as she saw something come flying up at her from the corner of her eye – the next thing she knew was a feeling of sticky warmth all over her muzzle, caught up in her fur and the taste of chocolate in her mouth.

XXX

_Oh god_; as his mind finally managed to wrest control back from whatever agent of annoyance had dethroned it, the full extent of the damage wrecked became horrendously apparent as his left hand fell away from the pulp above him comprising equal parts smashed chocolate square and echidna fur; _that's me a goner then_. How had he done that – he'd meant to do no more than just run for a little while before handing the treat back to her, how had this come about? He wanted to say something, a recrimination, an apology, a sarcastic comment, anything but his tongue remained glued to the roof of his mouth, unable to articulate a sound as with the grace of a planet spinning on its axis Julie's face tilted down to regard him, the glower in her eyes in no way diminished by the coco-paste mess underneath them. Slowly, deliberately, he could only watch as one of her hands moved across, fingers set like claws to rake him with as she stared directly into his eyes as though trying to work out the best place to strike, where she could do the most damage. His horrified gaze was unable to pull away as those fingers pulled up and sunk into her facial fur, peeling away at least some of the brown sludge caking her cheeks, bringing the result up for her inspection; grateful to be out the view of those eyes for the moment, Shadow couldn't help himself from letting out a low, relieved sigh…

…and that was his undoing; Julie's eyes snapped down on him and her revenge scheme became all too apparent.

Pinned like he was, the hedgehog couldn't twist enough to get out the way as her hand speared down; he tried to grab her wrist, felt the smooth metal beneath his fingers and strained to try and arrest its progress, but nothing he could do would halt it. _Eeewwww, yuck!_; the feeling of mashed up chocolate square being smeared all over his right cheek was disgusting but he was powerless to stop it happening even if at a very basic level he couldn't help but admit that, okay, he maybe had asked for that one. Suddenly the pressure on the side of his face stopped and he could move it again; twisting back to face upwards at the echidna on top of him as she smirked at the sight of him getting a quite literal taste of his own medicine. In fact it was that sort of thinking that allowed him to scrabble for a witty punch-line and win the race to speak first just in the nick of time,

"Well", he could feel the urge bubbling up unstoppably from within him; he could only hope Julie was feeling it too, "I suppose that was my just dessert then".

"Yeah, really", the sight shudder gave the game away and allowed him to start to give in, convulsing slightly as he tried to remain coherent enough to hear the rest of her statement, "especially as that was my dessert to start wihehehe…"

That was it, the dam burst for both of them; Shadow felt a sudden weight on his chest as Julie's hysteria sapped the strength from her arms and she collapsed onto him, her helpless giggling rattling into his ears at the same beat as the full-throated mirth belting up his chest. Her face was a lot closer now, enough for him to take a really close look at the mess he'd made and laugh all the harder for seeing it,

"You, you look", he couldn't grab the words at first as a new spasm of sniggering shook him, "totally ridiculous".

"Yeah", she agreed at first, half-curled into a ball on his chest and just under his chin as her hysteria forced her into a foetal position, "well I can j,just hahahaha, hem, have a wash, and I'll look g, gohoho, good again", she tried to meet his eyes and smile but ended up just dropping back again, overcome by laughter and left to shriek out the last of her observations, "you, Shahads, you will always look weird!" Somehow that truth just set them both off again and for the next neither-of-them-cared-how-long, it would have been impossible to get any further words of sense from either of them.

XXX

Eventually she descended back down into herself once more, the muscles of her jaw aching far more than anything else she'd recently put through the wringer as she took a slow, steady breath, trying not to notice as a last couple of sniggers raced outwards to arrest the air flow. Gradually sense filtered back down into her body; she was aware that she was a little chilly lying as she was in sweat-damped clothed in the middle of her lounge, but she could cope with that for now. Well, actually that hadn't been quite right; only part of her was feeling any sort of cold, the other parts were being nicely insulted from below and the side; glancing upwards, the echidna could have sworn something like an almost soppy smile had threatened to appear before she beat it off vigorously; _what is it about this guy?_ She felt the juddering of his stomach muscles as he fell into something like the same quiescence she was now enjoying after the laughter, shifting to prop herself up on her elbow for a better angle to view Shadow from; _every time he does something like this we just end up in a heap somehow – he can hit every button I've got and I've got no idea how. And I'm still not saying it_; a little imp reared up ready to dash Shadow's hopes as, seemingly having to come back to the land of the mortals the ebon hedgehog shook his head slightly and, seeing her out the corner of his eye, twisted to regard her more fully. For a long second neither of them spoke until, Julie glanced down as one his arms moved up her side, trailed over her waist towards the bottom of her ribcage, the hedgehog made his comment,

"Haven't we been here before?"

It wasn't so much the way he said it that forced her hand, though the tone he used did convey a fairly substantial undercurrent of suggestion hidden behind casual observation; it was the sudden deepening of his gaze, the way his pupils dilated within their crimson pools, filling them with a fire that both intrigued and terrified her equally. Her mouth ran completely dry and she gave a small shiver; his arm tensed for a second on her side, seeking to draw her in a little way, possibly mistaking her indecision for fear of the unknown, the unexplored as she reacted to his unconscious request.

"Yeah", her reply was a soft murmur, barely audible as she shifted her body along closer to the hedgehog, feeling his body heat start to shield more of her from the encroaching cold as she strategically placed her arm in advance of her next move, "yeah, we've been here". Just as he responded to her slight advance did she move; suddenly the fire in his eyes was doused with a little fear as she reared up, cybernetic forearm giving her a hefty push off at the same time as rolling the hedgehog onto his back. He might have been about to say something when she lost him from her sight, twisting in mid-air, never doubting for a second that he'd catch her right where she wanted him to even as she tried to reduce the impact by rolling down the length of her body. The small of her back was barely touching the floor when her shoulders and head came down, sinking into something soft and flexing as there came a low 'oof' from above her ears somewhere.

"There", she spoke lightly as she shuffled with her feet, bringing the trunk of her body around to make the position they were in more comfortable for her, "that's a lot more comfortable than last time, don't you think?"

"Yeah, a couple of staved ribs aside", the reply came back a second later; Julie felt the pillow underneath her roll slightly and lifted her head, facilitating Shadow's movement for comfort of his own at the same time as launch her comeback,

"Cheek, I'm not that heavy".

"That's what you think", the false indignity in his tone, a lot closer to her ear than before she realised, almost made her giggle again as he finished, "some of us are built a bit lighter than echidnas you know?"

"You need to do my exercises, get a bit of beef on your bones, there's nothing there".

"There's you there isn't there?" _Ouch_; realising she'd been caught out a good one, Julie had to let this one slide,

"Yeah", she reclined fully, feeling the back of her head press a little more firmly into Shadow's shoulder, the side of her temple just tap his jaw line, "for a little while anyway".

Shadow gave no reply for none was needed; silence settled and drifted over the two of them like a gossamer blanket as little thoughts and idle ideas entered and left their minds at whim and will; this close and secure with each other, both knew they could afford to take a little time out to themselves now. Time didn't matter, in fact nothing did really now as the mood persisted, waiting only to be broken when one of the two chose to do so; occasionally there would be a slight twitch or position switch by one or other of the two Mobians but still, silence reined in this tranquil corner of the world. For a while, anyway,

"Jules?" Rolling her eyes back as much as she was able to the ex-Legionnaire realised she still wasn't able to see the hedgehog, but that didn't matter, she knew he was there, he was lying up next to her,

"Yeah?"

"Do me a favour will you?" She had to chuckle a touch at the idea; he was at least as independent as she was, yet here he was asking for her help in something; _wonder what he could want from me?_

"Depends", she snaked in, feeling his arm drape back behind her shoulders, supporting them off the floor the same way part of his chest was supporting her head, "what do you want?"

"Just promise me", like everything else around at this pristine moment in time, his voice was light with humour and with serenity, "that you'll always just be you; you won't try to change and be someone you're not. I know why you like your work outs and that's a part of you, but don't forget who you really are".

"And"; _I hope he knows_; "who am I exactly?" _I don't have a clue_; his voice was the answer, the light that illuminated her in all her reality, the splendour and the darkness equally,

"You are Julie-Su", his hand curled up and around, resting on her opposite shoulder and exerting gentle, reassuring pressure, "and that's all you'll ever need to be". His words were simplistic and just too true to be ignored; seized by the moment, Julie knew she might only need to be herself to survive in the world, but there was something else she could have, in her heart of hearts wanted so desperately to have, that would make existence so much more benevolent and endurable,

"What about you Shads?" Once more not matted how far back she tilted she was incapable of seeing his face, only the dark fur of his body, "you're not going to be stupid and try to change again are you – I know everyone on the world below, and up here for that matter, would agree that the guy we've got now is more than good enough to be you".

His hand fell slightly limp on her shoulder, she heard nothing and for the merest fraction of a second she feared; his side contracted, she felt his ribs compress at the same time there was a light pressure in her dreadlocks, a quiet smacking sound – part of her just melted right away, sinking further into the ebon hedgehog's arm as it traced its way around her, flowing over her shoulder, the hand coming to a halt on her collar bone. Her eyes fell shut as his fingers moved and she felt the fur on her jaw line traced from just under her ear to the point of her chin, the gentle caress almost making her sigh as it began again, soothing and lulling as it continued. She felt warmth under her own right hand, knowing from the heat on the underside of her fingers that she had softly ensnared his stroking hand without even thinking about it, holding it contentedly at the same time as letting his thumb continue its calming work.

Once more, the blissful quiet descended.

XXX

Only the sudden resistance under her rising fist stopped her normal waking up routine; looking upwards blearily Julie suddenly felt her heart stop; _Shadow! What the…how am I sleeping with him?!_ Snatching her hand away from where his chin had arrested her usual stretch, the echidna felt wild panic claw at her, disorientation at the strange circumstance demanding an explanation as to how she'd ended up like this with her housemate – she licked her suddenly parched lips and that act, the memories suddenly triggered by the taste of the chocolate still caked there, brought it all back gratefully. With a relieved sigh, she calmed his sudden start with a yawn and an observation,

"Oh, I must have dozed off".

"I know you did", half-sitting up to exercise his own complaining muscles, the hedgehog shook his head before turning to regard her, half his face still slathered in mashed cake, "you dozed off on me".

"That was your fault", she retorted with a gentle shove, slight smile back on her face as she decided what to do next, "you put me to sleep stroking me like that – always works every time". _Really_; Shadow pricked his ears at this point; _interesting…_;

"How'd you find that out? Old boyfriend?"

"No", she shot back indignantly, the slight raise of an eyebrow backing her voice up to hinder him from dreaming up any other potential ideas, "mum told me when I was old enough to understand; said she used to settle me down when I was a baby – you never…", just in time she caught herself and hastily rearranged her previous question about his mother's habits into a slightly daring challenge, "…never get to use that one twice, got it Blackie?"

"Okay", the sudden shuffling behind her justified her paranoia; as Shadow pounced she was caught at least half-prepared, "I'll use these instead!" Julie snapped her chin down into her chest, determined not to laugh as she felt Shadow's fingertips worm their way around her neck, nuzzling in to try and break her down; _sorry pal, barking up the wrong tree there_.

"Nice idea", she spoke through only slightly gritted teeth; his movements were annoying but she was confident they were in no way the reaction he'd have been after, "shame it won't work".

"No, but this will"; an image sprang up in front of Julie's eyes as one of his hands slid around her neck, dragging her backwards as he rolled onto his back, pulling her off the floor to deny her leverage to struggle with – Sonic's pain-wracked squawkings were as clear as a bell in her ears as Cream hung off his neck with one arm and piled the pressure on the top of his scalp with the other hand. Realising what was about happen the echidna threw both hands over her head, shielding herself from the attempted monkey-scrub; flushed with success, Julie exclaimed through her arms,

"Again, nice try but no…" It was just at that crisis point in her boast that Shadow's finger pushed its way through her dreadlocks into her undefended ear, "cigahhhhhhh!"

XXX

Shadow didn't even try to hold on for too long as his flatmate thrashed around for her freedom; in her struggles there was a chance she'd forget her augmentations and catch him a proper one somewhere painful. That didn't mean, however, that he let her get away anything like scot-free; as she threw herself to her feet and clawed at her violated orifice he pushed himself into a sitting position and smirked, the expression in no way diminished by Julie's death glare as she tried to rub her ear clean,

"Ewww, that's just, urgh, yuck! I can't believe you did that!"

"Believe it babe, it just happened".

"I know it did", the ex-Legionnaire snapped, still pawing the side of her face madly as though trying to groom her fur without the aid of a brush, "it happened and, as usual, you're the whole damn reason it happened. Right, that's it", she threw her hands up at the whole thing and stated what was going to happen next, "I'm going for a shower and you're going to clean this mess up, you caused it; when I get back I shall expect everything to be as it should and no excuses to the contrary, got it?" Cannonade completed, the narked echidna span around and headed for the shower; _and nothing, absolutely nothing short of a bomb blast is going to make me turn around again – no matter what he does or what spiel he comes out with I just keep on walking_.

"Jules?" She stopped, but she did not turn around even at the tone of softness in his voice, the almost pleading tone he was using giving her pause, knowing what he was going to ask and even now not decided what answer to give,

"Please Julie-Su, I know I've been a pain in the neck at times but I never mean anything bad that I do, not anymore. I need you to understand that, accept that I know I've done what I've done and that I know it was wrong – please, forgive me".

It was a struggle that echoed right the way through her; on the one hand she knew that it was the morally right thing to do – she was certain Shadow was never going to go back to the cold, removed alien she had endured before and knowing that made her feel so much happier about living in general that it would be the ultimate dishonesty not to tell him she knew how well he'd turned over a new leaf. On the other hand, despite the recent annoyances there was no denying that she was beginning to like, really like, the Shadow she had now; for some reason he was a lot more animated and up for anything than he had been at any previous point she could remember. Would that end if she said 'okay, you're forgiven' – it may have been a slightly irrational fear but it was a valid one; _I need some time to think, I can't say anything yet – come on brain, get me outta this mess – right, that'll have to do_;

"Not yet"; she heard a slight thud behind her but forced herself not to look – a merest hint of disappointment would probably be enough to break her completely and say something rash before thinking everything through herself. Her feet were like two lead blocks but she moved them, forced them to move anyway, clomping over the carpet and into the bathroom, her temporary private sanctum; as she moved her shaking hand to start and pull the curtain around, she was only grateful that Shadow couldn't see the struggle raging in her face just as she was grateful she would never be able to see how crushed he must have been by her temporary rebuttal of his request.

_Oh well, not like I was really expecting it to work anyhow_; his sense of failure was only minor, in fact if anything it was more than outweighed by the encouragement he'd just been given by Julie's pause before answering him; _if a picture's worth a thousand words, a second's pause can be worth even more. She can't really believe I'm going to act like such a prat again, she's not stupid – she's also not completely heartless either._ That was true; as he looked back a couple of seconds, the way Julie's shoulders had slumped when she'd refused to grant him the benediction he truly craved spoke volumes – by dint of long association he knew such a gesture meant something was weighing heavy on her mind. Still he was unforgiven, but knowing what he knew was waiting just around the corner, he could live with that; folding his hands behind his head and unheeding of the crumbs that were lodged into his back quills as a result, Shadow let his mind drift back a little further, recalling the few precious moments when Julie had been asleep in his arms, the comforting presence there as he himself had been on the very edge of some kind of half-doze, feeling his eyes start to close again as he fancied he could almost feel the warmth there on his right side again, and also, strangely, his left was starting to feel a little less cool as well – such bliss with another Mobian, such closeness he'd never had before…

…_never…?_

XXX

_Okay, that's what's going to happen_; she'd heard all the arguments and now she reached her judgement – this state of affairs couldn't continue for both of them, she had to be the one to bring it to an end; _the next time he does something for me, something big, and I know it's because he's still feeling guilty, that's it, I say it_. Reaching for the off button when she was certain there was no remaining trace of chocolate square caught up in her fur, Julie hopped out of the bath and dried off quickly, a fresh spring in her step now she'd buried that mental hatchet; she had a plan to follow, following it was the easy bit. Throwing on her kit, the ex-Legionnaire made to inform Shadow it was his turn; she was about to shout when there was a patch of darkness in her peripheral vision and the air was released a lot more quietly; _nah, let him get some kip_. She paused for a moment, recalling the last time she'd seen the hedgehog asleep like this and recognising that once more he was at peace, the position of his arm echoing when it had been around her shoulders making her glow inside – he was happy dreaming of her that close. She observed the scene for a moment, drinking in the almost beauty of the sight before departing, closing the door quietly and moving off to try and sort out something like dinner.

A/N: Aww, cute little scene at the end there, but what does Shadow know that Julie doesn't? And how will it make sure she'll say those magic words? Answers soon!


	26. Chapter 26 Worth it After All?

Chapter 26 – Worth it After All?

A/N: Wow, this was a long one; sorry I took so long but I hope you agree with me when I say the result was worth the effort. Anyhow, a couple of reviewers getting a shout:

TG – Believe me I know what you're going through having just had to buy a house of my own; keep reading all the fluffiness you can because you'll need something positive to wash away the brain-draining angst caused by the moving kafuffle!

IOS – Thanks for the beautifully written bit, but why are they going to get it all wrong? Surely they've both learnt their lessons by now…right?

ROG – Thanks for the comment, but have you read the rest of the series up to now? I'd be interested to hear what you've got to say about the works as a whole.

Shadow knew, immediately upon pushing the door open and letting a breath of the heavily perfumed air flow right inside his lungs, that this was the place he'd been after. Letting the door swing shut behind him, the bell at the top of it giving another musical tinkle as he did so and it clicked back to its previous position, the hedgehog stepped inside and looked around, eyes distracted for a moment by the sight of the different mineral stones displayed on the counter top and the very brief descriptions of what each were supposed to do; _hmm, counteracts tiredness and lethargy_; the sudden vision of his flatmate suddenly leaping out of bed with a spring in her step and a smile on her face made him grin as he let the piece of lime green stone he'd plucked from its companions slip back to its proper place; _nah, a hydrogen bomb wouldn't get her functioning first thing in the morning so, much as I'm not going to doubt something I haven't tried out yet, I'll have to give experience the benefit of the doubt here._

"Hey, can I help you?" The voice broke into his daydream unbidden and made him jerk around wildly, heart thumping and gasping for breath as he saw the source of his panic,

"Geez, give a guy a heart attack why don't you?" He chastised the younger looking echidna he could see on the stairs, looking down at him with a little petulance now filtering into her expression,

"Sorry", the sarcasm in her voice would have stripped paint off the wall, but it quickly drained away as she jerked a thumb back up the stairs, "just in the back room working on some files; gotta balance the books before dad gets back". That comment allowed Shadow to make up the discrepancy between the age of the shop he was now stood in and the teenage look and attitude of the echidna he could see before him, the light cream of her natural colouration clashing awfully with the vibrant colours swirling across her skirt and crop top,

"Oh, he runs the place?"

"Does this look like my scene?" That Shadow had to concede as she swept her arm back to take in the rest of the place,

"No, in fact this time of day doesn't look like your kind of scene".

"Tell me about it; roll on Friday night", she tailed off wistfully for a second before Shadow's discreet cough shattered her daydream just as her interruption had his, "sorry, were you after anything in particular?"

"Yeah, you got any candles, preferably scented ones of any description? If not I'll take whatever's giving off whatever it is I can smell". The echidna laughed, curiously reminiscent of Honey as she had a little sparkle in her eye and turned away back up the stairs,

"Well hopefully you're not talking about dad's cologne; man, every time he goes down to that place stinking like a perfume fight in a brothel", Shadow had to cough into his glove, hoping against hope that she didn't look over his shoulder to see him biting hard into the resistant material as he immediately put that quote into a mental checklist, "but if it's what I think it is you'll be after a few of these".

Looking up from his hand after forcing himself not to give in to the threatening chuckles, the hedgehog found himself gazing at a windowsill; in fact, he was gazing at the two things that were currently on that windowsill, each shedding a little pearly light enhanced by the sunlight streaming in from the outside as the candle held in the belly of the small clay pot flickered and danced to the tune of tiny puffs of air toying with it. Approaching a little closer, he noticed the smell strengthening and becoming clearer at the same time; the spicy sweetness of what he assumed was vanilla essence given a little extra pep by an odour he couldn't identify. Suitably impressed even if he couldn't quite grasp what they were, Shadow felt obliged to comment,

"Okay, what are they?"

"Essence burners", the answer came back from over his shoulder, "pour some oil of whatever in the top pan and light the candle underneath, full top-up should last about two or three hours". Closer inspection proved her simple instructions to be true and, looking around, Shadow was a little more relieved to see the small racks of little phials containing plenty of the concentrated essences these little burners must have been using as fuel,

"Neat, you can replace the candle when it burns down right?"

"Yep, be a bit useless otherwise wouldn't they?"

"True, but, I have to say these are what I'm after, but are there any a little smaller; I want a couple of scents going at once, you follow?" Nodding in ascent, she wafted a and towards one of the display stands, indicating a couple of the strips hanging down from their bindings with the words,

"Yeah, some are on there, they come in packs of five; that be enough for you?"

"Perfect", Shadow replied, stalking over to the stand and rotating it slightly, leafing his way back into the display until he came to a pack that suited him and lifted it clear, "how much for this, and five of those essences to go with it?" The echidna gave a short gruff snort, looking between the product held delicately in his hand and the rack of scents, weighing it all up in he mind,

"Buy five of them and I'll throw in the pack free" she offered in the end, already heading downstairs to where Shadow presumed the till was stored; a quick check of his wallet ensured he had enough left to feed it without causing himself undue hardship for the rest of the week. A couple of minutes sampling each of the test samples available proved a neat distraction, but when he was finally satisfied with the five he wanted he headed downstairs, counting out the change he needed as he went while still keeping one eye on the stairs in front of him to avoid an embarrassing mishap.

"Got what you wanted?" He nodded at the query and she handed him a small paper bag to wrap his new charges in, passing her the cash in exchange before assuaging his curiosity,

"Any idea what time your dad's getting back?"

"Nah, could be any time between now and when we all go underwater", Shadow raised his eyebrow at the euphemism, commonly used by the echidnas to indicate the end of the world when Angel Island was supposed to plunge back into the sea; _probably better they never know it's already happened once or twice before_; "I offered to pay for a taxi but the stubborn old bugger's determined to knacker his joints faster than nature was planning to; oh, he's starting to develop arthritis in his knees, they caught it early but he keeps having to go in to get the pills the docs keep saying he has to pop to slow it down" she explained, catching the tail end of Shadow's questioning glance and giving a concise explanation he hadn't intended to ask for. Raising his eyebrows and delivering a surprised sigh at the unexpected information, the ebon hedgehog commiserated with her father's unfortunate situation,

"Damn, that's nasty", he paused for a second as she rung his money into the till and emerged with a touch of cash for him, "any idea how long he's got before it starts, you know?" Her front of acceptance wasn't quite complete as a trace of regret and unadmitted anger at her father's diagnosis still lingered in her features even if her voice didn't betray so much as a hint of such emotions,

"That tough old git; at least half a dozen years or so – typical, by the time I'll be able to outrun him as I'm sneaking out for the night I'll be old enough to go out legit; sucks doesn't it?"

"That's life I'm afraid", Shadow dispensed a little sage advice before scooping his purchases up and hiding them deep inside his bag so the paper rustling wouldn't give the game away when he got back to his flat; despite having a considerable amount of hair between them and the outside world, Julie's ears could be uncannily acute at times, "anyway, see you again".

"Only if you get really bored", the echidna came back with as Shadow headed towards the door, pulling it back just as he heard the first footstep being taken back up the stairs; _once more unto the books_; a sudden vision of a familiar blue hedgehog hunched over a desk, scribbling frantically at the same time as bash buttons on a calculator made him smile at the same time as give him an impromptu reminder; _speaking of which, better check up on how Sonic's coursework's going – maths isn't his strongest subject, but at least it's better than his physics. And mine for that matter!_

XXX

He took one last look at the rehearsal sheet in his mind and spoke his words mentally for the last time, remembering to give a couple of pauses to make the speech sound a little more authentic before swallowing his apprehension, putting on what felt like him to be a thin veneer of normality and wrenching the door open, storming inside as though he'd been delayed by circumstances beyond his control and wanted nothing more than his usual cup of coffee and a good, long soak in the bath. _Strange, that's quiet_; for a second the stillness threatened to knock him off his rhythm but he just about persevered, heading into the kitchen and throwing his bag into one of the seats, careful to keep one end of it supported even if the action looked completely random; _no, still no-one about. What's going on?_;

"Julie?" Perturbed by the absence, especially as the augmented echidna as a rule didn't do very much after she got in from work, Shadow turned out of the kitchen and hunted through the apartment, calling the name of his flatmate softly, continually as the worm of worry in his mind began to gnaw at an accelerating pace – it wasn't like Julie to not be around, especially not without ringing him first. _Ring, that's, ah, that's a good idea_; more to occupy his mind than anything else, the hedgehog trundled back to the kitchen and made to grab for his bag when he saw it, propped up and waiting for him on the table. _How'd I miss that one?_; relieved as he now had the explanation he'd been after, Shadow flicked the kettle switch to on and flipped the piece of paper up into his hand, scanning it quickly:

_Shads – Just getting some more milk – want anything else while I'm out? Call me. Jules._

It was just as he was actually putting this scrap of paper down with mind completely worked up around a decent comeback that the door banged; not wanting to let a good quote go unmentioned, the former ultimate life-form gave a slight chuckle before calling into the hallway,

"You going by a different name these days? What's up, the EST getting too nosey again?" His response was delayed a little as Julie appeared in the kitchen doorway, face a little flustered and flushed as she clomped inside and dumped the carrier bag and its contents unceremoniously on the table with a thud,

"As usual I have absolutely no idea what you're raving about", shaking her head as she set her burden down she pulled out a chair and flumped down into it looking grateful for the rest, "and where have you been anyway; I was waiting for you to get back so you could do the shopping".

"Charming; sometimes I reckon I should have been born a mule", Shadow retorted, sounding a little miffed even as he pulled a second mug off their rack and added a heap spoon of coffee to it, "you said in that note you left call me – any preference as to what? I can think…"

"That's news to me"; _damn_; he'd been piped at the post and he knew it, "but you can start with the words your eminence and work your way up from there".

"I'll call you Jules without sarcasm and that's your lot"; she leaned back in her seat to regard him from the top down; Shadow had to resist the urge to grab both the chair handles and give a good yank backwards as she grinned mockingly,

"Sure thing Shady, you got a done deal", turning his head away in disgust Shadow heard rather than saw the chair legs thunk back into the kitchen floor before his flatmate continued, "but on the subject of notes…Friday?"

_Bingo_; she'd just made his life a lot easier by actually reading the brief message he'd scribbled down in the morning before work – taking a split-second to let his face light up to the proper tone of inspiration, Shadow span around and snapped his fingers,

"Yes, right, Friday", Julie was curious, he knew that much, but there was a fine line between curiosity and suspicion so he had to play this carefully to avoid too much attention being drawn to his motives, "er, this isn't straightforward to explain; I know – you remember that sort-of ceremony earlier in the year, the Eve of, umm…?"

"Reaffirmation", the echidna finished forwards, interest definitely piqued as she leant forwards, wanting to know more about why he'd dredged that ceremony up at this time and how it related to his note from earlier; luckily Shadow seemed eager to oblige,

"Yeah, that's the one; just out of interest are there any other events in the Legion's calendar any time soon?" Thinking for a second, Julie tried to recollect her memories back and figure out if there was anything she aught to be aware of; _man, was it really only five months ago that I left?_

"Well there used to be the celebration of Dimitri, the former grandmaster's birthday; that fell a couple of days before the Christmas you have; that was just pretty much a day long party", despite herself she smiled, memories of happier times resurfacing to make her smile even now, "man some of the games we got up to; ever tried bobbing for apples in a barrel before?"

"Of course – Halloween a year ago with Cream, she wouldn't let us go without trying it, though we didn't have a barrel, had to make do with a deep bucket instead".

"Just as well, I wouldn't have wanted Cream anywhere near the barrel we used", she waited until Shadow's eyebrow was just about to rise, when she could see the question just about formulated before finishing, "for a start it was full of grape wine, and we were bobbing for cider apples to boot". Shadow winced on her behalf even if he couldn't stop a peep of laughter escaping him,

"Ouch, let me guess; a couple of zigzag platoon lines next day?"

"Something similar", the pleasant memories retreated slightly before a sudden dull blue glare in her vision; she shied away, locking that skeleton back into its closet before give a wry smile, "some of us forgot that the day after wasn't a holiday".

"Like I said, ouch", the hedgehog grimaced for a second before seeming to get back on track, "but anyway, reason I mention it is that, this Friday, there's something similar happening up here; it's a tradition on the world below", he added quickly to stifle any potential unpleasant questions she might have been considering, "it's really quick and easy and, I might add, there's no forced ingestion of potentially lethal substances to boot".

"That was not forced", Julie challenged his assertion of the events leading up to the culmination of her former home's ceremony, "and it's certainly not lethal either".

"Tell my stomach that, but like it was with you, I'll get everything ready; you just, have a shower or even better a bath, that'd be perfect in fact – I'll just call before I get in and set everything up while you catch a soak, it won't take long". Julie fingered her chin, totting up what she'd been told so far and, thus far, seeing a pretty sweet deal emerging,

"I like what I'm hearing so far", she admitted before moving to uncover any lose ends they might have missed up to now in the proceedings, "but anything I should know before this happens? I have to know any lines or anything like that?"

"Nah, nothing like that, but there is a dress code of sorts; don't panic", he tacked on hastily as Julie looked around a little perturbed at this latest proviso, "it's perfectly modest"; _for a while anyway_; fighting hard not to let that thought sneak across his face he forced himself to concentrate on Julie's reaction to his words; it was all he could do not to sigh in relief as after summing things up in her mind she seemed to accept his terms and sign up to his well-prepared plan,

"Sounds fine by me, just hang whatever togs you need me in on the back of the door when you get in and we'll go from there".

"Umm, sure"; _okay, that was easier than expected_; he'd spent ages coming up with all sorts of convoluted plans aimed at overcoming that sticking point of his overall plot and Julie, in her typically blunt fashion, had simply steam-rollered right over it regardless of the potential for embarrassment for both parties; _mind you, she probably still thinks I've seen her undressed since the first night we met – damn, still haven't straightened that one out either. Oh well, at least this once it's proven to be useful rather than annoying_; though he had no proof, Shadow as relatively sure of the reason Julie appeared to be letting this intrusion slide; _though she's probably curious as to what this ceremony is, and I went along with hers so she owes me that one._ Whatever the overall reason behind it, as the echidna turned back to the table and he made to pick up the steaming kettle, safely out of Julie's vision her housemate clenched both his fists in sweet victory – finally, after all the planning, conniving and running about, this was all going to happen. On Friday night, Julie was finally going to get what she really deserved and, once he had his hands on her then, there was going to be nothing she could do to stop him.

XXX

Though she had never intended it to impede upon her thinking in any way, shape or form and despite the fact she had implicitly disciplined herself to drive all thoughts and ideas about the following day from her mind, Julie somehow couldn't stop herself wondering about what awaited her on the eve of the next night. Glancing up at the clock as she had countless times before, she snarled at the way time seemed to spiting her by dragging its feet, refusing to slake her thirst for knowledge until it became a vehement, all-consuming need to experience the hedgehog's mysterious, unexplained ceremony. _I've gotta find out, maybe I could ask him if…no, no I can't do that, he never did for me and he must have been as curious as I am, if not more so, me being new out the Legion and all and him not knowing anything about us_; hitting the print key impatiently, Julie stood up and stalked backwards towards where the office printer sat like a squat, grinning gremlin, chewing up the sheets of paper fed to it without pause or satisfaction. The walk helped infinitesimally, burning off the slimmest iota of her frustration with the physical exercise; _I wish I still had a couple of my old sessions on tape – damn you for making me tape over them for you Bridget Jones!_

But there was nothing that could be done other than to bear up stoically the knowledge that Thursday was passing – evilly slowly and leaving behind ever-thicker residues of impotent frustration in its wake, but still the individual seconds, minutes and even eventually hours were being reaped by the impassive scythe of time itself, allowing her to progress a little further along the path that would eventually lead to her date with whatever destiny Shadow was inviting her to partake in. Slotting the few sheets of paper she'd created into the appropriate pigeonhole, Julie slumped back into her seat with a contentious sigh; waiting had never been her strongest point, if there was anything to be done she'd want to be the one at the sharp end getting it done rather than standing around waiting for it to come to her. Grumpily flicking out at the mouse at the side of the keyboard to stop her screen blanking out, Julie tried to concentrate on the ever-growing list of tasks before her but at every turn, every time she made began to snap down on the question in front of her a random thought would chase across her vision and distract her fingers for a crucial second, leading to a muffled curse, a couple of back spaces and another couple of extra drips into her reservoir of frustration, stored there with no hope of release or relief; _at least_; grabbing hold of one of the persistent ideas to nibble at the fringe of her rationality the echidna mentally squeezed at it, seeing more sense wrung from its inners the more she pondered it; _not until tonight – he sounded so genuine, but after everything else he's done recently – does that mean anything really?_

Thus it was that, when Shadow came home that night he found his flatmate sitting at the table in the kitchen, a meal prepared and laid out for the two of them and with a definite air of tension hovering around like an oversized balloon, merely awaiting a single pin to prick it completely. Shadow, however, did nothing; his plan was in its final stages but he was in way about to take it as wrote that it was going to go ahead just as he was planning it to; he knew for a fact he was going to have to exert every ounce of all his skills to stop this idea going off the rails at the eleventh hour and a very good start was by not giving Julie anything that might count as firepower to fuel her already naturally-suspicious mind. Though he much preferred to be on the front foot most of the time, this was an exception where being reactionary would give him the flexibility needed to absorb any last-minute blows to his precious project. And as Julie, replacing her now-drained juice glass onto the table and he caught the hardness in her eye, he set his guard down and crossed his fingers that he could absorb these blows without wrecking it all at this late stage,

"Shads", her tone was brisk and business-like, a probe to try and worm through his resistances, "I just want to make one thing clear here; I'm not judging you in any way, shape or form in this but I just want a little reassurance in this, you follow?"

"Depends what you want reassurances in", he had to measure his response carefully; he couldn't guarantee she'd enjoy it or there was a chance she'd have an idea of what was awaiting her not twenty-four hours from now, "I can promise nothing's going to hurt, which is a damn sight better than you did". Her sardonic smile spoke volumes before she settled back into her chair and looked across the table at him, scrutinising his face for any details he might have chosen to omit from his voice,

"Maybe, but I just want to make sure that everything you've said so far isn't just a load of hot air; I mean you're not just going to turn around tomorrow and say something along the lines of April Fool are you? Put it like this", she tried a slightly different tack as Shadow's face began to resemble something akin to a storm cloud, "I'm giving you a chance to come clean now, because if anything like that happens tomorrow I'll be wiping the floor clean with you". Luckily the humour took the edge of his indignation; before he even started talking Julie was sure of his answer,

"Jules, I'm, well, I can't deny I've pulled a couple of fast ones in my time…"

"Oh, is that why the couch hasn't been creaking so much recently; and there was me thinking you'd just oiled the joints a bit", she smirked at the hedgehog's shudder before letting her face fall, moving in for the kill, "please tell me you didn't oil it with…?"

"Stop, stop right there, I'm trying to eat", the former ultimate life-form pleaded, pointing down at the half-finished meal still on his plate, "and no, no I'm not planning any sort of trick like that for tomorrow; although", his voice dropped to a purr; _if he had a little pointed goatee he'd make a real pantomime villain someday_; "that's a nice idea, might try that later".

"Try and die spike-ball".

"Hey, you suggested it for me".

"And I'm now suggesting you don't take up that suggestion for your own safety".

"Why, why is that?" Shadow suddenly set down his knife and fork and looked across at the echidna, an almost-mocking half-grin on his lips as he came to a point of his own devising, "why do women always threaten violence when they know you've got them licked – if they can't out-quarrel you they have to resort to fisticuffs? And you're supposed to be the gentler sex?" He smirked as Julie scrabbled for a counter-attack, quickly unclenching her bunched fist as Shadow pointed at it as if to emphasise his point; _okay, that'll do – locked and loaded, over the top!_

"Ah, but you forget my dear hedgehog; equal rights and all that has changed the way we think about men – we're no longer helpless maidens at the mercy of out former male oppressors, we've got as much right as men to pile into a brawl now. We don't need the supposed stronger sex to stand up for us, we can do it ourselves thank you very much".

"So why am I getting threats of bodily harm on a daily basis these days then?"

"Shock factor – it's not right for a man to be challenged to a straight fight by a girl, it just throws you off your macho stride and, after all", the ex-Legionnaire's crooked smile and batting eyelashes made a mockery of her grinningly coy pose as she finished, "you wouldn't hit a lady would you?" Won over by the perverted and humorous logic of the echidna's argument, Shadow couldn't help but nod in deference at the same time as try to unpick her theories,

"Don't tempt me, but anyway, surely that equality thing works both ways; if you've got as much right to square off with us, surely that means you've lost that old defence; you can't have it both ways?"

"But it's a lady's prerogative to change her mind", Julie slipped in neatly, tripping up his counterpunch before it could gather a clear head of steam; seeking a decent discussion to move further into safe territory as much as for the sheer thrill of matching his wits against his flatmate once more, Shadow looked forwards and grinned cruelly,

"There's that lady thing again – according to the new rules you all dreamed up there's not a scrap of difference between you and me, and since when did you, you of all echidnas start calling yourself a lady? If you're a lady I'm a, a…", eh flailed for an appropriate word, "…a snail". His eyes flashed triumphantly, Julie was reeling from that solid hit, if he could just think of something else to say before she could…

"Hey, that's not fair – cruelty to snails"; _all right missy_; beaten to that punch Shadow drew himself up behind his verbal shield and readied another missile; _get ready for this…_

Only at the end of the night as she kicked her legs downwards to find more room in the sleeping bag did it finally twig with Julie what had happened over the evening's course; grabbing her watch and pressing the button on the side of it to make it glow, the time flickered before her almost disbelieving eyes – how had so many hours passed by almost without her realising it? _Must be something to do with Shadow_; unable to think of a rational explanation, the echidna settled for the time-honoured fall back – anything odd going on blame the flatmate; _yep, that's it, he just kept my mind focussed on other, more irritating things like if men really are as competent as women – the ultimate distraction driving me to distraction again_; as she turned over and stuffed the pillow under her ear, she made no real effort to stop the sheepish grin slipping over her lips as the memories of their most recent verbal battle ran over in her mind; _and just this once I can be grateful for it – this time tomorrow I'll be…er…I'll be completely in Shadow's hands_. It was a thought that both enticed and terrified her, but at the end of it all was the reckoning that as he hadn't backed out of her idea, so she had no right to back out of his. It was with this determination driving her onwards that Julie laid her head onto the pillow, let her eyes drift shut and eased herself off into slumber.

Unfortunately, consumed with last-minute nerves and what-ifs, blessed relief was a lot more difficult to come by for the one who would be dictating her future path to her; even as he woke in the morning to the dawn of this final day, Shadow couldn't quite shake the weakening ghost of his restless night completely from his bones – though covered more than aptly by the adrenaline in his system as the last few preparations neared, this lingering malaise may have been one of the many factors that determined the hedgehog's future harrowing.

XXX

"So then", Shadow glanced down at the voice from just ahead of him, nodding as Honey winked at him from her desk station, "tonight's the big night hey? What have you got up your sleeves this time?"

"Nothing you need to know about", Shadow replied diplomatically, doing his best to ignore the blonde echidnas' protruding bottom lip and sulky expression as he threw the full runners bag over his shoulder, "and not a hope of that one working one me girl; I've just about gotten used to Cream's puppy-dog eyes and you've got nothing on her in the cuteness stakes".

"Are you insinuating I'm unappealing?" Honey sniffed, settling herself back into her work chair and turning her head away from him as though mortally miffed by his announcement; wise to this sort of talk, Shadow simply chuckled and started to walk past,

"Nothing of the sort Honey, like I told you earlier I'll tell you what happened next Monday morning, first thing I promise".

"But that's three whole days away", the echidna whined, trying to grate her way through his defences, "I can't wait that long, I'll burst". _I was hoping you'd say that_; she must just have caught the edge of his sharky smile as she cowered to defend her midsection from the hedgehog as he motored past, whispering,

"Just as well I know where your pressure valve is then isn't it?" He felt his hand slide down to his target and softly pulled, feeling it come away in his hand and hearing her shrill squeak of protest as he began to pick up speed on the way towards the delivery elevator at the back of the office, bringing his prize up before his eyes as he did so and smirking at the thin strip of elasticated fabric; _hope that let off some steam_; flashing a glance over his shoulder her just about made out the figure of Honey glaring at him over the back of her chair, finger spearing towards him as though a laser could fly out the tip of it and reduce him to a cinder as her freed hair began to rebel against the shape she had tied it in for the day, unleashed as Shadow had skilfully removed her bobble; _then again maybe not – just better watch it at break time and maybe take a short lunch this time. But it was long overdue and she was asking for it!_

As he knew she would be, Shadow saw his favourite workmate snarling at him from one of the tables, hand open and expecting the present he duly laid into her palm, the small bobble having been confined in his pocket for the remainder of the morning since he'd snaffled it from its proper place. Leaning back and reaching into her hair with her left hand as the fingers of her right pulled the bobble open with practised ease, Honey gave a sighing growl as Shadow sat down opposite her,

"That", she began, giving her bobble a sharp snap at the word as she began to assemble a rough-and-ready plait from her hair; _not exactly the cutting edge of fashion but it'll get me through the rest of the day_; " much like my printer is at the moment, was completely out of order". Drink bottle halfway to his lips, Shadow lowered it to raise his eyebrows and speck clearly,

"I thought Snappy had sorted that out by now?"

"Yeah right", accepting the result she had now as the best she was going to able to do in the circumstances, Honey concentrated on the food in front of her rather at the same time as converse with her college, "you know what she's like; she just looks at the thing and it jumps to attention, starts spitting out the sheets I need like it rolled off the production line yesterday; I get a withering look and a couple of sharp words about not wasting her time – the second I have a go and try and work the damn thing, forget it", she mimed casually throwing something out in front of her, "teddy was long gone from the pram". Shadow snickered in sympathy with her plight,

"Ah well, you know what they say?" _Maybe, but just to be on the safe side…_;

"No", thrusting aside the memory of what was waiting for her after the lunch break was over, the smaller echidna picked at her food and carefully separated the chilli before her into the elements she liked and those she wasn't so keen on, "what's the words of wisdom this week?" Shadow brought his hands together before him, the fingertips touching and the look on his face contemplative; when he spoke, there was a mystical, dreamy quality to his voice that made Honey feel a little floaty as she listened into it,

"Today's lesson echoes back to us from the time before time itself; whichever great philosopher spoke them first is lost in the mists of history"; _do not smile, you heard me, do not…oh nuts_; despite her best efforts his overacting broke through to her in the end and a wide grin split across her lips, only a heavily renewed interest in the food on her plate stopped his tirade of enlightened tone of voice and crossed eyes unleashing an untimely giggle as he finished, "to err is human, but to really screw something up requires the aid of a computer". Honey nodded appreciatively and raised her water glass in a toast to the message the words contained,

"And those words are as true today as they were in the way back when", as she took a sip Shadow saw her brow knit for a second before she lowered her glass and looked across at him, "assuming they had computers at the time?" Shadow shrugged,

"Ah well, I suppose it must have been annoying for them when their abacus fell on the floor right when they had the answer to the emperor's tax sums all worked out".

"Amen to that", Honey agreed before Shadow saw her lean across the table; just from the eager expression on her face he knew what was coming, "c'mon Shads, please, you know you really want to tell me really – what are you doing tonight?" _Oh boy, no_; his shoulders slumped and the echidna felt triumph and terror in equal measure whip up and down her spine; _I can't have broken him now – I don't really want to know, well, I do a bit, but not really – it was supposed to be a joke_; she would have said something, the words were forming right on the tip of her tongue but she was too late, Shadow had beaten her to the line this time,

"Okay Honey, you got me, I know I was trying to kid on that I didn't want to tell anyone about this but", his face screwed up, it must have been awful for him to talk like this but she could say nothing as her lips had locked up tight, letting no words past them, "but I need to speak to someone…if this doesn't work out…I just better let you, you know…" Now, finally now she managed to force some coherent words through her numb mouth and comfort the hedgehog's plight,

"Shadow listen, if this is s hard, just take it at your own pace; we've got time".

"I know", the hedgehog's speech was muffled by his knees as his head was down, all she could see was the crown of his brow as he finished, "I need to let this go, when I'm ready for it, so I'll tell you", suddenly his face rose sharply; Honey had only a split-second to wonder why all his teeth were on show before they parted and his tongue waggled at her with impunity, "next week!"

Only his lean back saved his cheek from the beating of a lifetime; even standing upright and stretching across the table there was no way Honey could make her reach extend far enough to give him the slap around the chops even he was willing enough to admit he fully deserved,

"Ooh you git", taking her seat quickly to avoid too much of a potential scene, Honey lanced the hedgehog with the vilest of evil glances, "I'd slap you if I had long enough arms! All that wind-up for nothing!"

"You bet it was – that'll teach you to be so nosy", the hedgehog crowed triumphantly as Honey rolled her eyes disgustedly, "but I'll let you know on Monday, I promise".

"You'll tell me everything?"

"Yeah, sure", the hedgehog gave the throwaway comment just before he saw the probing edge in Honey's eyes and hastily averted the potential crisis before it could fully develop, "everything within reason that is".

"Spoilsport, but anyway I'll let Andy know you can't make it tonight, but I'll just say you're busy", she softened her hardened looks with a wry smile, "I'm willing to bet having one echidna poking her nose in is enough?"

"Too right, a pair of you would be complete overkill", Shadow was quick to reassure her before glancing at the clock, started and quickly motioned for her to do the same thing; _you're kidding me – okay_; following the hedgehog's example Honey threw herself wholeheartedly into the remains of her meal, inwardly thankful for Shadow's sharp eyes saving her stomach from having to sit through an entire afternoon without a full meal inside it; _we eat now and I'll bug you just as it's time to go home for the weekend – after that one you deserve a right earful!_

It was only a few hours later that two things happened one after the other; firstly, when she was being bidden farewell for the remainder of the week at an particularly early stage in the day Honey realised Shadow had unsportingly taken about an hour off to get home early and obviously prepare whatever it was he was hoping to prepare for his flatmate wherever she was at the time. The second thing that happened, right after he finished his farewell and raced past her desk, was that there was a very slight twinge of pain at the back of her scalp and only her hand prevented her entire office air supply turning blue as from over her shoulder a small piece of elasticated fabric fell softly to land on her desk. _Right, that is it_; as she just about fought down the urge to go rocketing after the impudent rodent and stuffed her arms back behind her head bad-temperedly, Honey swore a silent promise to herself; _if he hasn't got a really, really good story to tell me first thing next week, the second thing that's going to happen to him next week will be a one-way ticket to the Echidnopolis general!_

XXX

That had been tough; somehow that last day at work had dragged its feet more than any other he could remember, even the one where he'd really not been himself and proceeded to get completely hammered the second after its completion – but it was over now and that was the important thing; well, one of the important things. Thinking along these lines, Shadow reached into his phone pouch and pulled out an extremely finely folded piece of paper, the hedgehog quickly ran through the other important things he had to go through before he could really begin to exert his influence on Julie's tightly-bound tongue. As far as he could make out, ticking off the stuff he could do when he was actually in his flat and Julie was out the way in the shower, he was gladdened to see that he had only at best two other major stumbling blocks to vault over; by his diligence in ensuring all his carefully-prepared surprises had been well hidden away in hard to access locations of the bedroom for most of the week, he'd had no explaining to do and could set everything up and be ready to go in about seven or so minutes.

_Right, so all I've got to do really is get the last bit of the gear I need sometime before six, then it'll be about a thirty, no, longer than that even, it's not the lightest bit of kit in the world, it could be up to an hour or so before I get home. But before any of that though_; sliding the ten crest note he'd saved up over the week into the palm of his hand, Shadow threw himself into his first problem with relish; _I've got a little time to kill – the hour off will have thrown Honey off the scent, but I can't afford to be lax in this – last thing I need is to get caught out by her, especially after the day she's just got off me!_ The mere thought of what the blonde echidna could do to make his life unpleasant if he let the cat out the bag at this late stage didn't bear thinking about, but he thrust such thoughts from his mind and forced himself to act casual, the lights of the nearby shops as good a starting point as any as he moved out to try and disperse his attention from what was to be done not a quarter of a day from now; just before he moved into full view of the first store on his side of the road, he looked ahead one last time to what was going to happen not three hours from now; _and it is going to happen, no matter what the outcome is_; taking a last breath, Shadow once and for all confirmed himself on this course of action; _forget everything else, I promised her this_; he knew not where his sudden certainty sprung from as the thought concluded forcefully in his mind, but it was the truth and he didn't think to dare question it;_ and I always keep my promises_.

XXX

She'd known he was going to be late, he'd told her that himself, but knowing something and being able to accept it were to completely different things; every second her eyes flicked to the clock and every time the levels of worry rose within her a little – Shadow should have left work over an hour ago and he still wasn't here, despite herself her mind flicked back to the last time the hedgehog had been late home and she shuddered, not wanting to visit those sights ever again but at the same time unable to prevent her memory wandering over those mnemonic shards of broken glass, almost as painful now as they had been then. She'd hoped to burn off a couple of minutes, not to mention a substantially higher number of calories, by subjecting herself to another workout programme but, even before she'd reached over to turn the TV on she'd known that would have been a wasted effort; she was in a terrible limbo of not being able to concentrate on anything at the same time as want to do anything other than sit here and be unable to focus on anything save her attempts to divinate her future a few hours from now. _I was fine at work, what with this being Nesi's first day back and all_; even as jaded as she was by life in general, Julie couldn't help but smile at the stories the younger Mobian had brought back concerning her honeymoon with her now-husband Xodi – somehow all that juicy gossip had greased the wheels of the clock in the office and she'd almost been disappointed when the shift had finished; _I'm sure she wasn't telling us everything, and I'm sure Kadu thought much the same thing – we'll have to put our heads together next week and come up with a way to weasel it out of her._ The mnemonic diversion burnt up another couple of minutes before another guess of what was coming fluttered irritatingly through her mind and she founder herself back on the same old track; _thought I suppose it makes a change – this time I'm waiting for Shadow rather than the other way around. Guess it must be as irritating for him to be sat around like this when someone who can't move at the speed of sound's trying to keep pace. That must be why he's close to Sonic like he is – if those two didn't have each other they'd go nuts not having anyone to race with!_

Much as it had been earlier in Shadow's campaign to earn her forgiveness, she actually didn't recognise her phone was ringing until it had been going on for some time; quickly kicking herself our of her sitting position and noticing the sky outside was by this time in the evening now gratifyingly dark, the ex-Legionnaire fumbled around in her pocket for a second before flipping the appliance open and speaking into it, need for speed rendering her unable to get a look at the number dialling her,

"Hello?"

"Hey Jules", an electric shock shot up her arms before splitting to run up and down the length of her spine, breath and pulse quickening in tandem as she realised who was speaking, "I'm just outside now; not meaning to be rude or anything", she was grateful he broke off for a slight chuckle; it gave her time to swallow down something to wet her parched throat and to think about what to say next, "but you reckon you could do a disappearing act right about now?"

"Sure", she croaked back, though to her credit she was quick to gather her composure after reasoning with herself that she'd be able to come to terms with what was going on in the shower, "just, er, just a couple of minutes and you've got a free rein of the house; one last chance…?"

"No", the hedgehog's voice came back forcefully, the echidna smiling as she realised how well he'd been able to keep his temper over her continual suspicions that he was trying to pull an elaborate prank, "though the more you ask me the more tempting it gets".

"As if I'm not tempting enough on my own?" _Cheek!_; the sound of a badly-disguised retch from the other end of the line only cemented her determination to give Shadow what-for if this ceremony of his wasn't up to scratch,

"Just get in the shower and no, before you ask I won't be joining you"; now it was her turn to retch and land a last parting shot,

"I should hope not – last time I checked you were all for joining my half-brother in a soap-up".

"Just make sure you're out of my sight before I get up there". As he hung up, Julie paused just long enough to shake her head before planting both hands on the armrests of her chair and heaving herself upright, a slight snicker on her lips as she fought down the urge to reach for something to wear after her washing; Shadow was in charge of that for the night and even if he was reckless enough to try and get away with anything she wasn't comfortable with she'd just refuse to budge from the bathroom until he provided something within her requirements. With such thoughts buried in her mind, the echidna hurried into the bathroom, sneakily setting herself up for a shower rather than a bath as Shadow had suggested to reduce the waiting time; just before she hit the power button to start the flow of warm water, she could have sworn she heard the front door slam and her heart lifted – soon she'd be out of the dark and on her feet in the middle of Shadow's plans, and whatever else might have been said about Julie-Su, there was no way she could ever have been described as anything other than a Mobian who preferred the here and now rather than thinking of the distant future.

XXX

Just for once she didn't have to rely on willpower to keep her in the shower longer than she had to be; there was no denying her hair could have done with a touch up and due to both the volume of hair there to start with and the intricacies involved in the correct washing of echidna dreadlocks meant she had to concentrate for at least a quarter of an hour to do a proper job. _And I'm going to do a proper job_; she ensured that fact at the same time as drag her fingers through one of her strands of hair to make sure all the shampoo suds were washed clear; _whatever this ceremony is I'm going to put an effort in on it_; it was as this thought was echoing through her mind that there was a sharp rap on the bathroom door. For a second she started before reminding herself she was expecting this – after all Shadow had mentioned the dress code and this was the easiest way he had to pass it to her. Making sure as much of her was behind the opaque shower curtain as possible, the echidna went into a slight crouch before giving the all-clear,

"Sure, come in – just hang it on the back of the bathroom door". There was a muffled sound, probably an acknowledgement, before the door creaked open a crack and something appeared around it with a flourish, a single black arm the only tangible reminder of Shadow's presence as it flailed for a second, presumably to try and locate the hook without aid from his vision. He must have succeeded as there was another slight rush of air followed by a click as the door shut; sure the coast was clear Julie peeped her head around the corner and tried to squint across to where the mysterious clothing was located; unfortunately the steam from the shower prevented her getting a good look and the fact there was still about a third of her hair left to go forestalled the obvious exploration; ducking back into the warm water stream she fingered her hair slightly more rapidly than before, curiosity, already at fever pitch since the build up of this strange ceremony, definitely stating to itch once more. _Still, some things can't be hurried_; the little mental reminder came as she doused the patch of hair she'd been working on with the shower head again, seeing a little more of the water polluted with the whiteness of her shampoo; _at least they can't if you want to avoid looking like you've got the world's worst case of dandruff!_

Eventually, when she was finally sure her hairstyle was back to its best and run another couple of minute's worth of water through it anyway, Julie killed the power and lifted herself out the tub to step on the towel she'd already laid down in preparation for this event. She looked up as she rubbed her legs down, towelling off most of the water at the same time as raise an eyebrow at what she was seeing; _just looks like a dressing gown – oh this isn't going to be some kind of meditation thing is it?_ She groaned as that possibility finally rose up in her mind; she had nothing against meditation or the people who practised it, just as long as she didn't have to go through it herself – hours of sitting around doing nothing did absolutely nothing for her state of mind. Still as she dried herself off more thoroughly and approached, she saw that there wasn't just a dressing gown here; moving that aside delicately, her eyes widened as what looked like a pair of cotton hot pants became visible; _okay, wasn't quite expecting that. And hang on_; she suddenly sympathised with how microwaved meals felt; her skin was suddenly very warm at the same time her innards were turned to ice; _what am I supposed to wear up top?!_

Suddenly every thought she had led to the same conclusion and she had to fight hard to move her legs, the bones of which felt like they'd been turned to lead and rooted to the floor, swallowing hard as for the first time she felt unsure if she wanted to go through with this. If Shadow was planning what she now had a strong suspicion had been in his mind along, was she really ready for it, if that was really was his ultimate motive; she took a breath, then a second, trying to steady herself and force her thoughts into some sort of coherency; _right, remember, you know nothing about what's going on here, this is probably normal, and even if it…if he…offers, you can say no and that's the end of it…if you want to say no_. Mind more confused now than it had been for at least the last couple of weeks, Julie nevertheless reached towards the strange garments and pulled them off the hook, dressing herself carefully and taking pains to pull the top half of the dressing gown as far across as comfort would allow and then to pull the drawstring tight, minimising the risk of anything going loose at a critical moment.

"Okay", she called through the door, almost shocked by the volume of her own voice after what seemed like an eternity of silence, "ready".

And, after looking around and taking a thirteenth-hour check around to make sure all was as should be, Shadow took a couple of steps backwards, licked his lips, crossed his fingers and called back,

"Right, ready when you are".

XXX

She pulled herself up short, caught out by the lack of light as she checked her rush, having almost thrown herself out the bathroom before her nerve gave way; bringing herself up short, Julie fumbled around in the pitch black to try and orientate her directions. Actually, part of that last statement wasn't true, it wasn't completely dark in the hallway, there was a very faint light coming from the lounge, not unlike the glow of a couple of candles lit. _So, it's mostly done in the dark then_; somehow this didn't reassure her too much, a fortifying breath slipping up through her nose before she cut it off, hoping to limit the damage it inflicted on her fast-crumbling confidence at the same time as try to decode the mixture of heady perfumes the air contained. None of them were unpleasant, far from it; together they made quite a heady mixture and a very pleasant change considering what she was used to – it was just the impromptu aromatherapy edged her that little bit closer to the edge of her unease, making her pause a little longer as the prickly sensations of unfamiliarity and almost nakedness rubbed her up the wrong way. But there was nothing to be done; the lounge door was obviously and invitingly open, the light from within acting as a beacon to help guide her to the altar of whatever ritual Shadow was performing was to be held and she couldn't delay any longer. Uncomfortably aware of how loud her breathing echoed in her ears, the echidna shuffled along the hallway, a tardy pilgrim appearing for confession and hoping not to draw attention to herself in any way, shape or form. She was at the door jamb, there was another second's pause and then it was overcome; a rapid pair of footsteps later and she stood flush in the doorway, in full view of whatever scheme the hedgehog had been so carefully planning for the past week, eyes open in almost disbelieving shock as she put together the scrambled fragments within her vision and tried to foresee the fate awaiting her.

Not even her breathing registered as she almost stumbled forwards, relief that all her previous guesses had been wrong combining with utter surprise at what she was seeing in a potent brew that made her feel faint. Slowly she stepped into the room itself, getting a better view at the interior from the weak candlelight thrown out by the small pots opposite her, each one mounted on a tiny tray to stop them making any sort of mark on the carpet, the light reflecting off the dull sheen of the…for want of a better word, the platform she could see between them and her; standing at about waist height, she'd never seen anything like this in her life. She had to examine it more closely, this thing that resembled a cross between a stretcher and a bed; what was it for, and what…

"Well", she looked over her shoulder, Shadow materialising from the darkness cast by the door as it had swung open, an engaging, encouraging smile on his face as he moved up slowly to stand beside but just behind her, "I guess it's time I lived up to my end of the bargain". _Bargain?_; she could recall no such thing and would have said so had she not seen the hand the hedgehog extended, beckoning her forwards to approach the equipment before her and stripped of its normal glove; then and only then did she, with crystal clarity, recall exactly the event the hedgehog was referring to and from that information deduce exactly what was about to happen. Reading her face must have been an open book; Shadow merely chuckled,

"Come on", he repeated the movement of his hand, guiding her to the table with slow, small movements to avoid the worst of her nerves, "trust me; I'm not going to do anything stupid now", he faced her directly, looking her dead in the face with sincerity in every line of his face and infusing every word he spoke, "not tonight, and certainly not with you".

At those words, the honesty in his vow to her then, Julie let her reservations go completely, striding towards the table before her and half-rolling, half-lowering herself onto it; when she was comfortable, she hunched upwards at the waist, swiftly undoing the knot of her dressing gown and pulling the material from underneath her. Something else gripped the gown above her back and pulled softly, insistently, letting the material slough away from her gently, leaving her more exposed than she had ever been previously in the presence of her flatmate. But as she slowly felt a single one of his fingers trace a line down the exact length of her spine from the nape of her neck to where the material of her shorts stopped his finger and she squirmed at the touch, Julie allowed herself to relax and place her face through the hole in the head end of the board, ensuring her comfort at the same time as removing the hedgehog from her sight, she knew she'd never felt so totally at ease around him either; _and that_; she felt his touch again, his fingers moving as they had once before up her calf muscle; _can only be a good thing…little higher…ahhh!_

XXX

The hardest part, as always, was getting the ball rolling; Shadow had to screw up his courage to slowly extend his fingers inch by inch towards the inviting fur beneath him, the quickness of his breath increasing alongside his pulse, making his head spin as he made his hand continue its inexorable progress. _There_; on the very tip of his finger, the merest brush of contact with his patient's fur; he pressed on, feeling that fur part and then, beneath it, the silky smoothness of recently showered skin. The contact was as reassuring as always; somehow that first touch earthed the tension from his body and let his mind think unfettered, unclouded by the stifling fear of making a mistake; a final breath, expelled slowly with his eyes closed, ensured the first stage of this was over and, as his left hand joined its twin at the bottom of Julie's calf Shadow let a smile creep across his features, it was time for him to enjoy himself. Furrowing both hands the position that had worked so well once before, the former ultimate life-form slid up the table and made his first stroke upon his new canvass.

XXX

She'd lost all feeling below the knee Shadow had been working on; all she was getting from half of that leg was absolute flaccidity and relaxation and how she welcomed that – normally she'd have been impatient for such a feeling to spread over the rest of her but not now – right at this moment she couldn't feel impatience, or for that matter any other sort of emotion associated with wanting something. As Julie let her face hang down through the gap in the table she let herself drift, Shadow's skilful hands liberating her as they had once before, letting her free of the binding shackles of her body one limb at a time. Or at least, his skilful hands were until a couple of wayward fingers strayed into forbidden territory and made her squirm,

"Hey", her playfully warning voice must have been muffled by the table but she was under no illusion that Shadow couldn't hear her, "leave my knees alone".

"Oh, you mean these knees"; his voice was lightly mocking as it replied and a split-second later both sets of her knees were filed with scurrying fingers, making her laugh out loud and flick her legs up, wondering at the sense of suppleness in their lower regions,

"Yes, those ones", there was no accusation in her voice, no condemnation either, just a genuine request for him to desist in his activities, "stop it".

"Sure"; at once the tormenting sensations ended; the ex-Legionnaire waited a long second, then another, before the pressure began again on her other leg and she was lulled away once more, every repetition across her skin percolating into her muscles and releasing them into a state of relaxation unattainable alone, a zone of total release and regeneration they had never even imagined prior to this; _and all I can hope_; her thought was stilled for a second as Shadow moved up a touch, working all the way along her legs now from ankle to the bottom of her clothing and her thighs began to sway under his touch; _is that the rest of me gets there soooohoooonnn!_

XXX

_Okay, that should be enough on the legs, though she uses them more than most of her other muscles – still, fifteen minutes should be enough for the pair of them_; trying to pace himself and receptive to the sensations he was feeling from Julie's body as well as the soft sighs and groans his massage was causing her to make involuntarily, Shadow decided that would do on her lower body for now. Removing his hands from her tenderised calves and thighs, the hedgehog flexed his fingers a couple of times as he'd been taught, ironing out any twinges of cramp that may have been lurking in his hands before immersing them slowly in the basin of lukewarm water he'd brought along into the lounge with him from the kitchen, the heat suffusing his tissues and again safeguarding against the onset of spasms that would have prevented Julie's treat going any further. Taking one last look at his hands, the hedgehog nodded his satisfaction before turning his attention back to the prostrate echidna before him, taking a single glance and grinning; he'd softened her up with what she already knew he could do, and now just where to strike next to let her in on some of his more recent lessons.

XXX

When the touch came on her back she very nearly writhed off the table; as Shadow's palms moved in small concentric circles up and down the length of her body, moving at equal distances on opposite sides of her spine Julie lost all contact just as she had in the case of her legs; all she was aware of, dimly, were the positions of the hedgehog's busy digits pressing into a great expanse of warm, glowing contentment solidified; reinforcing it, adding to the foundation laid before with each new pass over her flesh and cocooning her even further into a blanket of bliss. Relaxed in a way she had never previously thought possible, the echidna's eyelids flickered, dissuading the idea of slumber with the argument that, if she was to sleep she'd miss out on all the rest of this wonderful feeling and that would be a sacrilege. _Especially considering what Shadow's put into this_; that was a thought, one her mind took up with a will as her body was left behind in its ecstatic rapture – it was a quite considerable amount of work the hedgehog had done for her here and the reasons for it happening, now what could that be?

Julie knew for a fact that her housemate was proud of his habit of keeping his word and, to his credit, she could think of very few occasions when he'd had to reschedule a promise he'd made on a particular date, and even fewer occasions when he'd failed to turn up at all. Though tempting to accept this gesture as a simple token of appreciation Julie found herself unable to comprehend such a thing; their relationship, colourfully described as 'love-hate' by Charmy when he thought they were both out of earshot, was such that both of them could and did make minor concessions to help the other but for something this big, no – this couldn't and quite rightly shouldn't be something done for nothing. She tried to concentrate back idly, mind pretty much overawed by the presence of so much accepting pleasure overrunning the areas of her brain where logic and reason usually held sway, but still she tried to piece together any potential reasons why Shadow would be doing her such a service. However, as a strange noise filled her ears, a low sibilant hissing not unlike a tyre being deflated, her eyes flickered open for a second and puzzlement spilled over her new inner peace like an oil slick; _why's the floor getting closer?_

XXX

_Right then, playtime's over_; keeping his finger on the lever to allow a carefully controlled descent, Shadow reached down with his other hand and tugged at his laces, hoping to slide quickly free of his last items of clothing; _that's enough work on the surface muscles_; the table popped to its lowest point just as the first of his shoes fell limp from his foot; _time to get going on the deep stuff_.

XXX

She heard a couple of minor clinks from either side and turned her head as much as she were able to towards the noises; the gap in the table wasn't all that giving despite the padding and she only got a very limited picture in the end, also not helped by the fact that her nose was nearly skimming the carpet in the first place. Unable to rely on sight, she fell back onto her other senses; the strange thumps and slight knocks she heard didn't really match up anything she'd heard before and though she could hear Shadow's breathing for nearby she couldn't quite tell what he was up to as he moved around somewhere above her. In the end, just as curiosity was beginning to stir up enough to wonder if she should raise her head and take a look, her sense of touch came to the rescue; as she felt the pressure on her back once more, still light enough not to cause any discomfort but a lot heavier than before anyway and focused on two areas a lot larger than before, the echidna smiled and just before Shadow started moving she called up,

"I hope you washed those before trampling them all over me?"

"You bet I did; could you think of what would happen if I didn't", the hedgehog joked with her as he began to shuffle forwards as he'd been taught, gripping onto the swiftly assembled handrails on either side of him to make sure he never put anything like his full bodyweight onto Julie's back; compared to the vast majority of echidnas the hedgehog was a lightweight but that didn't mean it wouldn't hurt if he put a literal toe out of place, "the stench would remain forever".

"Nah", her answer was a lot fainter than before; _good – that means she's got to be feeling this_; "you take good care of your feet; you don't have a choice really – a stubbed toe for you might mean a week's lay off".

"And that really would drive me nuts", he riposted, halfway to her shoulders by now and knowing that was where the fun really started; all the muscles bunched up there was the masseur's goldmine and he'd already softened them up with his hands prior to this.

"More so than I do?" Despite his maintained professional image, Shadow had to concede a chuckle at that comment,

"Maybe not that much", his toes crabbed over her shoulder blades and his shuffled his hands along the rails, making sure he had a firm grip for this next part of the process, "but that and you together, now that's something that really doesn't bear thinking about".

XXX

She'd past the point of being able to differentiate what was her and what wasn't; Shadow's repeated and rhythmic melody on the back seemed to have penetrated her skin entirely; all she could feel now was the same, steady pulse all across the field of serenity that had once been her stressed, straining spinal column, almost akin to the beat of her heart as she simply lay flaccid, unable and unwanting to make any movement to disturb this heavenly peace. His massage had melded with her completely and she had no possible reason for wanting to rebuff his advances – all her fears had melted like frost in the warm morning sun and she was mildly surprised she'd ever given them credence in the first place. _At what point did he say he was an amateur at this?_; Julie smiled at the thought that there had been a time Shadow had ever been unskilled at this type of work – she'd never felt anything like this relaxed before and she doubted she ever would again. She glanced to her side, the flickering candlelight prancing across the carpet seeming to aid the work of Shadow above her, the ever-shifting pattern of silhouette cast on the darker material and reflected in the steel legs of the table she rested upon was mesmerising her eyes, relaxing them to the point of virtual hypnosis as she watched on, caught by both sides of the twin-pronged attack on her stress levels.

Now she writhed, now for the first time in what felt like hours a convulsion rippled up and along her back, responding to the exact pressure from what felt like the very edge of Shadow's foot. Slowly and with infinite care the hedgehog was walking up the length of her backbone, never putting on enough pressure to cause even moderate discomfort, let alone pain, but enough to let her know he was still there and that he was still working with her. _Oh…yeahhh!_; a last, explosive sigh of sheer ecstasy greeted his culmination, the twin pressure on _the_ spot, right above her shoulders and just below her neckline, a final twist of his ankles working like a screw to drill right through to the very pits of her stress reservoir and crack it open, leave it open to a complete flood of delirium-inducing heaven, emptying it utterly and making her eyes roll involuntarily, lips curling upwards in almost erotic joy. Suddenly the pressure ended and he unscrewed; she vaguely felt him leave her back but beyond that lost all contact, concentrating solely on her own elevation to a plane of utter bliss. Such was the force of the final tweak of Shadow's massage routine that then next thing she sensed of him was when something began brushing through her dreadlocks; the next second, though his scalp massage couldn't quite maintain her at this pinnacle of feeling, it sure made the descent back to mortality a lot smoother than just leaving her cold. Again with no obvious input from her mind her head moved to trace his movements, keeping his fingertips as close as possible to the more sensitive areas of her hair roots and drawing as much pleasure from the massage as possible. How long they'd been together like this she had no way of knowing and didn't much care anyway; it was only when she felt his hands slipping away from her was unable to move enough to keep up, only when she knew that this time was over did anything other than this time even enter her mind. There were a few priceless moments of quiet, broken only by her deep, satisfied breathing, and then he spoke, the first time he had for what seemed a very long time; _how nice – he's massaging my ears too_;

"Jules – still with me down there?" She could only assume he'd seen her nod despite the restraint imposed on her by the table headrest as he continued,

"Good; I hope you enjoyed that"; _could I have done anything else?_; the question almost made her laugh but for the nagging suspicion that there was something he was waiting for, something she aught to be providing, but what it was eluded her for now, languishing tauntingly just out of reach of her dulled senses, "listen Julie, much as I'd have loved to do that for nothing, and please believe me I was planning to do it in the near future at some stage, I hate to admit it but there's something I…"

He got no further; suddenly reminded more by his apologetic tone than his words, Julie summoned all her resolve and resilience in order to bring her body up and fold her arms underneath her chin, giving her head some much needed support at the same time as making sure she was covered. When she was sure she was comfortable and capable of completely coherent speech, the echidna looked up in Shadow's careful neutral yet faintly apologetic expression and felt herself smile,

"Shadow", she knew she was going to be completely honest, everything was coming out right here and now – in such a state of mind as she was in now, any thoughts of deception were impossible to comprehend, "go into the bottom drawer of the chest of drawers in the bedroom and feel around a bit, there's a slightly loose corner at the front left. Feel around under that and it lifts up; trust me, what you find there says more than I can right now", she smiled up at the hedgehog's raised eyebrow before sliding her arms back to their previous positions and letting her face fall forwards once more, voice muffled but still audible, "but before you go, whatever you were doing to my dreads keep doing it, and don't worry about the girls in the office finding out about this", the memory of his visage of horror when she'd suggested such a fate made her giggle now in the light of what she'd just been exposed to, "after tonight, I'm making sure I get to keep you all for myself!"

XXX

If he was completely honest with himself, he cheated a little bit, right at the very end when she was virtually on the point of dropping off on her own; a couple of his fingers had surreptitiously slid down the side of her face and caressed her jaw line on both sides, rather than just the one as it had been earlier. Even when he'd begun to hear the gentle snores from just in front of his kneeling position he'd kept up for a couple more minutes, just to be sure the sometimes sly echidna wasn't shamming him this time. _No, she's gone – just as well too_; gently disentangling himself from the crown of his flatmate's head Shadow shook his hands, curling and uncurling his fists in response to the slight shooting pains now registering there; _too much longer and we'd have been in trouble_. Luckily the water in the basin was just warm enough still; having soaked his hands and dried them on the kitchen towel he'd brought through, Shadow dipped his fingers in the bowl and carefully walked around the grounded table, skilfully pinching out the still glowing candles in the incense burners before any more of the wax was wasted, leaving the room in total darkness while Julie slept.

This was a quick process; it had to be as his next action was completely direct – ignoring everything else the hedgehog stood up and lightly vaulted over Julie's slumbering form, not even pausing to put his shoes on as he marched into the bedroom, locating the drawer Julie had indicated and pulling it sharply open. Coupling as much speed as he could manage with his understandable haste, Shadow inserted a finger under the slight gap he could see now; _and…what's this? Feels kind of slimy…_; this only deepened his confusion, the unfamiliar sensation on his exposed finger nothing he was used to, but as he set his other hand to work in the virtual darkness, not having spared the time to turn the bedroom light on, he began to slowly draw this strange being out from its hiding place.

Though by the end he was tempted just to rip the damned draw apart and buy a new one later, he persevered just long enough to feel this whatever-it-was pop free from the confines Julie had forced it into; _got it, and not before time too. Now let's get a look at you_; hurrying back to the crack of light visible from the bedroom door, Shadow held his prize a lot in the light beam, hoping for the answers Julie had promised to materialise before him. _Huh?_; it was not to be however – as he lowered the small CD, encased safely within the thin plastic wallet that had protected it during its long hibernation in his drawer, Shadow's brow knitted as he tried to think how this was meant to help him; unless Julie had made some kind of Dictophone diary, his thoughts were all pretty much blanks. Well, no matter; it was a CD, he was obviously supposed to listen to it and by great good fortune he had just the machine to do the job; in a split-second he was in the kitchen, flipping open the top of his radio bug and carefully placing the mysterious disk within it. He closed the lid in the same motion as set the selector slide to CD, then he flicked the switch at the wall, took a last second to try and wonder exactly what this thing could be as the CD player component of his radio span the disk within it up to speed, the pressed the play button down, listening intently to the lowered volume. After a couple of seconds, of faintly buzzing static, a voice drifted out to him, making him prick his ears and narrow his eyes a touch; was it just him or did whoever was speaking have a dialect problem?:

_"Ah, I reckon I'm fedup wi'this now, need somethin' a bit different to keep me palette sweet"._

_"Wha'ever"_; only his hands stopped the radio being sucked into the black hole that had become his mouth – slurring he might have been but there was no way Shadow couldn't recognise his own voice coming out the speakers at him,

_"Your choice pal, I'm payin' this round. What's yer poison?"_ And he knew that voice too as it all suddenly, horribly, made sense – the faint background bustle, the reason both he and Vector sounded less coherent than usual; that single P-word brought all those awful, shaming memories back with a vengeance.

_"Does idiocy count?"_ And she'd heard this, the knowledge that Julie-Su of all Mobians must have listened to his rambling on tape made his ears incinerate and burn even more than the horribly out of tune laughter being blasted into the unsuspecting organs,

_"Now, now if you were askin' Esp, I betty'ed say yes; anyway why'd you say you were 'ere in the first place? You norrat work tomorrow?"_

_"Yeah, I'm working but I gotta do this more; I screwed up Vec"._ _Too bloody right I did – first thing tomorrow I'm going over to the Chaotix's with a skinning knife and a do-it-yourself football making kit!_

_"We all screw up Shads"._

"_Not like I do we don't",_ and a truer word had never been spoken; Shadow buried his head in his hands as he knew he couldn't stop what he was hearing any more than he could take back the words he'd said in the first place, _"I had everything; job, house, friends, girl"_; oh and wasn't that just the icing on the cake – he could just picture Julie's reaction to that, _"but I threw it'way, poof, gone, all gone. Now everyone'll hate me, and I don't blame 'em, not a bit. I was a, a…"_

_"Jerk?"_ Despite the fact his heart was no longer beating and most of his blood seemed to be haemorrhaging in his cheeks, Shadow's biological systems took enough of a time out to nod at that choice of word; he'd been a jerk and a lot worse than that,

"_Yeah, jert, that'sah good one; I was one'a them, the worst one'a them I wanted 'em to leave me alone, just be by m'self; now I am, they did, and I hate it 'cos she was right about it"._

Forget the skinning knife; he was crocodile hunting with a rusty _spoon_! He was all at once revolted, amazed, incredulous and mortified that Vector had somehow managed to set him up for this one but there was no denying the crocodile deserved to suffer for it, doubly so for have the brass neck to serve up a copy on a plate for the echidna with a tongue of acid who he must have known would only inflict further misery on his already woeful lot. Shadow swore that long and bloody revenge in the split-second of silence before the seemingly baffled crocodile's next words rang through to him, the next few lines in this hideous pantomime,

_"Who was?"_

_"Julie course_ – _said I was sel'ish, an I was, really selfish; put myself before everyone else cos I found out I was immorrall and didn't wanna be left alone when they all headed upwards. Well, I'm not gonna be alone then, I'm alone now instead, and when that time does come, I'll be alone then too – good for me, an I deserre it"._ All thoughts of furious vengeance were squashed at once as Shadow ran that line back through his head – had his ears and drunken speech deceived him or had Vector, not Cream or any of the others he'd later apologised to, been the first to discover the dirty little secret he'd imparted in the wake of recognising his catastrophic error?

_"Sorry, run the last bit past me again, what are you thesh days?"_

_"Immorrall;I no gonna die, gonna live forever anaday, alone, great"._ Obviously the crocodile had been his first confident, but in that case why hadn't he told the others about what had been going on? Perplexed by the reptile's circular logic, Shadow almost missed the last few lines of this particular outtake from what sounded depressingly like a whole night of uncut mayhem and embarrassing depravity,

_"Immorrall huh – gotta be bad that has. Still look at it like this. You're at the bottom now, life's just thrown the whole lot at you, what else can it do? You finish up here, then we get you home; wha's the worse that could happen?"_

_"When life hands you lemons right?"_ He had to chuckle a little – even at his lowest point it seemed he hadn't lost his sense of humour,

_"Now thasa thought; ever tried tequila slammers?"_ Even now, stone sober and having vowed never to touch another drop in his life, Shadow grimaced at the very name of the cocktail.

XXX

The night dragged on, depositing an ever-higher pile of cheek-incinerating misery on the ever-increasingly appalled hedgehog's doorstep; every drunken toast, every glug of the seemingly bottomless bottle of whatever it was he and Vector had been ploughing their way through that night rang out in his ears like church bells as still he listened in to this train-crash broadcast – he knew he should have switched the radio off and then gotten down to the serious business of finding a nice deep, dark hole to expire in, but at the same time some masochistic element of his mindset demanded he keep his ears tuned into this travesty of midnight celebration,

_"Ah, soonbe lass bells"_, it was getting harder to decipher as evidently the alcohol took its toll on both of them, but he could at least still tell which of them was doing the talking, _"'Owz abhat one ferdaroad?"_

_"Sure"_; again that ever-present sloshing of spirits filtered through the speakers and Shadow shivered; he'd long since given up trying to count how many measure he and the head of the Chaotix must have packed away between them and now knew he owed his liver a very large bunch of flowers and sincere note of apology as his slurring speech drooled through to him once more, _"plenny time fer laz regets"._

_"Regetz; ah I gorrafoo, but nuffin too…er…too hooge. You?"_

_"Oh, oh me, yeah, I gorraload, loadzanloads"_, _too right I had_; just this once it appeared that the alcohol had made him honest at least and he could agree with himself, _"I'ze gorra be sorry to e'yone – sorry to Zonik, Ayes, Cals and Team, youanKnu-hu-cks…"_

_"Ah, we'ze okay, me an' da guyz, dey'll unnerstand – whorrabout,er, wasaname? You know, you pickerup offa road, shez…"_

_"Who, Julez"_, the black hedgehog squeezed his eyes shut – what could he have said here when the alcohol had hold of his tongue and was refusing to let common sense take it back, _"nah, nah, well yeah, sorta sorry to her"._

_"'Owzzat work?"_

_"I'ze sorry, but I'm sorrier, das a good word, hafta 'member thatun"_, his drunken self tailed off into a series of hiccupping laugh at the same time as he lifted his head from his hands, something very close to an idea he really didn't fancy the look of coming back from the recesses of his mind to start and haunt the edges of his wildest ideas, _"but nah, I'ze sorry, but I'ze sorrier that, well, shez gonnow, neva seer'gain, so I'll neva be'ble to zay how sorry Iyam to 'er…"_ The rest of the transcript faded into the blackness, dropping below Shadow's audible range as he stood up suddenly, all other thoughts gone from his mind as a couple of very stark facts superimposed themselves over his brain and gave him instant access to a conclusion he very readily accepted.

_Julie's heard this tape…_

…_therefore I can assume she heard that bit – she's therefore heard me say that I'm sorry…_

…_and must have already accepted it…_

…_then she acted like she hadn't…_

…_and I've been working like there's no tomorrow ever since, trying to make up for something she's already heard._

_BITCH!!!_

XXX

If she'd been aware to see him stood there over her prostrate form, filling the entire space and pervading the room before him with the certainty of a lingering, deadly doom, she would surely have cowered just as he had once. Indignant wrath combined with magnificent embarrassment that she'd been able to play him like a fiddle for this long and he swore he was going to take it all back from her; every ounce of effort was going to be recouped, every fiendish, madcap scheme was getting repossessed and the individual words were getting clawed back from her unworthy hide…or at least they were until, standing above the sleeping echidna's back Shadow felt his appatite for a fight suddenly desert him and lowered his raised fist, sighing as, monstrous though the injustice perpetrated against him was he had no choice but to accept it. He couldn't take back anything he'd done and nor would he really want to if he was completely honest with himself; just as it had been a couple of months back, squabbling with the Mobian now before him had been a demanding, unceasing and always entertaining struggle that, he sniggered to himself for a moment, never really stopped and on this occasion she'd got the one-up on him. _Okay you_; dragging the sleeping bag off the end of the settee and unzipping it completely, Shadow narrowed his eyes for a second before draping the makeshift blanket over the entirety of the massage table, tugging and twisting various corners of it to make sure Julie was completely covered against the onset of a sudden winter chill in the night air; _you got ahead on this one, but there's always tomorrow for me to make sure you come a cropper for this!_

He knelt down, peeling his hand underneath the back of the echidna's head and gently dredging her dreadlocks up from underneath the sleeping bag, feeling the pliable hair feather on his arms as he fanned it out over the top of Julie's makeshift sleeping arrangements. Reaching across to make sure he had all of them in his hands, the hedgehog gave a couple of careful twists, making sure the vast majority of his housemate's hairstyle was meshed together in a single, easily-undoable knot arrangement, keeping it off the floor at the same time as ensuring it wasn't going to end up completely tangled come the end of the night. Task completed, he made to stand up only for a single whim to give him a second's pause; inclining his head, the former ultimate life-form bent down into a position of virtual obeisance to touch his forehead to the roots of Julie-Su's dreadlocks, pausing just long enough to savour the faint traces of her shampoo scent lingering around her tresses, refilling him and his lust for life enough to let him stand up on his own two feet again and slowly remove himself from the lounge, closing the door behind him with all the softness of a falling leaf on winter snow.

XXX

His main impression of the rest of the night, consisting mostly as it did of getting ready for rest of his own, was that of surreality; he knew he should be absolutely blazing at Julie for leading him on like she had, especially when he'd been so cut up about her refusal to forgive him and then finding out that she'd heard his confession a long time ago and must have privately shaken her head at the whole thing, granting things as equal between them once more. But for a reason that only became clear when he pulled back the covers and slid into bed for the night his rage simply wasn't there; dragging the covers to cloth his body again, the hedgehog sighed for the last time, eyelids already heavy enough to drag him down into the welcoming depths of sleep; _it's because what went before doesn't matter any more – who cares about hard I worked, or how much Julie must have wanted to tell me at some stages, and there were times when it looked like she was about to crack – it doesn't matter at all_. He resisted the urge to fend off sleep and struggle with this new line of thinking it; he merely accepted it as placidly as Julie had taken up on his idea of a massage for her to say sorry; a slight smile slipped over his apparently resting face as in front of his closed eyes a very familiar figure stood waiting for him, hands on hips and a knowing smirk on that oh-so-familiar face; _she's given me a second chance, that's all that counts – all that matter is this, my other shot, the next bite at the cherry, a second chance…_; the figure beckoned and he approached, too late for the doubt at the very back of his mind to usurp power enough to want to part the blurred lines completely, to lift the rose-tinted glasses from his eyes and make him see that the figure ahead of him, waiting for him, perhaps wasn't the echidna he thought it was; _…my second chance…_

…_at happiness…?_

A/N: Aww, Julie got what was coming to her all right, but by the time this night is over, will Shadow have enough left in him to grasp the new life she might be offering him?


	27. Chapter 27 Bursting Bubbles

Chapter 27 – Bursting Bubbles.

A/N: One of the longest, if the not the longest chapter I've ever written; worth it to see it on the site though. Normally this is where I'd give my reviewers a shout-out, but no-one's reviewed the chapter before this one; still, I suppose with Christmas just around the corner everyone's running around like a mad thing to buy all those last minute prezzies, and the Ashes has just kicked off as well. Oh well, I know what to ask Santa for – a lot more people to include in this section next time! Now, on with the story:

_He…he was sentient._

_He could feel, a sort of fluid around him, a viscous, syrupy ooze that fought his every effort to move within it, yet it could not prevent them all; parts of him, smaller, much more on the periphery of what he considered to be him, registering the tiny ripples in the material surrounding him, the brackish material swirling in response to his first, embryonic struggles with life._

_Where was he? Who was he? How had he come to be in such a…?_

XXX

Though no-one was around to see it, there was a definite movement on the slumbering Shadow's face; his eyes suddenly scrunched themselves shut, blocking any and all light from entering through them, a primal response to intense visual stimulus – the sort of thing a child would do if a flashlight were shone in his face at the same time as his body began shivering from a cold only his mind could feel.

XXX

_The fluid had been leaving, the eddies around his body had become more tempestuous until; he backed away, frightened at the unfamiliar situation, there was no fluid in contact with some parts of his body, instead an intense sensation he didn't like, the exposure to a strange burning that was spreading downwards. He was moving, going forwards against his will; as much as he knew how to he dug his heels in, tried to remain cocooned within the world he knew and was safe with. But he could not - there was a noise in some parts of his head, nothing he had ever experienced before all over his body – the world in front of his eyes exploded into a brilliant white at the same time as…_

…_PAIN!_

_His hands struck something hard and blinding agony screamed up his arms, into his brain; he tried to expel something from within him into the surrounding vacuum but could not for there was nothing within. He had to get something within, he knew that he had to without knowing how he knew this, the light was suddenly muted, muffled at the same time the stinging began to abate around him, replaced by a rough caress that continued as the nascent ultimate life-form threw back his head and pulled in the sharp feeling from the atmosphere around him, drawing in a first, deep breath._

XXX

_His father was happy. He was happy that his father was happy. Well, his father had explained to him, many times, that he wasn't really his father, but since he was the one who had first wiped away the goo from his eyes just after he had been born, he would have to be his father, until his father could find his real father for him and stop being his father._

_Standing up from where he had been playing with the funny toys his father had given him, he ran towards the taller man, crossing the distance in no time, well, except when he had to pick himself up after falling over. Once more he looked down in dismay to see his shoe, one of the two his father had given to him and that helped him move so fast no-one on else could catch up, all the other people, even his father, were left behind when he decided to go all out, hanging half off his foot, the little bits of string on either side waggling helplessly as drew back, that foot forwards on the ground in front of him. How was he meant to do this again; holding one piece of string in each hand, he wracked his brain trying to remember it, the little rhyme that the small non-father with the shiny hair had told him; over, under, through – under, bow, pull through? No, that had to be wrong; the entire assembly fell apart in his hands and he fought to keep a tear out of his eye – he tried so hard, so many times, but nothing he did could make that rhyme go right. A shadow fell over him, blocking out he lights above and he sniffed, trying not to let his father see his upset because then he'd be upset too and that wasn't fair. _

_Not raising his eyes, he felt rather than saw the man kneel before him; the first he saw of his father was when his hands, powerful but delicate things, calloused but still so gentle to him, descended and took hold of the pieces of string that vexed him. He blinked rapidly, trying to see the magic dance his father could make those pieces of string do so easily, hoping to remember it for next time; in no time at all the bow was completed, his shoe anchored to his foot once more. Finally able to glance up, he saw the smile and felt the hand on top of his head, the warm feeling that nothing could ever beat on the top of his head and, feeding on it, jumped up right into his father, not knocking the man over but knocking him back a little, the tears that had once threatened to fall in sorrow now squeezed out a little by his father's arms, but squeezed out in joy at being close to his family._

XXX

Had anyone been present in that room with the sleeping hedgehog, they would have been able to see the progression written in bold upon the contours of his face; though at first glance it may have looked as though he were only in a light doze, reacting to the stimulus a dream was giving him, such a complex pattern of changing faces would have swiftly rendered that conclusion false. At times his expression radiated abject curiosity, fingers twitching as though delicately experimenting with some fragile vessel entrusted to his care, at others he physically flinched, shying away from something or someone only he could see as though afraid of some punishment about to befall him. These latter instances were rare, however, and in every instance the fear lasted but seconds, giving way to sometimes relief, sometimes even a little giggling as obviously he evaded or resolved the source of his fear. For how long this state persisted was impossible for anyone, least of all Shadow himself, to accurately measure, but it came to an end abruptly; from mid-smile the hedgehog froze completely, the top half of his torso levitating a little way off the mattress he lay upon, trying vainly to lean forwards in counterpart to the sudden look of utter, complete concentration that had focussed on his face.

XXX

_So then, this was it – this was the reason his creator, the proper title for the man he had once called father, had actually created him. He remembered all of their words from the previous evening and most of the night afterwards, of the overriding reason behind this development, this little piece of the planet he could see gently revolving in the portal off to one side of him, and now it lay before him. His creator looked over his shoulder at him, speaking his name in a sombre tone as he inclined his head but Shadow needed to hear no more, his intent nailed firmly on the construct in front of him, finally understanding what the human had meant the night before, recognising the reason the man thought of this thing, the necessary protection of the thing he loved above all others and crafted by his own hands, as a prison._

_Slowly he stepped into the central area of the Space Colony, nicknamed the ARK by some of the other humans who dwelt upon it in reference to some legendary ship of myth that had saved the worthy in ages past, never shifting his gaze from the material in front of him, taking in the frosted appearance of the glass before him, much like the panes of glass he'd had such fun breathing and then writing his name upon when he'd been younger and less well-informed. He squinted, trying to peer within but was defeated by the strange material's refractivity; the best he could make out was very vague shape and shadows – a blur moved slightly in his vision and the next second he hurled himself backwards, heart hammering as a dull thud reverberated around in the room with him. He glanced around wildly for its source and almost immediately it dawned on him what had happened; a section of the glass had darkened, but a very specific section at that, one section set in an unmistakable silhouette. Approaching the crystal prison once more, the hedgehog tried to peer through the substance impeding his vision once more and was again thwarted, the strange glass compounded by the fog generated by his breath but it was of no consequence; looking at the impression of the hand pressed hard from the interior of the glass coffin, Shadow instinctively reached up and pressed the glass hard from his side, covering the smaller appendage's imprint with his at the same time as look forwards, almost penetrate the wall before him completely to see the face of the shadow in front of him, stood not two feet away from him. Two feet that might as well have been and would continue to be an eternity away unless his creator's idea, unless he could find a way to rip this prison apart and release the captive held unjustly within by a cruel twist of nature. _

_In that instant, that second where he lowered his eyes to the top of the outline he could see before him on the other side of the glass he could not yet crack, Shadow understood what his purpose was, the reason behind his creation and found himself agreeing with it completely; before now he'd had his questions and doubts as to whether he could find the courage within himself to carry out what his creator had asked of him, or whether he was just a means to an end, a tool to be used in the liberation of the one thing his creator cherished above him but now he was purged of them. If he was to be a tool then so be it for the cause was a worthy one in his eyes; as his fist balled down the glass he whispered across the gulf to the person he would liberate…_

XXX

"I will get you out of there".

The words were little more than a murmur, but they were a potent one; spoken with utter conviction and clarity of purpose, it was the mission statement of a Mobian who has no other purpose in his life save the one he's set his heart upon. All other looks of frolicking and fun were banished from Shadow's expressions now, replaced by a driving, consuming need to finish something he had started; there was flashes of disappointment, maybe even disgust at times as obviously something went wrong with his plan, but mostly that same compelling expression drove him ever-onwards, forcing him to go faster towards a goal only he knew, his slumbering body twitching as though trying to keep pace with his racing mind, increasing its velocity as the flame of his hidden desire burned ever hotter within him. The slowing down was gradual, the speed bleeding away slowly as though the hedgehog knew that slamming on the brakes at this stage would be disastrous, would ruin all the work put into his scheme thus far.

In the darkness of his bedroom, Shadow's unconscious body stilled in its motion and eventually ceased altogether; the back of his head compressed the pillow beneath it as he tilted to look up at something, then, in a stark contrast to his other most recent movements, the extension of his left hand was a measured, gradual process. The blanket rose as his forearm went forwards, and then paused in its inexorable rise as Shadow's unseen master dictated it to be in the correct position for what was to happen next. The hedgehog gritted his teeth as the next movement became clear; the knuckles of his extended left hand began to whiten as he bunched his fist as tightly as he was able to, holding the tension there in his hand as long as he was able to until a ripple of sudden pain spread all across his body.

XXX

_His creator, the man with the face he could see so clearly now, had said there would be pain, and there was, a little at least. The sharpened metal tube had slid into his arm like a burning worm, all the more disconcerting for the feeling of invasion pervading the tissue of his arm in its wake as he gritted his teeth a little, forcing himself to look up from his clenched fist to the thin tube snaking its way up to through the crystal wall ahead of him, the colourless material suddenly darkened red as the fluid it contained was siphoned upwards to whatever fate awaited it within the twenty or so feet of the ARK Shadow had never seen. He watched the sight continue, a little fascinated at the same time as nauseous – the realisation that this fluid was coming from him was more than a mite sickening, until he felt another pain in his arm, the singeing head of the proboscis that had pierced him retracting as he didn't dare look down, seeing instead the last of the crimson trail above his head slip beyond his vision, through the wall of the catacomb before him. Only when he saw the older hand of the man who had made him descend and compress a bandage into his wounded elbow did Shadow drop his gaze, nodding to the elderly man that he could tend his own injury while he dealt with the end proceedings that they had discussed the previous evening._

_A few moments later, as he was denied his glimpse within the frosted glass before him as the tube was retracted and the curious material it had penetrated slid down smoothly to seal the breech in the blink of an eye; Shadow heard his name mentioned by the man before him. He listened to all his father had to say, then nodded for what had been said made perfect sense – though it would hurt again, he would submit himself to this procedure again, and again as many times as it would take if that was what was called for. He knew that he would do this because, he cast one final glance at the hated structure before his creator pulled the door closed behind the pair of them, he had promised to liberate the one trapped within and he always kept his promises._

_Always._

XXX

The same movement repeated itself over and over; Shadow would relax his hand and fall back into his sleep, apparently lost in the land of Nod once more, until his fist was clenched once more and his forearm rose again, pushing his hand forwards as though offering it to be bled as a sacrifice on a heathen altar. Without warning though, this pattern was broken; the hedgehog's hand fell open at the same time as he leaned forwards, a whipcord of tension running taut throughout his whole body, the impression of someone awaiting the coming of a monumental event, one that would change the course of his life for good or for ill, and radiating the silent willing for the outcome of such an event to be in his favour. His collapse back onto the bed a couple of seconds later was breathtaking – as his arms flexed again, both of them trying to move in an encircling motion as though holding a brittle child softly, the tension within him had lifted as surely as a storm's breaking, leaving in its wake the freshness of new growth beginning to arise at the beckoning of the new moisture.

XXX

_He felt the grip on his shoulder as the sudden hiss of decompression percolated the entire inner sanctum of the ARK; reciprocating his creator's nervousness Shadow reached up the arm as far as he was able to while holding the latest bandage in place to prevent himself bleeding all over the floor, drawing and generating reassurance in equal measure as the man reached to the console over to his left, reaching, Shadow knew, for the button that would determine if all his hard, diligent work over the past ten years would be the climatic event of his life, the pinnacle of his genius, or if it would lead only to despair and to dust for all that he cherished. Out of the corner of his eye Shadow saw him hesitate, his finger trembling and he knew that same fear, the ever-present spectre of failure looming large over his mind also, threatening to sap his resolve at this, the final, crucial moment. He closed his eyes, hoping to draw in his strength; a sudden mechanical crunch jerked them open once more, panic in his manner as with his heart bobbing in his throat he saw the sight he all at once dreaded to see and had worked so hard for, sacrificed so much of himself for over the past two or three years, to make happen, finally begin._

_The chamber, the very reason for the creation of the Space Colony ARK's existence in the first place, was cracking open; with a sudden swallow, Shadow realised with sickening finality that now, in this last moment, nothing either he or his creator could do would be able to determine the outcome of what was to happen next. He recalled dimly some form of good luck and hastily glanced down, hoping to arrange his fingers in time to attract the attention of luck and fortune to his aid…_

…_and then he looked back up again, the crossing of his fingers forgotten about, for it was then, at that precise second, that he saw her, stood at the centre of what had once been her world, watching it retract from around her, letting her inhale the free air for the first time in her life._

_So thin, and so pale; those were his first thoughts as the girl took a first, faltering step forwards; a strangled sob to the right of him made him glance around in time to see his creator step forwards, the name of his relation on his lips as the girl ran towards him, hidden behind the elder human's bulk as she must have launched herself into the arms of the man who had sacrificed everything to bring this moment about for her. Shadow hung back, hot tears stinging the corner of his eyes as he glanced away, giving the family time to acclimatise with each other; as he knew from interactions with some of his other human friends, the most intimate, emotional aspects of family life belong within the family with no-one intruding upon such privacy. Suddenly he flicked his still downcast eyes forwards again and started, seeing not the grey, slate-steel of the deck before him, but rather a pair of dainty bare feet instead. Feeling the blood start to rise uncomfortably in his face, the hedgehog drew his gaze up levelly to a point just below his eye level, looking directly into the face of the most beautiful, most delicate looking girl he had ever seen._

_Her skin was alabaster white, as fragile as porcelain as it stretched taut over her finely chiselled features; she definitely had his creator's smile, a warm, heart-melting expression that spiked the temperature of his brain once more. But all this he virtually missed for he was lost within her eyes; so open, so huge and so utterly, utterly blue – the perfect counterparts to the vermillion orbs he viewed this strange metallic world through. He groped blindly for words but none came, his mouth worked but no sound emerged; that quizzical smile blossomed into a glorious laugh and without fear, without reservation she threw herself forwards, holding onto him as he just stood there mute, almost afraid to touch her for fear of snapping her willowy frame clean in half. But of their own volition his arms moved regardless, encircling her back softly, holding her close as his ears soaked up her praise, her thankfulness for her deliverance from her previous prison, a princess's token of gratitude to a shining white knight. A shadow fell over him then and he glanced up to see his creator, tears rolling freely down his face, join the two of them in their celebration, the end of their journey and the triumph of all the tribulations each had in their own way endured._

_All that remained, now that the hard work was over, was the enjoyment of the future; as he held this strange new girl closer than ever, Shadow bound himself to her completely, swearing that as he had once been her tool of liberation, now he had a new role in her life – now he was to be her friend and, equally, her protector as well._

XXX

Relaxation had reasserted itself over the hedgehog's emotions; a dreamy smile eclipsed all other thoughts from his mind for the most part. Most, but by no means all; occasionally other expressions would flash across his face like daggers glinting in morning light, occasional outbursts of fear…

…_oh no, is she all right? I can't have hurt her, not by accident…_

…or laughter and light relief…

…_you sneaky little – right, that's it, you pay for that right now…_

…even evident concentration and shock…

…_how does this sum work again; something to do with SOHCAHTOA, and what's that stand for? Hey, little help over here…_

_...I, I'm what? How is that right – I can't, I can't live, not knowing that…_

…and once, just once, furious and all-consuming wrath…

_...they had hurt her. They had dared to try and hurt her! They would pay for this, all of them. Every single one!_

…were visible, but for the most part the same smile echoed over his expressions, stilling all before it as he walked once more in the life that had once been his. His limbs twitched occasionally in response to his unmeant mental stimuli; his legs and feet flapped as best they could as they were pinned down beneath his blanket, his hands flexed and clenched as though trying to grip something, be it a small, delicate object such as a pencil or another, smaller hand in his own. His movement stilled for a moment, only his head craning downwards for a second; he remained in this state for a couple of long, long moments before, almost as though tapped on the shoulder, he glanced around and over his left shoulder.

XXX

_She was there, as always she knew where he'd be; something about her ways just made him echo back her slightly curious smile as he accepted her question and mulled it over for a couple of seconds. In answer, he stepped slightly to the side, one of his hands pointing out the viewpoint he'd been gazing through for the past couple of moments, trying to block out the periodic flares and pulses of flame coming from the robotic crewing teams working off to the right of the glass portal with his hand, ignoring the growing protrusion from the side of the ARK in favour of the blue and green planet beneath him. This was the world they had both heard and read so much about yet never set foot upon; a forbidden fruit in the orchard of their desires so far – he knew she was at least as curious about this so-called Earth as he was, just able to hide it slightly better. His creator, her mentor and relation, had thus far forbidden them the gravity training necessary to set foot upon the planet the ARK had originated for, but there were encouraging signs that such stubbornness was beginning to wane; he could not deny them forever, no matter how much he may want to keep both his family and his finest creation as close to him as he could manage._

_He heard her words half-heartedly, focussing instead on his own thought for once; he knew from his studies on Earth that most of the land masses, or continents as they were more usually known, had been explored at least to some degree, but what of the blue regions of the planet? The seas and oceans, where there was still so much to be done, to reach out and explore – what would it be like to sail on those regions, to venture into areas of the world that no-one had considered going before. A lust for adventure was awakening within him, slowly at first but gradually becoming more and more insistent; a feeling that this space colony, his world up until now, was no longer large enough for him – that he needed to once more reach out and explore a new world. There was a tap on his shoulder and he looked around again; he almost blushed as he saw the look on the girl's face – it must have been like reading an open book to her to see what he was thinking. _

_Again, as she always did; in her energy despite her slight and slender build, in her openness despite her extremely sheltered early life, she surprised him, this familiar girl whose face he knew so well. She spoke and caught up in her words Shadow gripped her hand gently, not wanting to hurt her with his superior physical strength and joined in her promise – one day they'd explore those oceans, reach out into those unexplored depths together. It might take some time but they had plenty, all the time in the world to make their dreams come to fulfilment; a siren called out her name and she looked back, annoyed at having the moment wrecked but accepting that she had to leave now, for a little while at least. Shadow watched her go, still unable to wipe the smile from his face as she departed before resuming his almost sentry duty on the window before him. A sudden flare in his peripheral vision caught his eye and once more his gaze was dragged over to the construction off to his left; though his creator hadn't explained the purpose of this new extension to the space station, every time he looked at it Shadow felt something like unease run though him – he couldn't name the suspicion that made him entertain such notions, but something deep down within him made him worry that whatever it was the genius behind his creation had planned with this development, no good would come from it._

XXX

_Hmm, what's going on here?_; bereft of normal function for a couple of seconds, Julie's first thought was typically nonsensical for the fact she was waking up; _feels like I've got my head in a vice._ Actually, such a thought wasn't as imbecilic as it first appeared; it was certainly true that the echidna couldn't move her head in either direction to the side of her, nor could she tilt it up or down. Luckily, just before panic started to kick in a little, she realised that she could move herself forwards and back at will; bracing both hands on opposite sides of the bed she lay upon, Julie heaved backwards and was rewarded by her head clearing the hole it had previously been swallowed up by. Disorientated as always by the feeling of waking up, Julie scrambled to try and mash the pieces back together in something like a recognisable pattern; _okay, this isn't the bed, but it can't he settee either, not unless Shadow…Shadow, he did this, he put me to sleep_; suddenly it made sense again and she stretched out fully, marvelling at the nervous messages being relayed to her brain from her back and legs; _and he did a lot more besides that_.

He'd actually done slightly more than she'd realised; it was only when she tried to stand up and felt the fabric atop her back that she registered the sleeping bag covering her; he must have been the one to tuck it around her to spare her from the chill she now felt slightly on her bare shoulders. _Ah yeah_; despite the fact she knew he wasn't the sort to look, Julie nevertheless decided she'd feel a little more comfortable in her normal night attire and, locating the position of the settee from memory, she stood up, holding the blanket around her just in case at the same time as luxuriating at her new-found suppleness. Virtually everything below her neckline felt like it had been systematically taken apart, marinated in lubricating oils, polished off to a sparkling finish and then re-installed, putting her back at the peak of her physical fitness; slowly testing the limits of this new sensation Julie stretched off every limb in turn, alert of any sounds of stress becoming apparent only there were none – not a single one of her organic joints clicked, none of her tissues complained at the sudden motion as they all slid effortlessly into place without a murmur of protest. Still not fully believing the extent of the magic in her housemates' fingers, the ex-Legionnaire began to shuffle forwards to where she believed the settee and, as an extension of that, her nightgown lay; a couple of tentative steps later the responsiveness of her remoulded physique was tested, just about sparing herself a stubbed toe as her hyper-alert skin felt the contact on the floor and ordered her movement to halt just before any meaningful pain could result from the impact. _Okay, have to go a bit slower around here_; taking in this new information the echidna replanned her immediate strategy even if she could understand why the normally-diligent Shadow had been a little lax in packing his tools away this time; _probably desperate to figure out what it was I was on about earlier_.

At the sudden memory Julie gave a slight snigger in the darkness, trying to picture his reaction to hearing the CD Vector had presented her with on the night after he had carried Shadow through the door and coming up with some real peaches. In retrospect maybe she had been a little cruel in concealing her knowledge of his inebriated apology for as long as she had, but in the end, ah, he couldn't have been too upset with her, the fact he'd draped the sleeping bag over her in the first place was proof enough of that. Still, she wasn't so distracted in her imaginings as to not recognise contact on her shin and pull up short before she tried to walk through the couch in front of her; holding the sleeping bag up with one hand, the echidna reached down and felt with her hand, sliding it under the pillows to locate her missing garment by touch; _ah, there we go_. Smiling in triumph, she let the sleeping bag fall to the floor as she quickly pulled the gown up over her head, smoothing it down over her body for a second as she decided what to do next – there was no denying Shadow had done something truly special for her tonight, something she was honour-bound to do her utmost to make up to him and, though it wouldn't be anything like enough to class as even a first step, her next idea would be a tentative toe in the right direction at least.

Blinking as her finger found the light switch, Julie allowed her eyes to accustom to the blazing light before gazing at the state Shadow had left in his wake as he'd made all speed to make good on her instructions just before she'd fallen into sleep. _Well, at least he stopped long enough to put the candles out_; that was certainly true – tough as she was, not even Julie fancied sleeping next to a potential fire hazard such as that; _but even with that, he's left me next to nothing to do anyway – damn you for your fastidiousness Shadow! Mind you, I say that now, imagine what I'd do if he was a complete slob?_ That was a thought that didn't bear thinking about; it was a with a shudder repressed that Julie first of all picked up the sleeping bag that she'd disentangled herself from in order to reach the light switch in the first place and replaced it on the sofa, then she lined up the exhausted essence burners on top of the massage table she'd just vacated. This left just one little puzzle to resolve; cocking her head, Julie tried to remember, as much as she was able to, the work out Shadow had done on her and at no point could she recall feeling even slightly damp at any point, so where had this water bowl come from? _Ah, of course, makes sense now_; the proverbial light bulb pinged on; _he said he washed his feet before using them to press my spine through my stomach, must have used this to do it. I'll just empty it, shouldn't take a second._ With this seemingly watertight theory in place, Julie squatted down to place a hand on either side of the large plastic tub and carefully stood up again, taking pains to keep her steps to the bathroom slow and measured to make sure nothing was going to be spilt at this late stage of the night.

Toeing open the bathroom door, it was with a sigh of relief that she poured the chilly liquid away down the bath plug hole; there had been a couple of hairy seconds in the journey here but at least that was the end of it now. She had half a mind to take the tub back to its proper place in the kitchen but a huge yawn resisted that idea; laying it down in the tub she resolved to put it back first thing in the morning, rubbing her ear as it popped from the sheer size of her most recent inhalation. _Hang on, it doesn't hurt_; that sudden realisation made her pause and take a second, stronger look at the last couple of seconds – no, nothing during them had even come close to hurting, and there was that noise again; it definitely hadn't been her ear this time. Placing the pot down quickly, Julie poked her head around the bathroom door and listened again, putting her trust in her hearing not to lead her astray this time; no, this time she was definitely sure, there was a third hollow thunking noise, very faint to be sure but certainly there, and it was coming from the bedroom; _what's Shadow up to this time? He can't be…no_; she shut off _that_ idea with a hastily-stifled smirk, telling herself the noises didn't even come close to correlating; _if he's giving anything some hammer in there it's got to be a piece of wood_. Curious, she padded down the hallway softly, hoping not to alarm her suspiciously noisy quarry this time as she tilted an ear closer to the door, rewarded with a swift succession of taps, even softer than those she'd heard from the hallway. Just for a second she pulled back, not quite sure she wanted to find out about what was going on in there, but such caution was quickly overridden by a much stronger desire; with a crafty grin on her face, the echidna pushed the door open enough to get half an eyeful of what was going on in the bedroom of her shared flat.

XXX

_Fear! Fire! Foes! All around him, all around them both! _

_His last sight of his creator, the paroxysm of fear twisting the venerable face of the now-old man as he had thrust them both into the corridor and bellowed for them to run, get to the part of the ARK everyone that dwelt upon it had fervently prayed they'd never have any cause to use. Now he was racing, running as he had never dared to run in his life before, scooping his charge into his arms to make better speed as the strange sounds and noises threatened to disorientate him now, now when he needed the clearest head he could possibly have to make sure both he and his creator's grand-daughter arrived at the escape pods in one piece. He saw snatches, no more, of corridors that branched from this main artery of the ARK, hugging the younger girl's face into his shoulder to spare her the views of flames in the darkness, strange, sinister, sleek silhouettes in the gloom trying to catch him in their vision in the split-second he would have been visible. Somehow he knew that them seeing him would be the worst possible fate of all, so he bent his breast even further and forced his legs to obey him, the walls blurring now as he sped towards where he fervently hoped freedom and safety were beckoning._

_Only moments later they arrived at the lowest point of the ARK; almost without thinking Shadow placed his burden down and moved towards one of the few remaining escape modules – a shrill scream at his back made his spin, blood surging though his body as he beheld, framed in the light behind them, a couple of blocky shadows bearing down on the entrance to the evacuation chamber. He froze for the barest second, unsure of what to do next but to his relief the decision was taken out of his hands; she had reacted the fastest and sprinted to the door controls, slamming her slender palm down on the emergency lock and sealing them both in. They had a little time then – Shadow felt himself begin to relax for a second before a sudden metallic clang made his heart rate spiral upwards once more. The door buckled a fraction as something hammered against it once more; he looked up into the face of his creator's relation in time to see it white with shock, a single trembling finger shakily indicating a point behind him. Closing his eyes for a split-second, Shadow threw himself around, roaring out a challenge to whatever it was that had tried to get the drop upon him; his fist swung forwards in time with the dissonant banging behind him to impact hard on…nothing. There was nothing here; what was…_

_A hard shove in his back sent him stumbling forwards and before he could right himself he heard a sibilant hiss from all around him; in horror he found his own stupefied reflection staring back at him and he span on the spot, hammering on the descended glass tube with all his might as he saw the tears clustered in the eyes of the girl he'd lay his life down for._

XXX

For the first couple of seconds her view had been entertaining to say the least; even from here she could see the covers of the bed were in a real mess and thrown all over the shop, the reason for such disorder being immediately apparent as she tried to hold in her silent laughter; _aww, like Ol' Yeller in front of a hot log fire_. The soft rhythmic thunks of flesh on wood were caused periodically by the hedgehog's feet impacting on one of his bedposts, his twitching and frantic rolling from side to side only serving to mess up the bed even more as Julie shook her head, wondering quietly if this time he was finally going to win against his oldest long-term rival in the fight to be crowned the fastest creature on the planet. _Guess Sonic was right_; realising that the only danger she faced in here was the threat of missing out on some top-notch entertainment, Julie let the door open slightly more to get a clearer view of the bed and the hedgehog currently rolling around on top of it; _the only time he ever comes out on top is in his dreams_; suddenly he moved, stabbing into the darkness with his arms and all thoughts of fun were purged from the echidna's mind; _or, oh hell!_

It was when his hands thrust themselves upwards, forwards, Julie later realised, in relation to his horizontal starting position, the cruel, hooking claws they became was starkly illuminated in the light streaming in from the hallway and Julie felt her previous good mood mortally punctured and draining away – people just didn't make hand movements like that when enacting out a pleasant dream. Tongue desert-dry and rasping into the roof of her mouth like sandpaper as she tried to take down something to wet her parched throat, the ex-Legionnaire moved forwards again, hoping to either rouse the hedgehog from his nightmare or, or do something else whenever a good idea would come to her; she dimly remembered some old lecturer or other mentioning that rousing a sleepwalker was the worst thing you could do, but she couldn't just stand here and let this sort of grisly pantomime continue in front of her. _At least_; a crumb of thought provided enough cover to move forwards another couple of inches and still retain the moral high ground; _at least if I'm closer I can get a better look at what's going on – best to get a good look at what I'm going up against rather than just rushing in blind._

XXX

_This couldn't be happening; his knuckles were bloody and he couldn't feel anything bar blinding pain from at least one of the fingers in his left hand but he still crashed against his new glass prison with everything he had, screaming at the injustice, the fear and most of all, the most terrifying part of this final nightmare, the certainty of what was to come next; she was laying herself on the line for him. Even as he bellowed silently into the room, knowing that the glass surrounding him was soundproof but unable to even countenance remaining quiet, he saw the door, their last barrier between them and whatever was trying to destroy their world, buckle again under another impact, nearly hanging loose now – she had mere seconds if that. Her finger stabbed down on the panel again, there was a sudden hissing all around him, the glass frosting up and his skin puckering into goose-bumps as the coolant began to circulate, fragmenting his view as a final, deafening crack spilt the air within the escape pod area of the ARK._

_He wept, the tears crystallising to ice almost as soon as they left his tear ducts, slamming his fists into the glass again as the cold numbed the pain in his hands; she'd left it too late to save herself, it was his job, no, more than that, it was his duty to make sure she was carried away to safety and if he had to smash his way through this glass prison and sacrifice himself to do it then that was what was going to happen. The glass was completely frosted up now, he could hear the rumbling beneath his feet, feel it transmitted through the floor of the capsule as the pod made ready for ejection; all he could see were vague shapes in front of him. He was out of time, out of options even as he fired up his jet skates to try and fight off the encroaching cold; the knowledge of his failure beat into his brain unmercifully – in this, his most enshrined directive, the very reason of his existence in the first place, he had found himself wanting. A sudden noise, a heart-stopping explosion from very close made him look up, thoughts of everything banished for a second as he jerked his head up, trying to decipher something from the frosted fog ahead of him that might explain where that noise had come from and what it meant. Maybe the pod had failed to eject properly, something had gone wrong in the launch proceedings – any second now it would release him, he dared hope for freedom yet, another chance to make sure she was safe…his attention was diverted only by the sudden thump on the outside of the glass cylinder; his eyes homed in on the noise instantly._

_And instantly, as horror welled up unstoppably in his heart just as surely as the bile shook its way up his trachea, all hope, along with cheer, joy and all other emotions, withered away instantly._

XXX

The fact he was twisting and writhing, moving his body in all manner of unnatural contortions was worrying enough, but it was his face that almost made her feel sick; an expression spawned from the deepest pits of negative emotions, the grey, forbidding shadow the emotional state areas where despair, defeat, anger and hatred swirled and bubbled together obscenely twisted the face she knew so well into a chaotic parody that bore no resemblance to her housemate. His movements were becoming more frequent and more violent at the same time, spasms wracking him as though he were in the throes of a violent fit; Julie was half-tempted to run down into the kitchen and call an ambulance if things didn't improve before something else forced her hand.

The hedgehog's body gave a sudden, immediate jack-knife; even as his hands still thrust forwards against an invisible barrier, Shadow's body flew over to the left – Julie jumped backwards desperately, only just managing to stay on her feet as, tangled in the blanket still wrapped round him, the former ultimate life-form smashed into the floor in front of her, whimpering even as lips moved in syllables that she could neither decipher visually nor head audibly. _Oh sod this for a lark_; she knew she was a strange Mobian in her own right but there was no way she was standing up to something like this without something to see by – without thinking about what she was really doing, knowing only the need to throw a little light on this baffling and awful situation, Julie jumped back to the doorway and slammed her hand against the light switch, letting brilliant bright flood the room.

XXX

_As a trickle of crimson dribbled down from the tiny handprint like an innocent's tear, Shadow could do nothing but stare in shock, recognising and unable to do anything save accept the macabre trick fate had played upon him. Raising his own hand, he forced his limb through the ever-thickening cryogenic atmosphere to cover the rust-coloured stain with his own paw, his fingers clenching as the other hand fell away; even as the deadly certainty that he would never see that hand rise again in his lifetime began to seep into his mental recognition pathways the bottom dropped out of the world, the pod at last ejecting, falling away even as his eyes remained transfixed upon the discolouration on the outside of his capsule, the last reminder he had of her as the mist rolled in, the freezing cold began to steal the warmth from his body as the last cry welled up, a primal scream that was denied its final release as he lost all contact with the muscles in his face, the icy gases breaking into his lungs and solidifying the air within them, leaving him helpless, tumbling through space with only her name, all he had left to remind himself of her, still bound within his rictus lips, unable to escape…_

…_Only then was there light, a blinding phosphoresce as his world supanovaed and he felt himself almost physically falling, or was he rising, as motion tore at him, his body his own once more, mobile again for the first time in years, awake in the exact position he had fallen to preservation in._

_Her name still on his lips…_

XXX

Julie forced her eyes to open as soon as she registered the light on her eyelids, flipping herself around in an immediate half-circle as she heard the muffled crashing and thumps from the floor behind her where Shadow was still undergoing his fit. She blinked the blurry picture in front of her into sharp focus, homing onto Shadow's prostrate form and watching with almost irresistible panic and deeper fear the way he was moving; though his body was still save for a few twitches of his arms, his lips were moving non-stop in what looked like a silent short, repeating message; an irrational twinge of panic-induced hysteria threatened to overwhelm her for an instant, twisting her expression into a half-deranged grin; _oh if he starts sitting up and speaking in tongues I am so out of here_. She took a step forwards, ready to react in an eye-blink to anything the troubled dreamer in front of her was forced to do by the harrowing he was going through – she dared to hope it was dying down, nothing was moving but his lips now, the same single word or short phrase of words still running over them continually as the rest of his face seemed to be contracted by the goose-bumps, aging the hedgehog unnaturally, sucking the life and vitality from his face with the caress of a hand of age-fuelled dust.

He snapped bolt upright, sitting up completely as Julie made it from the middle of the bedroom to the other side of the bedroom door without hitting the carpet once; his pin-prick pupils seemed to bore straight through her, his mouth still working, air filling and leaving his lungs in a high-tempo, frantic pattern, forcing oxygen to his body even as his mind was still gone, lost a lifetime away, only a single, tenuous link offering a golden strand connecting the two halves of himself, the what-was and what-had-been. As Julie stood back, riven with indecision as she had nothing even vaguely resembling experience in matters of disturbances such as these, a little air moved up through the hedgehog's vocal chords, virtually silent at first but gathering volume gradually until, finally, the single word from his other life made it upwards to his ears and, more tellingly, hers as well,

"Maria".

XXX

That was her name.

It had to be her name, the only one that conformed as his lips moved over and over, almost numb from their ceaseless motion; he was saying it now as he had then, when…

…when he had _abandoned her_!

There was no other course that could be considered, only a single option that had to be pursued above and beyond all other potential considerations. His life was nothing without the girl he had liberated; she _was_ his life, the very reason for his entire existence – without Maria he had no purpose, no reason to live. And…why was he still sat down!

She was out there somewhere, in the labyrinth of steel and glass somewhere above Earth, orbiting the planet, she was still up there because he hadn't saved her; he had neglected his mission in life. He came to his feet, knowing not where he had to go but only that he had to get there no matter the cost; he tore forwards, a slight buzz in his ear discounted, the irrelevant and the invisible one and the same thing as Shadow rediscovered the reason behind his creation and the terrible betrayal he had perpetrated by forgetting it. There was a barrier before him and he braced, knowing he had to rip it down the same way he would have to rip them all down; a vague sense of familiarity cooled the fever of his all-consuming passion as he recognised dimly that he had a new set of barriers to break down for her deliverance this time and that was what he had been created for, he was good at smashing down walls like these without pause. Something caught his arm, the buzzing increasing and threatening to divert some of his attention; he shook his arm dismissively, tried to draw it in close at the same time as increase his speed for the impending collision despite the sudden increase of weight he could feel behind him, trying to anchor him to the floor, prevent him from fulfilling his mission. He disregarded it, trying to bulk himself out as much as possible as the first of many, many walls ahead of him loomed up ahead and he flung himself at it with body and soul combined.

The impact jarred his uncaught arm and sent him backwards reeling; he'd lost some feeling in his operating arm and couldn't move his fingers accurately but the slight crack of warping wood he'd elicited from the sealed portal ahead of him more than compensated for that minor inconvenience in his eyes. He made to spring forwards again, setting his sights on the section he'd pulverised before…suddenly he couldn't move at all, something had grabbed him and prevented him running, tried to hinder him from reaching Maria. He couldn't allow that, could never even countenance the idea of anything holding him back from her; he threw himself backwards, fighting madly against this new threat to Maria's safety, struggling with the strength of fury and despair both as he grappled with the unknown, seeing very little before him save a mess of colour, striking out at it as he fought for freedom for both of them. There was a curse from before him as his fist sunk home and he pulled his hand back, the spot memorised and ready to let fly with another shot before stars exploded in front of his eyes and his head snapped back, ears buzzing with a monotone flat-line as agony sheeted up his face.

XXX

Caught completely flat-footed by the hedgehog's sudden rush, Julie had obeyed her primal instincts as he'd stumbled forwards and pressed herself to the side of the hallway, barely daring to breathe as Shadow had blazed past, going full-tilt even without his flaming footwear. It was only as he was almost out of her reach that she managed to recognise what was going on and lashed out, gripping one of her flatmate's trailing arms more by luck than judgement as she realised with mounting horror just where Shadow was heading for and the fact that he didn't seem to be slowing down as he hurtled towards the locked front door. She tried to dig her heels in but he was going too fast and she was dragged along stumbling, defeated by his sudden surge of power and unable to halt his careening rush. All she could do was look away, hear and feel rather than see the impact as Shadow ran into the wooden door headlong; for a heart-freezing second she feared he'd gone clean through as there was a sudden cracking noise; it was only the warmth at her front, catapulted there unexpectedly as Shadow reeled from the impact, that let her know his intended smash-job had failed. The relief that flooded around her almost robbed her of her opportunity to end this madness; just before the hedgehog could regather his misguided wits to try and batter the door down again she threw her other arm around him, almost lifting the lighter Mobian clean off his feet as she dragged him kicking back down the hallway.

It was like trying to hold onto a writhing snake; despite her strength advantage Julie had to grit her teeth as she felt the hedgehog's spines start to lacerate the remaining flesh on her arms as he attempted to twist to face her. She kept going, imaging what might happen if she let go, using that grim uncertainty as a font of strength in the face of this unexpected adversity – there was an explosion of pain in her ribs and she gasped, fighting to breathe again as Shadow's fist hammered into her ribs; even at this close range his wild strength was empowering the force behind his hands. A red mist swamped her vision, vague memories of the last time she'd come to fisticuffs with her flatmate were brought to the fore of her memory banks and she acted upon them at the speed of thought; painful or not, this was not the time to be dissuaded by moral arguments about right and wrong – this was all about speed and survival for both of them.

Fortunately once more she was the better prepared of the two as her gambit paid off again; as Shadow's head snapped back she braced herself and then forced her arms up his back, ignoring the pain in her arms and her fingers as she seized a couple of handfuls of the quills on the back of the hedgehog's head. She dragged backwards, bringing into view Shadow's dazed expression, forcing him to see her as much as he was able to through his fractured vision and altered perceptions of reality at the moment,

"Shadow! Look at me!" She kept her hands were they were, only grateful that he seemed either too confused or too befuddled by her head-butt to start struggling and rip her fingers to shreds, "she's gone Shadow – Maria isn't there any more. Think – remember what's been written down, what's there in your memory book, you helped write it. Maria's gone Shadow".

She was succeeding, or at least she hoped she was starting to succeed as the hedgehog seemed to look towards the source of her voice, his eyes wandering over her face and, he crossed her fingers that she was seeing this right, gaining more and more focus as he began to separate what was real from the lingering effects of whatever it had been that had ridden his body and mind as he'd slept. He shook his head, appearing to recognise her at last, then he spoke, his voice a hoarse, terrified whisper,

"No, gotta be there for her, can't let her do this…Maria, no…"

"She passed away Shadow, on the ARK; she isn't there any more", how she kept her voice steady even she didn't know; Shadow was paying her some attention, mouth working but unable to say anything, lost in trying to sort out his mind again – all she could do was give him some bearing, a truth to work to even if this truth was an awful, awful one to hear,

"She's dead Shadow – Maria, is dead".

XXX

_Dead?!_ He couldn't believe that, that couldn't…

…_the red, bloody handprint_…

…he screwed his eyes shut, trying to block it out, holding onto his memories of her, if he could keep her alive…

…_a single trickle of blood falling down…_

…she would be alright if he believed enough…

…_the hand falling away even as he moved to try and hold it one last time…_

…he could see her now, so perfect in his mind's eye – something like that, so perfect and so fragile, it could never end, but the visions in front of him, the memories of what had come before…

…_it would never rise up again…_

…his breathing came harsher, as much as he wanted to block out such pessimistic, nihilistic thoughts he could not help but see, feel…

…_once the hand touched the floor, he couldn't hold it up; this, above anything else…_

…the sensations that had ripped through him, the helplessness, the despair, the ever-present sensation that this…

…_was the end._

XXX

Later, when this night was all but a faded memory of anguish and torment to both of them, Julie would only ever describe what came next as the noise; as she saw the understanding dawn in the ebon hedgehog's eyes almost immediately something else, something far more powerful and malevolent was welling up, the mental equivalent in terms of potency and raw, elemental power of the mushroom cloud following a nuclear detonation. The former Dark Legionnaire could only tuck herself into him, try and offer all the support a mortal was capable of offering an immortal being such as Shadow as her flatmate's chest hitched once, twice and then three times, each one as though he'd been knifed in the chest; it hit with the force of a tsunami and his head was thrown back, mouth open as something that defied rational classification came screaming out of his body, finally shaking off the shackles that had confined it deep within since the second he had seen the reason behind his existence snuffed out before his unprepared and unwilling eyes. It was not a scream, not a sob and not a shriek but something like them all minced and mangled together; a desolating, dolorous verbal total far greater than the sum of its wretched parts that shook Julie down to her very core, partly due to the volume and sheer emotional impact of grief on such a scale but more shockingly due to the recognition such a venting of loss flagged up in her own mind.

For a second again she was fifteen and laid on the bed of her best friend, weeping into the pillow she'd stuffed her face into in outrage at the culmination of all her work. Lost and gone forever, left with nothing but the grim, achingly cold knowledge that at least she'd tried, she had done all she could and others had let her down at the last minute – what had happened could never be attributed to her fault no matter how much she'd blamed herself only she hadn't fallen into that trap. _But I didn't do it myself_; a phantom hand suddenly gripped hers, Sady squeezing her paw again as she had on that darkest night so many years ago; _if it hadn't been for her I really would have blamed myself and it would have gone downhill from there_. Just this once her memory was of comfort to her and she drew upon its fortifying strength, recognising for her own experiences what had to be done next and as she looked forwards to where Shadow had collapsed onto her, shuddering as though his spine had been extracted, leaving him to flounder, she willed herself to begin doing it.

Slowly as though rocking the child she had never had the former Dark Legionnaire shushed the hedgehog softly, rolling on her heels as she felt the coldness on the shoulder of her nightdress, hearing the broken fragments of Shadow's weeping speech, not able to make sense of very much of it as she concentrated on one moment at a time, supporting him from one second to the next until he could start to recuperate from whatever had laid him low like this and slightly worried that it was starting to look like she would be standing here for a long time, possibly all night before he could recollect himself. It was just as she was considering the implications of such a fact that the hedgehog repeated one small snippet of blubbering speech again, the most frequent damnation of him actions in the light of what he had so recently rediscovered,

"…all my fault…"

"I don't believe that"; her answer was genuine and softly whispered right into his ear, Julie rotating her body slightly to make sure he'd be able to hear her point of view on the matter. Despite her feelings it seemed to make little headway on his state as he continued to sob into her shoulder, his light build wracked torturously with uncontrollable grief and lamentations as the hedgehog's well of inner damnation continued to spew forth its recently rediscovered contents like a disturbed plague pit draining into the archaeological dig that had pierced its squalid walls. On and on Shadow's inner tribulations ran but always, whenever he spoke those same three words, Julie was alert and on hand to refuse his explanations of what had happened in the mists of his past,

"I don't believe it was your fault", her hold had to constrict a little tighter as the hedgehog's most recent judder threatened to break even through her arms, "and nothing you can say will make me believe it was".

XXX

A thousand times as he stood there, reduced to a helpless spectator who could do nothing but rage and wail impotently at the scene unfolding before him, Shadow saw his life crash down around him; over and over Maria sacrificed her own priceless life to save his skin and every time the pain struck straight through him as sharp and as cruel as before, never dulling or pulling up in its relentless assault. She was gone, she had died and he had lingered on; if anyone had offered a chance to reverse their positions, bring her back at the cost of himself he'd have agreed without a second's thought – death would be better than having to live without her because without her he had no reason to continue his life. Such talk tempted the reaper to him but he could not act out such desires because he lacked the ability to achieve even the simplest goal; his spirit had been snapped completely in twain and he had folded completely at this blow to his mnemonic pathways. Here, in this tempestuous ocean of loss, Shadow willed himself to break completely, drift off and reunite himself with the girl who had been his everything but was cheated of such a desire by the very basest of animalistic instincts, a thing nothing, not even the ultimate life-form, could refuse completely.

At the nadir of his life Shadow survived simply because of the survival instinct, the very basis of all life, the need to exist that had forced his protesting lungs to open and choke down his primary breath came back to the fore and prevented him for total disintegration – despite the pain that had occurred and was sweeping over his defences in great, all-smothering waves, he would endure because he could not give up on life itself. His mind was too strong to collapse completely and, in this instance though not consciously aware of the fact, Shadow was buoyed up, supported against the storm by another's hand, someone who would not see him surrender now, not after all he had gone through already.

Someone who would not be cheated at this stage; someone who after seeing two dreams of her own broken to pieces by factors she had no control over was not going to let a third one slip away whatever the consequences, and damned to hell whatever each of them might suffer because of such determination.

They would not fall here.

XXX

Even after what felt like an eon of standing still, ignoring the acidic cramps starting to burn through the tendons in her legs, Julie remained where she was as she felt Shadow finally start to slow down, remained statuesque as the hedgehogs' body began to undergo pauses in its non-stop devil's dance and, finally, let her knees bow a little as the calm began to reassert itself, the storm passing over as Shadow ran out of both energy to cry with and tears to cry. _Should I…no_; to ask about this now was to run the risk of tripping the whole cycle off once more and she wanted that to happen less than Shadow did, if such a thing was possible; _we'll talk in the morning, the night's too soon_. Slowly, speaking non-stop in what she fervently hoped was a soothing tone, the ex-Legionnaire began to reach down, knowing she was too short to carry Shadow the way he usually carried her and hoping to redress the balance somewhat in the circumstances. As success seemed to beckon, her arms linking at the back of the hedgehog's thighs, Julie let out a slow, steady sigh before straightening up, the after-effects of the treatment Shadow had worked on her – had it really been only a few hours ago? – preventing any twinges of cramp as she slowly began to turn around, hoping to put this matter to bed until morning dawned.

XXX

With all the energy of a bedraggled sailor washed up on some foreign shore in the midst of a hurricane Shadow languished where he was, too far gone in his emotions to remember much about what had caused him to cry so long and so hard; now all he could think of was the backlash to such an elemental discharge of power on that magnitude. He had comfort and that was all; bereft of other option he clung to that certainty with the tenacity of a limpet, refusing to let go for fear of what might lie beyond, in the darkness away from this contact. A name floated up lazily, infusing his memory with a name as he managed to blink downwards and see what appeared to be lifting him; _Julie? I thought she was asleep?_

Such an assumption was interrupted another impact; the sudden loss of warmth around his chest was frightening at the same time as cold – out of instinct he huddled into a foetal ball, hoping to preserve some of the precious heat at the same time as seeing Julie looking down at him; she was speaking, he could see her lips move, but what she was saying was immaterial, completely and utterly irrelevant as he saw the message behind all her words and recoiled from it. His jaw muscles ached from clenching his teeth so much over the last however long but he forced them to work regardless, his words clipped and childish but powerful nevertheless,

"No, please"; _if she leaves I'll not see her again – I don't want to be alone again. It's too cold out there, cold on my own_; "I c, I can't, don't wanna be left, not again, please…"

XXX

The fear, his fear, stopped her dead in her tracks; the sheer childish need for company, especially in a Mobian normally as mature and serious as Shadow, was a powerful and emotive force even to one as mentally tough as the ex-Legionnaire. For a second all she could do was stare back at the terrified face in front of her, unsettled at the rate of devolution Shadow seemed to have undergone – rather than a fully-grown adult facing her now Julie was confronted by someone barely older than a child, a small body needing support and love from the adult in front of it. Her options were shrinking and all she could do was pick the one that would, in the end, prove the least painful overall; though it hurt her more than she had ever dared fear to disentangle herself from Shadow's gasping hands, almost having to tear them off as they held on like grim death, desperate not to let go of the one definite thing he could see and feel as real.

"Wait there Shads", not trusting herself to look down again the echidna threw the blanket over him, smothering his protests under the material for a moment as she fought to keep herself at a distance to the hedgehog, at least for a couple of minutes. Before he could react too much she was gone from the bedside, back towards the door and turning off the hallway light, a whimper from behind her greeting the encroaching darkness,

"No, please, not alone". She turned now, here at the very end, taking in one last glance at Shadow's expression, transfixed with terror at the darkness just over her shoulder, the incomprehension on his face as, at the last, her finger moved downwards and the door fell shut quietly.

XXX

Just before the light went out he screwed his eyes shut, hoping to hide from the darkness behind his eyes, barely aware of his frantically pounding heart as he could almost feel the shadows coiling around him, the icy coldness ready to take him as it had once before, hold him in a prison of ice and nothingness the same way it had last time someone close to him had disappeared from his vision. He had seen one death, he could not see another, not if he wanted to have any chance of his sanity surviving; he shook more violently as slimy, chilling hands began to caress through his fur and spikes, he bit back a shudder and scream as a gust of frigid air raced up his backbone, flaying it open as he lay there, helpless to stop the ice coming once more, feeling already the first twinges of frost beginning to coagulate on his skin…

…and then it was gone, melted away by the warmth that made him open his eyes at last.

XXX

She drew up the covers around herself and him, embarrassment quashed utterly in the face of…well, she wasn't exactly sure why she wasn't feeling embarrassed any more – she certainly had been when this idea had first come into her mind and she'd been forced to grudgingly accept that like it or not she had no choice this time, not if she wanted to help Shadow in any real sense of the word. Already she felt his quivering slow down as he sensed her presence; out of instinct she shuffled forwards in the bed, stopping only when his back quill pressed into her stomach, though thankfully they were starting to retract into his standard, non-aggressive position as she pressed into his back slightly.

"Sleep Shadow", she spoke into the darkness at the same time as one of her arms snaked over his side, coming to rest on what she judged was his chest, running over and over the white triangle embedded in the fur there, "go to sleep now, we'll sort this out tomorrow. It'll all look better in the morning, you'll see". As she felt her stroking hand covered by one of his own, warmth seeping down into the back of her paw acting as a conduit for their contact, Julie finally found some rest of her own, the recent trauma she'd been through, though small in comparison to Shadow's harrowing ordeal, drifting away into nothingness as her eyes slipped shut and failed to open again.

And a few moments after that event, both Mobians were at peace, delaying the inevitable recollection at least until the cooling light of dawn could make all things a little clearer for them to see and understand.

XXX

_Ooh, what?_; the feeling on his face was alien and awful at the same time – sleep seemed to have stapled his eyelids shut and out of instinct he moved both his hands to rub them clear; _ah, yeow! Ow, ow_; he clenched his hands against his face, around his eyes this time rather than upon them as it seemed that sometime during the night his knuckles had grown a layer of sandpaper rather than skin, rasping though his eyelids to scour away at his vulnerable eyes. What could have caused that – as he hesitantly blinked back to wakefulness, squinting at the soreness around the front of his face he found himself wondering what was going on at the same time as try to figure out what the quiet buzzing noise just behind him was. Twisting to look over his shoulder he could see little, the ache around his eye sockets making the picture hazy and unclear until he braced himself for a little more pain and slowly wiped the rest of the nightly detritus away from his vision; turning around again, only now registering the pressure on his side, the hedgehog felt his heart suddenly lose its role in life, pounding away uselessly in his chest as all the blood in his body raced away somewhere very far away to hide, chased there by the shock as, up close and somehow very personal indeed, a very familiar face swam up in front of him.

_Julie?!_; the placement of such a name made his reaction even more severe, a distant part of his mind devoutly hoping he wouldn't expire like this for the simple reason that whoever was called in to identify his corpse would have collapsed in fits of unstoppable hysteria at his terror-struck expression. After what felt like a very long time of merely observing the echidna sleep on, the air continually droning in and out of her lungs as time went by, Shadow's body finally took the cue from the sight in front of him and he gasped down a deep breath, light-headed in the aftermath of such a mind-freezing shock so early in the day's proceedings. _I'm not, I can't be…_; not daring to believe what his entire body, now that his mind had eventually managed to re-establish contact with it, was screaming at him, Shadow tremulously lifted the covers an inch and lowered his eyes by the barest fraction; his blood powered back with a vengeance into his face as he slammed the covers down after a split-second of seeing; _…I am. I am in bed with Julie-Su, we must have slept together last night – now what am I supposed to do? Note this one down in the book? Wake her up and ask if she wants breakfast? Call for advi…no!_; mere half-formed possibilities of what his friends might say if his gabbled this one down the line to them really didn't bear thinking about. But how had this come about; what had happened last night to get them quite _this_ friendly – desperate for answers, any kind of answers, Shadow cast his mind back frantically and resurrected the entire evening frantically; _the massage_; he dimly remembered her nodding off, had she woken up afterwards with love in her eyes, willing to give a very personal thank-you for a job well done? _No, she gave me the tape instead, I listened to it, I was mad but went to bed, said I'd deal with her in the…_; at that second, memory running on ahead faster than his mind could rationalise it, it ran over into ground he could only now visualise again.

Guilt and hatred hit him like twin sledgehammers to the chest, robbing him of both breath and the ability to breathe in the same instant; the agony in his tear ducts threatened to spill over again as once more he saw a small hand, framed with the life-blood of its owner, slam into a barrier in front of his eyes, a grim mockery to undo the work he and Gerald Robotnik; he knew the name of the man who had created him, had been told it enough to accept it as fact, had completed over the course of so many years. Burning tears slid down his face again as the truth seared into his brain again, the anaesthetic of sleep wearing away and allowing his unsuspecting thoughts to be seared by that brand of evil certainty once more – Maria had died, had been killed trying to protect him for a reason that cruelly eluded him. Who had been after the ARK, what had it contained that had goaded them into such an attack? Had it been his fault – had someone on Earth heard of this 'ultimate life-form' the supposedly mad scientist had created and put two and two together to come up with five? And why; _WHY?!_; had they destroyed someone like her, a defenceless child without weapons or the skill to use them, in their quest to find and deal with him? He felt fresh spasms rock him once more, not as violently as last night, what little of it he could dredged up from the dim murk of his memory, but still enough to add to the pain in his eyes; _I wondered why_; he took enough time to drink down a powerful breath, barely holding it for a second before it emerged from his lungs in a series of stuttering, punctured gasps; _why they all said it so important I remembered her. Now I know_; that much was definitely true – Sonic especially had been keen to emphasise how much of his previous thinking had been governed by the then-mysterious Maria, how important she must have been to him even if his memory had been a complete blank; _now I damned well know._

"Hey", a whisper to the side of him, for a split-second past and present fused and he whipped his head around at the noise from his history; _oh, Julie_; one part of his consciousness realised that his shuddering weeping must have woken the echidna up at the same time as another part carried on mourning, frustrated only that it hadn't been Maria speaking to him, "still with me Shadow?"

He nodded, as much as he was able to, looking down at her face and not resisting as she slid in closer to him simply because he had nothing left in him to resist with; he felt her body pressing in against his, the warmth there the same as the previous night and a small flicker of cheer lit up in his mind,

"Hey, come on, no need for that anymore"; _you can't say that seriously – there aren't enough tears in the world for her – oh Maria_; he threatened to break down again but Julie continued talking at just the right second, "you nearly drowned both of us last night, I don't know about you but I'm not over-keen on getting another soaking now". A laugh somehow broke out through his tear-wetted lips, the bubble that originally entrapped it around his lips breaking at the same time as Julie's snigger, an arm wrapping around his shoulder and drawing him down, back to her level in the bed at the same time as her voice continued,

"You must have loved her very much".

"I did", he agreed with a shallow nod; _I guessed that – I have to take this slowly but there's no way I'm risking another dose of…_; the thought of this memory cutting Shadow off from normality in the same way his previous one had catalysed her mind in this instance – she wasn't going to let him fall into the same trap twice no matter how much he might want to blot out the world from his mind,

"What was she like, Maria, I mean?" As she'd expected, Shadow's misery recoiled into incredulation at her brazen comment, helpless to protest as she continued, "who was she really; did you see that last night?"

"Y, Yes, but", as her expression threatened to become hopeful he forced himself to close that avenue down utterly as he knew he couldn't bear to rake over those thoughts again, not knowing what he did now, "she, she's d,dead now"; _and I am so sorry – I should have been able to save you_; "I can't, I don't want to talk about her Julie…"

"Tough", the sudden force behind her growl made him look at her, see the determination he'd seen so many times before rear up behind her eyes, "you can't bury this sort of memory Shadow, you've tried, I've seen you try before and it didn't work; you can run all you like but it'll catch up to even you in the end. I've seen that happen, seen what it's done to you and I am not going to lie here and let it happen all over again", she paused to snatch a breath, hoping that he was able to take in what he was hearing at the same time she could speak what was in her heart out properly,

"You're not going to go quiet on me a second time Shadow Hedgehog; especially not over someone as precious to you as Maria must have been. You really want to lock her memory away from everyone, even now when you've finally rediscovered it? Do you really think that's fair, to either of you, after all you've gone through together, because I sure as hell don't?" She would have carried on for as long as she was able to until either breath or imagination cheated her of her next line but there was no need any longer; Shadow flopped down onto the bed by the side of her, all thoughts of a struggle gone as he saw the logic behind her words, the realisation that yes, last time he had tried to keep something like this from his past bottled up tight it had nearly cost him his future. She saw him take down a lot of air in a single swallow, almost see the resolve that went down his trachea for the ride and leant her head against her shoulder, hoping to support him as much as she was able to as, eventually, the black hedgehog rediscovered his voice and spoke, slowly, tonelessly but, most importantly, honestly about what had gone on in his mind and his memory when the past had come back to reveal what had happened before his previous life had been taken from him so heartlessly,

"She came out of the ball Julie", he spoke the first words that came into his head, not caring how much or how little sense they made, "Maria was the one in the bubble, and her grandfather made me to make sure that bubble was broken in the end".

Julie kept her face neutral as much as she was able, just about recalling Shadow's ritual on the world below and trying to work out how this Maria, a human girl if she had read his memory book right, could have possibly survived in a sphere such as that for any length of time. She remained silent however, not interrupting Shadow as he continued his anguished recital, arranging the facts in the closest thing to order he could manage,

"I was created, I remember that; fell forwards, out of something, it hurt when I hit my hand, then it was rough, someone must have been towelling me down, breathing was really sore when I took the first one…"

"Wish I could remember that far back", Julie smiled for a second, Shadow echoing the gesture a long minute later in a more uncertain way as she carried on for a second, "mum always said I came out my egg looking like I was spoiling for a fight".

"Something, er, you haven't stopped doing since", she gave a not-entirely fake snort of laughter and squeezed his arm at the comment; _that's good, he looks better after that_; taking the slow hint of encouragement she could see seeping into his smile, Julie allowed her flatmate to continue his story at his own pace, "but I, I can't see it all; it was like, like I was in a movie, a silent movie – I could see everything but no-one spoke, I didn't need them to", he tried to explain as much as he was able to, gesticulating with his arms to try and illustrate his point as much as he was able to, help Julie to understand, "I knew everyone there; I saw him Julie, Gerald Robotnik, the man who created me – I didn't need to know his name, I was his son, he treated me like a father would have done – he did everything, even tied my shoelaces, I remember that, when I tripped over, he got me back on my feet and helped me learn what I needed to learn, made me ready to get to know…her".

"Maria you mean?" Julie asked gently, almost certain she already knew the answer and grateful when Shadow nodded as it allowed her to continue her queries, "you said she was in the bubble Shadow; how was that possible?"

"I don't know, not for certain", he was forced to swallow that bitter bile one last time; despite being able to see everything from the previous night, that didn't mean he was able to understand how it had all worked; he had the pieces of the puzzle but not the guide he needed to make them fit together properly, "it was like a room, a completely enclosed box, the walls were like, like glass but opaque; I remember we held our hands against the glass and I understood, I realised what he, Gerald, had meant when he said what I was created for, why he, and Maria, needed me – I was the only way to make sure Maria could survive outside that damn prison".

"How?"

"I don't know", he cut her off in anger at himself, frustrated at being cheated in his understanding after being given so much new material to work with, "but it was something to do with this"; he held his hand up above the covers, the veins starting to bulge in his arm as he and the echidna by the side of him watched on, seeing his fist contract ever tighter as he finished,

"Something about blood".

His grip relaxed slowly after a little while; he knew Julie would have seen the little tremor that had rippled through his body as the fire worm once more penetrated the crook of his elbow to siphon off more of his precious fluid and answered the question before he could answer it,

"We, or I, transfused her for some time; she needed something in my blood, I don't know what but it must have been essential. But it doesn't matter, in the end Gerald was able to break the prison down around her, I was there when it happened".

"Something beautiful came out of a ball", Julie murmured from the side of him, glancing over and giving an understanding smile, "your intuition was right as could be Shads". _Thank goodness_; just as well he never noticed her relief as he tried badly to choke back a sudden bite of laughter; _he must be about ready to go through the bad stuff again – I'm sorry for doing this to you Shadow but I have to know what happened – I can't help you if you don't tell me what went on last night_;

"Something like that but anyway, it worked, completely; after her grandfather's work Maria was just an ordinary girl and I was her friend, her closest friend; we did everything together, school, home time, the works. We even looked out the windows together, promised that, er…"

"What?"

"Promised we'd go sailing together someday, explore the great blue depths with each other", Shadow spoke eventually, his crooked grin letting Julie know he'd been expecting her to laugh at that sort of corny comment, "when we finally go down to Earth, we'd never seen the oceans, so we'd go exploring them together, we'd do it all with each other". His breath hitched again and Julie steeled herself; just from his falling face she could tell it was all downhill from here,

"I see; but…"

"But, before that, a long time before that", his speech was a lot more contrite now, some great guilt source gnawing at him internally as he forced the next words beyond his lips, "it was too late; the ARK was attacked, I don't know who by, and Maria, I couldn't protect her…she died, I failed…"

"No", Julie span around, supporting her weight on her elbow as she faced the hedgehog square on, "I said it last night and I'll say it again – I do not believe what happened was your fault and you're going to have to have a pretty impressive story to convince me otherwise".

Shadow said nothing for a moment; just by looking at his eyes Julie could see that he wasn't quite there at the minute; he was going backwards in time again, trying to see if she was right and, if she was, trying to work out how he could turn her opinion of him around again. The pause lengthened into moments, for a little while Julie feared she'd be cheated of an answer until relief poured through her – she saw Shadow's lips move a fraction before she heard his voice,

"I ran, I had to, there was flame and, and noises everywhere, I think it must have been gunfire, someone was shooting, why the hell would anyone _shoot_ in the ARK? We never had weapons, none that I ever saw anyway…" forcibly the hedgehog choked back his rant, recognising this wasn't the time or the place to go off at a tangent, "…but I ran, I had Maria with me, Gerald told us to get away and I did it; we were at the escape pods – she, she screamed, there was something after us, the door locked behind us. I, she tricked me", Julie held his arm even tighter, feeling her hand slip into his; she interlocked with his fingers as she recognised him coming to the crunch, the most traumatic part of his woeful story, "I was pushed, the tube slid over me before I could get away – they were breaking down the door, there was no time. It was cold inside the tube, she must have set the pod off, they were meant to be cryogenic, they froze you as you fell through space towards Earth; the glass frosted up, I couldn't see but I tried to get out, I tried so hard…"

"I know", even without hearing whatever was coming next Julie was under no illusion that he'd done exactly that; _if he loved her even half as much as I can imagine he did he'd have dashed himself to pieces trying to get to her from in there_; "you did everything you could before you were ejected".

"I saw her, saw it, before the cold got me completely", the words came harder now, forced through chattering teeth and gasping breath as came down the torturous home straight, the macabre finish line in sight, "there was a, a bang, I thought the pod had failed, it would let me go – then I saw it, the last time I could ever see her. I saw her hand, just like the first time, on the outside of the pod, red, covered in blood; her blood. She died, right in front of me – I should have saved her, should have been able to get to her and stop it all happening".

"No Shadow", he barely heard Julie's voice through the explosion in his mind, the gun going off again and again like a cannon shot in his mind, the ball breaking through barriers in his mind, "there was nothing you could have done; you were caught in a glass tube for spirit's sake, barely able to move; I'm so sorry for you…"

"Julie, you don't understand, you don't know what I am", he collapsed onto the bed, tears once more flooding over his face as he was unable to contain them, this time venting his shame, the revelation of his revolting weakness, the lack of fortitude that had meant the death of someone he should have put before himself every time, "I was supposed to be her saviour, but I, I couldn't save her", his vicious grin cut his ego as deeply as any kind of knife, "I was supposed to be the ultimate life-form, and in the end, when it really mattered to the person I loved, needed, most of all, I couldn't even save her tiny, precious life".

Drained by that confession, Shadow nevertheless took cold comfort from the fact that this time he'd done the right thing; Julie had a right to know who she'd been sharing a roof with for the past nearly half a year. He'd already lost one loved one because of his own weakness; the least he could do was let someone else he cared for know how flawed he was. _It starts already_; his already bruised heart shuddered again under the impact of yet another blow – he felt her hand disentangle itself from his own, could feel her leave her place from next to him and it hurt again, it would always hurt that he couldn't hold onto the things that mattered most to him because he lacked the strength to grip onto them tightly enough…

"See me Shadow". More out of unconscious obeying than any rational decision, the hedgehog complied with the request from his right and flopped onto his side; what he saw from there blew the breath from his lungs, the forcefulness behind Julie's sudden gaze, the molten concern and certainty together within her eyes hitting with the same force of one of her punches as she took another breath and repeated herself,

"See me Shadow".

XXX

Arms outstretched, Julie knew she had the hedgehog's attention and was grateful enough for that little; _he's suffering because of something he thought he should have been able to do and he couldn't do it_; she gazed down at her flatmate and noticed the wonderment starting to wash over his expression, doubtless whatever he'd been expecting to see her doing it wasn't this; _time to make him see what he's done when no-one, least of all me, could have expected him to do_;

"Look at me standing here, right now", she commanded and he did so, unable to take his eyes away as she softened a touch, the steel in her posture melting, replaced with silk as she continued, a little less volume in her voice now, "why am I standing here Shadow? Because you let me stand here", her arms fell to her sides and she gave a half-cough, half-snort at the same time as blink rapidly, displace the tears that were threatening to fall as she couldn't afford that to happen yet, "I'm standing here because six months ago, near enough, you took in off the street a Dark Legionnaire who had fallen hopelessly, stupidly, in love with one of your closest friends, not even thinking of the fact that he may have had a wife already, who was and is also a close friend of yours. You took in one of the enemy, someone who repaid everything you did by giving you a hard time", he made to protest but she quashed such a motion, her raised hand letting her finish making her point undisturbed, "and you put her back on her feet; everything she has now she's got because you started it all off. She's got a new job, a new place to live, a entirely unique social circle, friends she couldn't even have contemplated a year ago and, most of all, she's got the assured promises of the grandmaster of the Dark Legion, someone she'd never even met all the time she was in the Legion itself, that she's got a new lease of life, nothing's going to happen to it at all. And the only reason she's got that is because you, the ultimate life-form, were willing to go in where angels wouldn't tread to rip that promise out the mouth of the Central Dogma itself, not counting the fact that you'd be up against the whole bloody Dark Legion doing it. I could count on one hand, or even one finger, the number of echidnas who'd do something like that; you prat", he recoiled slightly at her oath, shocked that after such a tirade of his good points she'd managed to pull an insult to him out of her hat; _good, just what I was hoping for_;

"Don't try to tell me what kind of Mobian you are Shadow Hedgehog", she stopped her laughter, silence fell for a second and she used that timeless pause for all it was worth, seeing her flatmate dead in the eye and speaking every word not into his ears but into his very soul, the rent and torn spirit that had taken such a pounding in the maelstrom he had just endured and now needed some desperate repair to make sure it could stay whole, "I already know the answer; without you I'd be either on the street, in prison or dead by now, so don't tell me you couldn't save someone's life – without you, just you as you are now", her vision crystallised and fractured, Julie only just managing to blurt out her last words before her voice broke up, "I wouldn't have a life worth living".

She sensed movement in front of her but didn't drop her eyes; Shadow faded into the periphery at the bottom of her vision and she felt a warmth on her stomach, linked up around her kidneys and spine as she still didn't let her aching arms rest, not quite yet. Tears dripped from her cheeks, rolling off her face to fall in great droplets into the head spines of her flatmate, but her eyes didn't drop even if her arms did, descending to the shoulders of the ebon hedgehog and caressing there softly just as the palms of his hands were working around her back. Lulled away in equal measure by sadness, stoicism and solicitude with a Mobian who, despite their many difference had shared most of her tribulations and trials and could also; _he will – if I have to damn well hold Necronopolis to ransom for a bloody time machine to bring his past back properly for him, he will_; pull through them, a little tarnished maybe but certainly whole and innerly unblemished, the former Dark Legionnaire fell into some kind of tranquil zone in her mind. All the world faded into the background, losing its importance in steps and stages; firstly the wall opposite her melted into greyness, then the far post of the bed merged with it in the realms of irrelevance; the small bubble surrounding her and Shadow decreasing in volume until it was only them, clinging to each other in defiance of the both the worlds within their minds and the world without their bodies. Together they stood tall when individually they would have snapped in the gale of their tribulations; _what goes around comes around_; the thought alone was enough to make her smile as she had no intention of changing her expression using any mental stimulus; _he got me through the Legion's attack, my turn to go back and pull him through this. No matter what it takes_; she slowly teased her fingers through the spines and hair at the back of his neck, just her touch guiding her, no other senses involved in this; _or how hard it appears to be – he never gave up on me, I have no right to think about giving up on him now._

XXX

It ended suddenly, not, as would have been preferable in an ideal world, with a whisper from one of them; rather, the peace wasn't merely breached, it was annihilated and blown completely to powder by a noise as loud as a TNT blast from less than twenty feet away.

Shock galvanised them in perfect symphony; Julie jumped backwards as Shadow shot to his feet, avoiding a collision that neither of the two flatmates had even considered as they stared at each other, mouths hanging agape as both of them raced down identical lines of thinking; here, when both of them were looking at their absolute worst after a long, rough night and two huge crying sessions, when all they wanted to do was be left alone and come to terms with the consequences of Friday night and when, most incriminating of all, all the tools of Shadow's discreet trade were on brazen view in the sitting room; right now, of all the possible times it could have been, someone was knocking hard on their front door, obviously wanting to be quickly let in.

Echidna and hedgehog gazed at each other, reading parallel conclusions being drawn in the eyes that rested not three feet in front of their own and, just as the second volley of impacts rattled down the hallway into their unprepared eardrums, both of them announced their conclusions in a shout of frustration, denial and acceptance of the sheer bloody-mindedness of life's rich irony,

"Oh _bugger_!"

A/N: Who's that knock, knock, knocking on the door? You'll have to wait until next chapter to find out, but just let me know if I did the Maria bit well (and angsty enough) for you Shadow fans out there – like I said at the start of the story, I know nothing official about the black hedgehog so I had to make it all up, hope it was okay for everyone.


	28. Chapter 28 When You Need Them

Chapter 28 – When You Need Them…

A/N: Well, a bit belated but a Merry Christmas to all; unfortunately preparations for the arrival of the big guy in red dented the time I had to write with. As it is, I wish all my readers all the best for 2007, especially someone I accidentally slighted at the start of my last chapter:

DS - Hmm, an interesting point, but what makes you think a TailsCream fic's bound to happen? I prefer to keep them simmering away in the background, just bubbling away right under the surface, not appearing to do anything until, when the readers least expect it…BANG! Keep reading and you might be there for the explosion!

TG – Believe me you're not alone with struggling on the season of goodwill; by the end of it I usually have to fight off the urge to strangle the next idiot who drunkenly blurts 'Merry Christmas' with a strip of nearby tinsel! Anyhow, the point about Shadow's story being confusing; I always got that vibe myself, so I tried to simplify it a bit, although, even with what he had got back, he still doesn't know everything does he? Does anyone know, or will this fact come up again in the future…?

BD – Length of chapters; something you have to get used to with me I'm afraid; I always set out to make them twenty or so pages but somehow they just keep getting longer, I never know how. Apart from that, hope to hear from you again as, if you like a little angst now and then, this chapter should be right up your alley.

PBJJ – With Maria's loss Shadow's taken a heavy blow; what could possibly help him get over it? Julie will do the best she can, but will it be enough? Funny you should mention the Satam universe; I always fancied doing a fic based around my personal favourite character from that branch of the Sonic universe – I set you a challenge! You've allowed one guess per review you leave; if you can guess the character that is my favourite, I'll e-mail you the plan of the fic, if you don't quite get it I'll mail you the answer – how's that sound?

LightHawk (LH from now on) – I never knew Shadows' full back-story either; I just took the basic idea and moulded into something I could see happening; I'm just glad it was believable enough for people. Hope to hear from you again soon.

With a shrug of his shoulders, Tails turned towards his former co-pilot, knowing she could hear the muted knocks and other such noises from the interior of the flat they were stood in front of as well as he could and seeing from her face that she shared his bafflement as to what such noises actually related to,

"Well", he had to say something if only to break the silence and drown out the sudden profanity that slipped quickly through the door before its issuer could muffle it, "I guess someone's in?"

"Yeah", Cream echoed his shrug and scratched the back of her left ear in a gesture of puzzlement, "and it sounds like they're doing some pretty serious redecoration in there to boot – maybe we can lend a hand?""Maybe", the fox replied judiciously before a sudden rattle at the door jerked his eyes back; it looked like the handle might be moving; suddenly there was only the sound of beating feet receding through the wood and he was left to ponder for a moment, "what on earth are those two up to?" He glanced to his left as Cream suddenly convulsed forwards, just about able to stifle her giggles and he raised an eyebrow; _nah, she can't be thinking about that sort of thing surely – I know Wyn's not exactly snow-white when it comes to innuendo but just one morning of him on full blast wouldn't…_;

"Sorry", his thoughts were cut off as the rabbit girl managed to reassert control of herself and looked back at him with laughter in his eyes, "just, just remembered the last time we were in Haven, what Mr Spectre said happened last time Athair made his bed?" Tickled by the reminder and the memory, Tails had to chuckle along with her,

"Yeah, he said there was a bit of a bang when they finally managed to crow-bar it off the roof didn't he? Still, I can only hope Shads and Jules have got a little bit more sense than that", he waited until the rabbit was just about to leap to her favourite guardian's defence; _even if Athair's always saying he's never been a guardian – oh well, he's just nuts – nice but nuts_; before finishing, "imagine the mess it'd make of upstairs' floor and downstairs' ceiling if they tried?" Stream of potential leverage snatched away from her, Cream was only able to nod her head in agreement with the pilot's unspoken assertions,

"I dread to…" a second sudden rattle cut her off and she looked upwards in time to see the door swing inwards; a second later, Cream found herself gasping in equal parts fear and consternation.

Shadow was standing in the doorway to his home, the former ultimate life-form craning to look down at them with a haggard and weary smile; as far as Cream could see in that snapshot Shadow looked, to coin one of her mothers' more colourful phrases, as rough as old boots, and it seemed that she wasn't the only one to think such a thing either,

"Jesus", she heard Tails breathe quietly by the side of her, the fox as stunned as she was by the split-second illusion that the hedgehog's entire eyes appeared to have gone completely vermillion; it was only after a long, hard look that she could realise the small veins of whiteness still lingering around his irises, almost crowded out by the massively enlarged capillaries that snaked through his eyeballs, "Shadow, what…?"

"I know"; _he even sounds subdued – oh no, I hope it's not…_; despite herself the rabbit shivered as she recalled with horrid certainty what had happened the last time she'd come to Angel Island, what had occurred when Shadow's memory had resurfaced from the pool of his mind and the resultant ripple had threatened to push all of his friends away from him completely, "I had a really, really rough night, both of us did in fact. Come on in, I'll try and explain when I've got the kettle going", he stepped to the side, allowing the two smaller Mobians to slip inside past him, screwing up their courage as they did so in the face of this unexpected greeting, not sure what could await them inside as Shadow slid the door shut behind them and tried desperately to think of a way to break his new news to both children gently.

XXX

As he clicked his finger upwards, negating the resistance caused by the kettle's switch, a slight smile pulled at the corners of Shadow's mouth despite the grimness of the scenario that had occurred over the last twelve hours as he poured over the last couple of seconds' frantic action to get to his latest guests. He and Julie had come tearing out the bedroom pell-mell; a fortuitous push by him had sent the echidna in the general direction of the bathroom; their eyes had met for the briefest instant before she had pulled the door shut, sealing herself away for a few moments to get changed and get ready to face whoever was at the door. Left alone, Shadow had hurtled into the front room and grabbed the massage table, nerves in tatters as he heard the knocking resume and knew that his window of opportunity was shrinking by the second. Heaving the awkward shape as much as he was able to, the hedgehog wrestled the appliance between the only cover he could reasonably see; the incriminating evidence of some of last night's activities now rested at an oblique angle behind the settee along with the five incense burners, thrust back there higgledy-piggledy just to clear the centre of the room as Shadow had taken his first breath in what seemed like hours; as far as he could tell, everything was as ready as it was going to be at such short notice.

It was as his fingertips were on the handle itself that he realised he'd left something out of his previous equation; despite the impoliteness of his gesture he tore himself away from the door and pounded back into the kitchen, jerking the tap handle back and gathering some water in his cupped hands. The sudden chill on his face made him shudder; though he couldn't get an accurate assessment on the state of his face from the haphazard reflection cast by the draining board, he reckoned it was nothing pretty. _How true that turned out to be_; the mere sight of Cream's face when he'd finally made it back to the door told him he really must have looked as bad as he'd been feeling recently, the slight sickness and disorientation in his stomach still disabling him to a slight degree as he pulled a quartet of mugs off the rack in front of him,

"So", he licked his lips a little before turning his head, trying to inject a little more life into his tone as he tried again, "so", this time it worked as both Tails and Cream swivelled in their seats to look at him, "what are you two doing up here, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at this hour? Don't worry", he added quickly as Cream gave a slight shudder, knowing what was awaiting her only a few scant days from now, "I'm not going to mention the 'it'".

"Good; me going on about it every second breath must be bad enough as it is, even if Tails is too polite to mention it"; _hello – what's going on here then?_; piqued by the rabbit's backhanded compliment, Shadow spared the couple at the table a second glance to get a clearer picture of things; _aww, how cute – now how much would Sonic pay to know about this…_; more pleasant thoughts drifted into his mind as he caught the full force of the young fox's blush, though Cream appeared to be oblivious to his discomfort as she carried on, "but mum's right; pointless trying to do any more than I'm already doing, I'll just go nuts through stress".

"Welcome the real world", Tails grumbled from the sidelines, his forthcoming weekly schedule looming up ominously over his mind before he banished such a shade back with a positive thought, "but nah, we're just up here for a standard training drop – Cream's training and I'm dropping off a couple of extra deliveries", he elaborated as Shadow turned towards the rabbit across the table from him, face full of questions as the fox's hand slid unseen into the knapsack at his side, "such as these".

"Nice; thanks a lot", as the two small jars of coffee, both his and Julie's favourite brands respectively, plonked down onto the tabletop Shadow felt a hot, sticky lump rise up in his throat, recently turbinated emotions threatening to overwhelm his for a brief moment before he could regain control over them again, "what do we owe?" The two pilots shared a look over the table as he scooped the twin pots up and headed over to the cupboard nearby, reaching to pull one of them open with one hand as his other arm cradled the two much-needed caffeine refills until he could put them away,

"Tell you what", he heard Cream say as he carefully craned upwards to place the first pot towards the back of his kitchen storage receptacle, "we'll waive the fee if…"

"I can guess", he shushed the rest of the rabbits' speech as he didn't need to hear her ask; flumping back to the soles of his feet rather than his tiptoes, the ebon hedgehog felt his head fall despite his best efforts to hold it up, the fingers of his hand contracting into fists on the countertop as he gave his answer to the question he'd always known would be coming,

"I remembered, her".

He felt it, just as had the last time he'd been around one of the two Mobians when they'd just received some entirely unexpected but ecstatically gladdening news; the pent-up energy was virtually thrumming behind him, almost enough to make his back spikes stiffen; _but how, answer me this, how do they always keep their voices so level – so much excitement through such a tiny little whisper – I can guarantee Sonic'd never be able to manage it, me neither for that matter_;

"You", it was a ghostly edge of a voice, so faint he couldn't tell which of the two had spoken from voice alone, "you saw…her?"

"Yeah", he blinked rapidly, hoping that the tears he could feel lurking just behind his eyes weren't on show any more as he turned around, putting a brave face on things as he looked towards filling up the mugs he'd left behind in a semblance of normality despite the emotional blows still sending his normal reactions reeling, "it wasn't nice and it wasn't pretty, but Maria was there last night – I know what happened to her. Before you ask", because he knew they would no matter how much both of them would try to hold in their burning curiosity out of respect for him and general politeness, "she, ah, she died, a long time ago – I know I saw that much". _Damn it_; despite his actions a single sniffle slipped through the net – forcibly he thrust such doubts behind him, shutting his eyes to the memories that threatened to play before his mind again and slip a stiletto through his steadfast guard. Neither of the two younger Mobians spoke and for that he was grateful; every second of silence was another chance to get his crumbling resolve back onto terra firma and resist giving in to lamentation again. Luckily at that moment the kettle finished boiling and he had something else to focus his mind upon; moving quickly to displace the memories in his mind, the hedgehog took hold of the kettle, gladdened by the fact that his hand seemed to be steadier than he recalled it being a little while ago, and poured the piping water into the four assembled cups, the steam rising from the result massaging the worn tissues under his sore eyes and helping to lull that pain away. Opening his eyes again, Shadow made to reach over for the hot drinks, only for a smaller paw to step in first, gripping the back of his hand and pulling gently; lured in by the slight tug, the hedgehog found himself levered slowly around to see Tails lower his eyes onto the hand he was gripping at the same time as Cream took her last step forwards.

In the next couple of seconds both of his hands balled into fists and his eyes screwed shut, but luckily this time Shadow did not cry; as he drew his clenched fist slowly up Cream's back and pushed his other one forwards, feeling it gently sink into the yielding fur on his fox friends chest, he kept his hands as tight as if he were gripping onto life itself; _and it is. They're one of the reasons I'm alive now_; despite all his flatmate's former arguments to the contrary Shadow wasn't stupid – he'd put two and two together, worked out what would have happened if he'd seen what had been revealed last night whilst still persisting in his former nihilistic mindset and come up with…he didn't want to think about that, not right now. Not with these two Mobians here and now, both lending him the support he so desperately needed freely for the simple reason he was a friend of theirs and friends looked out for each other; _and I've never been more grateful for that_; pulling his hand inwards, Tails not even trying to resist the hedgehog's movement and almost falling forwards into the embrace without fear or reservation, Shadow recognised how true it all was; _never, not in any moment since this one._

XXX

The face that stared back at her from the misty bathroom mirror looked like hers, even down to the ever-so-slightly darker fleck of fur just underneath and to the left of her bottom lip, but it sure didn't feel like hers; grabbing the towel again for what she promised herself would be the very last time, Julie rubbed the harsh material over her face before dragging it down to her neck, glancing at her reflection again and scowling that there was nothing more she could do to hide her blotchy cheeks. Still, it could have been a lot worse; at least having not packed away anything from last night her old work clothes were still present and, after a quick rummage around in the washing basket she'd been able to restore them without too much difficulty, at least sparing herself the indignity of greeting her guests in her nightgown. Setting up the top button, the former Dark Legionnaire stood up tall and abruptly span on her heel, heading for the door and pulling it open before the nerves could reach out and start to undermine her surge of confidence; such an action was still silent, however, allowing her to use her ears and figure out where everyone was – she didn't want to give either her guests or her housemate an unforeseen shock by creating a sudden loud bang in the stillness.

It was quiet outside but, straining her hearing slightly, Julie was almost certain Shadow and whoever was at the door were currently in the kitchen; quietly sneaking down the hallway, the echidna peeked around the door jamb in time to receive a much-needed serenity boost; _yeah, right on time_; seeing Tails and Cream disengage themselves from Shadow's almost hunched pose, Julie fancied she could almost see their indomitable spirits helping to buoy up the hedgehog's battered one, nourishing his emaciated reserves of hope in a rallying show of support and unconditional, almost fierce love; _just what he needed, on time and bang on target_. A faint flutter kipped up in the very base of Julie's heart and suddenly she knew she didn't want to stay here on the sidelines, marginalised because she was too afraid to draw attention to herself; standing tall, she gave a very slight cough as she sidled into view, the attention of the other three Mobians diverted and focussed on her almost immediately along with the attention she was strangely longing for,

"Hello Julie", seeing her out the corner of his watery eye Tails turned to greet her, taking in what must have been still obvious from her face, "rough night for both of you?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter, it's over now", she answered, striding over to the counter and taking her mug from the side at the same time as rub between Cream's ears in an affectionate hello, "tempting fate as this might be, I reckon the worst is behind us".

"It's certainly that for us", the rabbit piped up unexpectedly, accepting her hot juice from Shadow in the place of coffee the other three were drinking; for some reason that drink had never agreed with her, "had to put up with Wyn in father mode for the past couple of hours" she elaborated with a shiver as the two older Mobians swapped questioning looks.

"Oh come on, he wasn't that bad", Tails stuck up for the father to be; well, a little at least, "if anything he's got the worst to look forwards to; did you see Lara's face when he asked you the three questions?"

"No, that bad was it?"

"Worse", the fox confirmed her suspicions with a mischievous smirk before turning to Julie, hoping Shadow would have about cottoned on by now, "Wyn's Lara-Le's husband". _Ah right – Knuckles' dad_;

"Oh, he's the last guardian, well, the guardian before Knuckles anyway? Hang on, how does that work; there's only supposed to be one a generation but you said she was pregnant again?" A slight, uncomfortable pause settled before Tails plucked up the courage to force his head above the parapet and answer,

"Well, yes and no", he answered quickly, though just as Julie was about to ask what the hell that meant he explained for her, "yes Lara's pregnant, and she's not got too long to go now", he added with excitement evident in his voice – better than anyone save Knuckles and perhaps Rouge as well the fox knew how much of a new lease of life Lara's second marriage had been to her and this new baby was just going to be the icing on the cake, "but no, Wynmacher isn't Knuckles' father; Lara, ah, well she's divorced, from the previous guardian, she hasn't seen him for a long time now". Julie lowered her eyes in unspoken understanding a second before speaking, this time in a slightly more subdued voice,

"Damn, sorry, I never knew".

"Don't worry, neither did Knuckles until you lot all came back out of nowhere", Shadow said heavily, stepping forwards to put his hand on the echidnas' shoulder, act as her support for a change, "he doesn't talk about it much, but I know he sees his family, both sides of it, quite well. It's complicated".

"Trust me, I know all about that"; as their gazes drew level, Shadow saw the darkness cloud her vision just for a second before she blinked and drew in a deep breath, almost expelling the coiling coldness in the conversation with the motion, "but enough; why's he in trouble anyway, and what three questions…?"

"You don't want to know", both pilots chorused the same words together at volume, looked at each other for a second and then nodded before carrying on, "believe me, it's just not good for your mental state – or Wyn's physical one", Cream tacked on as an afterthought as Shadow cocked his head and Julie smiled sharkily, both accepting the pro-offered lure,

"Is that so…?"

XXX

Sniggering quietly about quarter of an hour later, Julie and Shadow to a lesser extent put themselves in the picture perfectly, the black hedgehog commenting,

"Ouch, and Wyn's expecting to eat tonight after that?"

"I should hope so, him being a chef and all", Cream answered with a wry grimace, seeing Lara's storm-cloud of an expression as she heard her husband's ill-timed comment from just behind his sitting form, "but he'll probably be spending the night on the doorstep with a towel over him, if Lara's feeling generous".

"Either that or on the balcony", Tails chipped in, trying not to smirk as he once more saw Wyn's face fall through the floor as Lara had given a discreet but nevertheless very cutting cough right in the middle of one of his next lines. Shadow looked across at him perplexed,

"But Lara doesn't have…oh" he finished with as Tails tipped him a wink and Julie chortled again, swatting the black hedgehog's shoulder as he belatedly grinned at the fox's joke suggestion,

"Sounds like a woman I could get on with, this Lara-Le", the ex-Legionnaire thought out loud, explaining as Shadow whipped his gaze to her alarmed, "someone else who understands that the only way to deal with stupid men is", and she slammed a fist into her palm with a loud smack, Shadow rolling his eyes at the gesture and glancing over warningly as Cream gave a thumbs-up,

"Don't encourage her; I've already had my jaw nearly broken once this morning", the ebon hedgehog admonished the rabbit at the same time as he ran a finger down the area introduced to Julie's forehead at high velocity not much more than twelve hours ago, "one of these days even she's going to succeed".

"And what do you mean by that?" Julie challenged, affronted by his scornful tone; her flatmate simply smiled,

"That's the third time you've clocked me and since it wasn't third time lucky you know what they say, throw enough mud at the wall…" Julie shook her head dismissively,

"Waste of good mud", she muttered under her breath as Tails leant forwards in his seat, trying to make a little more sense of what the two were saying,

"And, er, and what merited the occasion for another try; I'm assuming you didn't just hit him for no reason, tempting though it might be". Julie looked over and shot back,

"Too right" before a slight sigh from the side of her made her sit back in her seat a little, the expression of Shadow's face becoming more sombre as he answered the fox,

"Because I wasn't myself and Julie had to knock some sense back into me, bruises and all", he gave a grim snort before continuing into the quiet, "I was asleep when I had this flashback, not for the first time either, remember when Sonic found me shivering in mid-July, with all the covers on?"

"Yeah, he said you were like ice", Cream gasped, half-dredged up memories of the cobalt hedgehog mentioning something like that on one of his regular stop-offs at her mothers' house, "something about cryo, um, chreo…?"

"Cryogenics", Tails finished for her as Shadow nodded, remembering waking up on that particular occasion and not liking the memory much; _even worse when the damn pins-and-needles started – the one time I didn't want a hot shower_; with an effort he forced that thought backwards to concentrate on the matter in hand, "Yeah, well this must have been like that; I told Julie, it was like I was in a silent film, you remember those black and white jobs they sometimes show?"

"I've seen a few"; that was actually a little white lie from Cream but as far as she could tell the truth from her point of view didn't matter – it was what Shadow was saying that was important and fortunately the black blur didn't let her down, continuing his explanations after stocking up on breath to speak with,

"It was like I was a character in one of them; I could see everything, everyone, but no-one talked, I didn't need them to talk, I knew them all so well they never needed to say anything. I saw the man who made me, and I know that for a fact now, I wasn't born like you all were", he indicated his captive audience with a sweeping motion, slight pain in his smile now as he relived the moment of his entrance into what had then been his world, "I fell out of something, must have been like a capsule full of something, and he was the one who towelled me down, looked after me, treated me almost like a son".

"He called you that", Tails chipped in, vaguely able to recall something similar to that statement in the fragments of Gerald Robotnik's diary before the original copy had been destroyed by the events on the space colony ARK during the Bio-lizard's rampage, "I saw a few of his words and I'm almost certain he called you his son".

"He treated me like it", Shadow lent the weight of his own visions to that argument, a strange feeling of hot, bubbling pride mixed with bitterness that he had lost not only his reason for living but his father as well in one single act welling up in his throat before he could swallow it down once more, "I, er, we did things together; he used to tie my shoelaces before I knew how to, taught me little things, played hide-and-seek, things like that, with me when he wasn't working. But most of all, most importantly, he was honest with me", the black hedgehog's head rose, fiercely proud now as his mnemonic self gave a ghostly nod of its head, confirming its belief in his creators' wishes and his willingness to go along with them for the greater good, "he never told me anything but the truth, never any cock-and-bull story about me being the 'ultimate life-form' or anything like that; I knew, almost from day one, why I was created, what my actual purpose was meant to be". He paused for breath and to recollect his thoughts, try and figure out a way to explain his next words coherently to two Mobian who, though intelligent in their own right, probably wouldn't have much experience in the sort of life experiences he was trying to talk about,

"And", his gaze lifted as Cream swallowed and tried again to inject a little more volume into her voice, "and what, why did he, make you?"

"Because he needed me", the hedgehog gave a chuckle, dark and solemnly serious it was true, but a kind of mirth nonetheless, as he admitted to that, "he needed me to make sure he could bring Maria out of the bubble she was living in".

As he'd expected neither of the two younger Mobians could really take in what he was trying to say, though to give their due they were trying; Tails had his eyes closed in an almost meditative pose that he often adopted when trying to run a new idea through his head whilst Cream was absent-mindedly twisting one of her ears around her hand, casually forgetting that she was supposed to have grown out of that habit by now as all he attention was focussed on her friend's words. _They've got hearts of gold, both too polite to ask for an explanation_; adoration began to bloom in Shadow's recently broken heart even as he steeled himself to go through with what lay ahead; _but I owe them one anyway_;

"Remember that thing I used to do, back in Station Square?" As Cream and Tails both looked up he answered his own question, "with the gumball machines; every time I went to the shops I'd buy one, open it, hope that it'd bring…"

"Yes, yes that reminds me", Cream broke him off with a startled gasp, one hand plunging into her pocket and emerging a second later to toss something towards him, "sorry, I brought this for you downstairs". As he plucked the small plastic sphere from out the air he had to hold back a sniffle, spinning the tiny globe in his hand at the same time as gently begin to prize the lid clean off the gumball,

"Don't apologise Cream; this really is one of the most important things I had to find – thank you for even remembering it. Heh", a smile split across his face as he held up his impromptu prize, the little plastic goblin grinning from the tip of his pinkie, "finger puppet. But no, this was a big ball, a much bigger ball; I don't know why but Maria had to live inside it, away from everyone else, even the walls, she couldn't see through them, I couldn't either. She was completely cut off, a stranger to everyone; Gerald said I was her last and best hope, I couldn't, wouldn't even think about saying no". A hand placed itself on his suddenly shuddering shoulder; he paused for a fraction to take a little comfort from Julie's gesture before pulling in a deep one and soldiering on,

"I, I transfused her; my blood had something she needed, Gerald must have made sure of that, he must have engineered me to be that way. I don't know what it was she needed, but I must have had it because, in the end", he cupped his hands and them broke them apart, both younger Mobians gasping as they grasped the significance behind the movement, "it happened, she was free, free at last; Gerald was able to break her out of there".

"All because of you" Tails added, staring at his ebon friend with something akin to reverence, Shadow squirming slightly under the weight of respect in his kit friend's eyes.

"Maybe, but anyway, it's not important", returning to the matter at hand he made his next point, "the bottom line is the experiment worked, and worked perfectly; Maria, as far as I was able to see, was able to live a normal life as long as she took regular transfusions from me. We were close, we had to be, and not just because of the blood-tie – Gerald had told me I was designed to be her liberator and now she was free, so I decided to become her protector, her best friend instead, she looked so fragile".

"What was she like?" Cream had to ask, her voice a whisper after it navigated its way around the lump in her throat; swallowing for a second, Shadow looked over at her, a warm if slightly strained smile on his face as he tried to answer her,

"She, she reminded me a lot of you flop", the rabbit's eyes widened, her jaw almost falling open as the hedgehog explained, "she looked so small, you could have hidden her behind your thumb, but she was tough, much tougher than anyone could have expected because of what she'd been through, how she'd been forced to live. And her eyes", gazing deep into the younger rabbit girls' cinnamon orbs the hedgehog found the past, as it had once before, superimposed itself over the present; _they really are alike, well, ear department excepted of course_; that thought made him snigger for a second before he realised everyone was hanging on for his next word and he was keeping them waiting, "when you looked into them you could get lost, I remembered looking into her face, they were just so…so…"

"I know what you mean", Tails broke in unexpectedly, fastidiously not noticing Julie glance at himself, then at Cream and smirk with a raised eyebrow, "I've seen it when Lara and Wyn have been together, just sitting, gazing at each other's faces; Sonic and Amy too, to a lesser extent". _Just right_; the foxboy gave himself a pat on the back as he saw Shadow's lips crease into a wicked smile as he slipped that last snippet into place; _he needed something to smile about_; unfortunately at that point his train of thought was dynamited off the rails by the black hedgehog's comeback,

"You've never done anything like that yourself though, have you Tails?" The undercurrent of suggestion made the fox's skin pucker and, out the corner of his eye, he saw Cream squirm uncomfortably as Julie tried not to look too interested in her housemate's seemingly throw-away line,

"No I haven't", he replied forcefully even if he knew it was a mostly wasted effort, conveniently neglecting to recall the one time previously where he actually had fallen headlong into another Mobian's unblinking soft stare; _why do they all think that there's something going on between us two_; he snuck a look over at his co-pilot from the corner of his eye to see her sticking her tongue out very pointedly at Julie as the echidna mimed cuddling up to someone; _we're just friends, it's just that going to a skate park's just a lot more fun with someone you know, and ice-cream tastes better the same way for that matter_.

"Oh well, plenty of time for that later on for you pair", Julie stated diplomatically before glancing down at her watch, "say, about ten minutes from now". Shadow chortled and joined in his flatmate's joke,

"Ten, that's being generous, I give them five tops". _Okay, you've had a hard time and I understand that, but enough's enough_; with a very pronounced 'humph', Cream unfolded her arms and made to stand up,

"Well if you two are going to be rude, we'll be off"; _bingo_; as she'd expected, Julie raised a hand to forestall her from getting all the way up as she made to slide off her chair,

"Ah, we're only teasing; you know that".

"Yeah, I know; it's just you're always teasing us", Cream complained light-heartedly; at this moan Shadow gave an incredulous snort,

"You really think this is teasing; good job you're never around when it's just us two, some of the things we get up to"; _hang on, did I just say what…?_; it was as Tails snapped his head up with mischief in his sky-blue eyes that Shadow's brain managed to catch up with what his mouth had said,

"Oh I can just imagine, I've even heard of some of the things you get up to", the fox began, Julie not quick enough to head him off and resigned to hearing about this again, "if you're interested I could set up a web-cam; a couple of shows like the one you treated my bro to and you'd make a mint".

"Believe me that wouldn't even come close to covering the therapy bill I'd need for afterwards", the former ultimate life-form shuddered as Julie tried to look innocent and deflect Cream's piercingly questioning gaze, "but, anyway", his expression became more sober and the fun in the air disappeared without trace as he lowered his head, having to concentrate all his mental fortitude for divulging what lay ahead, "I saw her, once, I was standing at what must have been a portal, looking down at Earth; we did that a lot the pair of us", eyes misting over he saw the what he considered to be one of the lighter highlights of his revelation once more, "the water, oceans, they meant so much to us both because we'd never even thought of anything like that; you couldn't get anything like the Pacific in space. We promised that one day, when Gerald let us go down to Earth, we'd go sailing together, find out what it was all about, but", he bit his lip slightly, accepting that what was coming next was going to hurt and braced himself for it as much as was possible, "before that, a long time before that, I, she, died".

That simple four letter word hid so much; the same explosion in his mind once more shook him right down to his core and he shuddered, phantom cold stroking his skin once more and he was revolted at the touch, knowing full well the emotions behind such a feeling and never wanting to experience them again. _But I've got no choice_; even without looking he knew the looks on the faces of his friends – Tails would be trying hard not to look too questioning whilst Cream's expression would be brave but compassionate at the same time, hiding her sorrow in a bid to strengthen his own will; _I've told them this much, can't stop now_;

"I", his voice was a dry croak; he had to lick his lips and start again, "I saw it happen; we, the ARK I mean, was attacked, I don't know who by; it must have had something to do with the Eclipse Cannon", he'd been able to put two and two together, the sudden construction on the side of his former home coupled with his distinct sense of unease when he regarded it, especially in the light of what everyone had told him the fell device had been capable of, made it the only logical reason why anyone would target a peaceful space colony such as the ARK had been; _unless they were after something, or someone, else…_. He squashed that thought down deep and locked it away, shivering before speaking again it the silence, his captive audience not daring to draw breath to halt his words,

"I saw it being built, or at least starting to be built, but whatever happened next caught us all completely by surprise; Gerald yelled at us to run, he must have been terrified; I did, Maria was with me, we had to get to the escape pods. I took her there but they", once more he damned his faulty memory; he couldn't see a picture of the people who had taken Maria from him, their faces lost behind banks of mental fog, "they were there, waiting, coming for us. Maria managed to lock the door, then she screamed, pointed behind me, I span".

"What was it?" Despite her best wishes Cream couldn't hold in her excitement as Shadow seemed to swallow a lump in his throat the size of a cricket ball, "were they…?"

"No", he shook his head to answer her question, "there was no-one there; I span, and she must have pushed me; the tube came down around me, I couldn't get out. They were breaking down the door, there wasn't time – I tried to reach her, take her with me, but the pod was active, it was freezing me and I couldn't break through. The glass had misted, I heard a, a bang, a small explosion", and he did, the round cannoning off in his mind like the crack of doom itself as he forced his voice to go on, "I thought the pod had failed, I was getting out, but, but I looked up", he couldn't stop them all; once more the fur of his cheeks were flecked with moisture as the same grisly image burnt into his mind, "I saw her hand, just the outline, on the pod's wall; it was r,red, covered in, covered in blood. I started screaming…"

"I don't blame you", cut off suddenly the former ultimate life-form looked up in time to see a fuzzy patch of orange swelling in his fractured vision; Tails completed his move a second later, throwing his arms around his older friend, his words clear and strong even if he was weeping more copiously than Shadow was, "I'll never blame you, and I'll never even think of teasing you about that; I can't, in fact I don't even want to try and imagine what that must have been like for you – your friend, your best friend, someone like Sonic is to me, killed…no"; the hedgehog felt an impact in his shoulder and out of instinct brought his hands up through the ruff of the fox's back, feeling the child start to shudder from convulsing sobs, "and you had, had to see it, couldn't look 'way".

Shadow said nothing, his internal stoicism coming back to the fore and subverting his own woes to help heal the sudden pain Tails was now feeling on his behalf. Glancing around he saw Cream's bowed head, the rabbit not wanting him to see the tears she was surely shedding, and Julie with her hands clenched into the armrest of the seat she was sitting next to, fighting to stay in control the same way he was. Emotionally drained and physically listless as he felt the black hedgehog bore himself up tall still, trying to help himself in the same way his friends were rallying around and helping him now; just by being here and listening to his memory, exposing themselves to its horrid reality for his sake, Cream and Tails had helped him shed some of the guilt and self-loathing from his soul – neither of them had blamed him for the disaster the way he had blamed himself. _I couldn't do anything_; the feeling of helplessness was worse almost than the feeling to self-righteous guilt but he knew which of the two was correct for him; _I was trapped – Maria loved me enough to sacrifice herself for me, the same way I would have for her_.

The thought of such a powerful emotion and the sudden realisation that someone, anyone, had cared enough about him to harbour such feelings, hit him hard and out of the blue; before he could control himself he was leaning on Tail's shoulder, weeping this time not from hatred but from humility. Someone had literally died for him, forfeited their own life so his could continue and carry on; _and a little while ago I'd given up on it!_ Never before had he felt so embarrassed and ashamed for his previous actions; was _that_ how little he'd felt towards Maria's then-unknown sacrifice? Was he simply willing to let it all be in vain? _Never again_; as his arms contracted themselves ever tighter and he felt the fox in his grip begin to slow down in his crying, Shadow could feel the Tails' courageous heart hammering away in his chest; _I've been so lucky – I've got more friends who'd do the same, put their lives on the line for me – they love me that much and I was willing to let it slip away through something a lot less than death. I'm not going to be that stupid a second time, I'm vowing that now_; Tails wriggled a little and he relaxed his grip enough to let the fox pry himself loose; _and that's a promise I am not going to break. Not now, and not ever!_

XXX

She hadn't been caught by surprise by this; Shadow's story was a heart-rending one and therefore it was to be expected that both the children in their house would be overcome by it; _but I'd hoped_; it had been a long shot it was true, but for a second it had seemed that Shadow might pull it off; _he'd start controlling himself a bit better by now, but then again it's a big thing he's…_

It was at that point that Julie saw her flatmate's head poke up, his eyes just emerging from the crest of Tails' shoulder and her unfinished thought took a sudden and very unexpected about-face; _…he's, spirits above, I don't know what he is but it's a damn big 'is' regardless_. The echidna stared transfixed as she saw the hedgehog let his best friends' younger brother drop back out of their clinch and stood up slowly, placing a hand atop the kits head, a benediction to ease shared grief. Her eyes never left his face, even when he walked past, breaking eye contact as he paced slowly over to Cream's chair, sliding his hands under the rabbit girl's armpits and slowly winching her up off her seat, speaking reassuringly all the time he did so,

"Hey, c'mon Bun, enough of that; Jules' tell you, I've done enough crying for the lot of us this morning", unable to think much beyond mute, if unaccepted, admiration for Shadow's sudden inner steel, Julie gave a nod that she doubted Cream even saw, "I know it's not a nice thing to have happen, but it's still a memory of mine and I know this much", the rabbit looked up as he tilted her head back with one finger under her chin, saw directly into his face as he gave a smile, sad and slightly waterlogged maybe, but a smile nonetheless before finishing, "Maria wouldn't have gotten me out of the ARK if she'd have thought I was going to live like a complete misery all my life; she wanted me to explore the whole world because she wouldn't have a chance to, and I owe it to her to make the most out of what I've got, friends and all".

Julie heard the younger girl sniffle, then her ears dipped slightly, a nod of affirmation to Shadow's logic; there was a sudden flash of movement across Cream's throat and a slight giggle and thump, the rabbit falling backwards into the chair as the rest of Shadow's fingers skimmed across her ticklish neck. Bringing both her hands up to defend herself if needs be, the rejuvenated rabbit suddenly bounced back out of her seat, just about avoiding Shadow's toes as he swayed to the side.

"You said it Shads", she gave one last sniffle before puffing out her chest, stolidly determined to pop a cork into the worst of her grief in light of his words; _what was it Rosie said – look on the bright side, something like that? Yeah, that's what I'll do, Shadow certainly is and right now I do whatever he says is right_; "c'mon Tails, we'd best be off, we've still got a lot to get done". Had the fox actually heard half of what she'd said rather than been preoccupied with wiping his eyes in the fur of his arm, he might actually have given a more correct answer than,

"Yeah, you said it", and moved over to stand beside his co-pilot. With a last brazenly cheerful smile, the rabbit approached Shadow and, showing restraint not common in someone of her years, clasped his hand tightly,

"We'll see you soon Shadow; if you ever need anything and I mean that, anything", she forced the word home with an inclination of her head, the black hedgehog dipping his shoulder to show he understood, "you know where we are".

"I know"; _and you'll never know how grateful I am about that_; "and thank you, both of you".

"No problem Shadow", like Cream before him Tails stepped up one last time, holding his other hand and squeezing it tight, "I'll see if I can't get you a bigger jar of you favourite next time". To his relief and glorious uprising of spirit, Shadow laughed, reached forwards and ruffled his ears at the offer,

"You better do, that little jar won't last me a week; now go on", he pointed towards the lounge door, hurrying them on unhurriedly, "you best get going".

"Sure thing; bye Julie", just about back to full control of herself now, the echidna managed to wave and reply to the rabbit's farewell,

"See you about short stuff".

There was a sudden bang that seemed to reverberate throughout the entire apartment as Cream suddenly put her foot down, stopping dead in the doorway at those words. _What, what did I say?_; Julie scanned back hastily into her recent memory to see what could possibly be provoking such a look of disdain from Cream of all Mobians right now; her memory was wiped blank as the rabbit girl, with the deliberation of a marksman lowering a pistol to finish off an injured pigeon, let a single finger fall. Hypnotised, Julie could only watch as the finger flipped over, then curled upwards once, then twice – a huff from behind her let her spare a glance, Tails shaking his head and stepping forwards, up next to the glowering rabbit. As if at a pre-arranged signal both youngsters slowly traversed on the spot, turning into each other until they were back to back; _what's all this about…oh_. It was only when she looked upwards, at the side of Cream's face, that her eyes darted from one to the other and then, finally, she understood.

Between the tips of Tails' ears and the highest point of the rabbits, just before they fell away down her back, there was no visible difference in height.

XXX

The trip back had been in almost total silence; unable to think of anything meaningful to say, Tails had simply opened the drivers side door for Cream, nipped around to the other side of the Tornado's jeep mode and let himself in, starting up the engine and putting his foot down on autopilot. _There's got to be something I can say – think, you're supposed to be intelligent – what can you say now?_; the honest answer was nothing – nothing he could possibly even consider saying would even begin to encapsulate, never mind attempt to make light of, the Pandora's box that had popped open in the back of Shadow's mind, the torment he must have been put through remembering such a foul event. With Cream a motionless passenger he had reached his normal take-off point outside Echidnopolis, transmogrified his vehicle at the flick of a switch and had started, as he was continuing to do now, making the trip back to Mystic Ruins, all the time consumed with the cauldron of his mind, trying to put the pieces together and break the awful silence that had pervaded the cockpit. Once he had almost succeeded; he'd been a hairs-breadth away from opening his mouth and letting the words spill forth before his courage had deserted him and he'd disguised the few fledgling syllables as a cough; reaching down for the level to bring the Tornado to a slower pace, essential as he instinctively recognised he was nearing home, the confused, melancholy youngster made to shift gear; the sudden contact that ripped through his arm as he did so almost resulted in him opening the cockpit roof with his head as the tension around him was blasted apart by a yell of shock,

"Tails"; _Cream?!_; heart hammering ninety to the dozen, the fox turned around even as his body continued to pant back in some much-needed air, "get ready for a drop-and-spin".

"Wha'?" That made no sense and he would have said so, had his eyes not been caught by the device in the rabbit's hand, "hey, get that switched off, you know what I've sai…"

It was at that moment, in anger rather than in love, that Tails for the second time in his life underwent the silent mind-reading that had so amazed and enthralled him when he had seen it in other couples, and with the same Mobian as the first time. Cream's eyes suddenly filled his world; he read from them with definite certainty what was going to happen next and the part he was to play in making it happen; he snatched his hand back from the gear stick and whispered,

"Go", out of the corner of his mouth, blotting out everything but the need for more speed as his passenger hammered a couple of buttons on her previously forbidden device; _forget the damages, this is a lot more important than that_; he recognised the landmarks nearby and began to lift his foot from the accelerator, the Tornado bleeding off speed as he did so; _I'll fix anything this throws out of sync – we can get Shads something he really needs right now_; he heard Cream begin talking as an out-of-tune buzzing in his ears and he gave a freely triumphant smile as he tried to picture the black hedgehog's reaction to this sort of surprise; _and he, they are both worth a lot more than superficial Tornado damage._

XXX

It had only been after the pair of pilots had left that Julie had finally managed to staple her mouth back shut again and throw off her lingering shock as Shadow's sudden burst of inner fire; as the hedgehog had left the lounge in the wake of his youngster friends she'd finally shaken her head and stood up, making to follow in their footsteps as she heard the front door close. _Okay_; she took a fractional pause to run through what she was going to say next in her own mind before heading out the door; _I, I just, play it cool, go at the pace he needs to go at – if he doesn't want to talk right now, that's…where'd he go?_; as she was confronted by the sight of an empty hallway she gaped as it appeared Shadow had somehow mastered the art of Chaos Control without a Chaos Emerald, or at least it did until she heard the unmistakeable pop of one of the kitchen cupboards being raided. Appetite suddenly perking back up into peckish mode, the echidna blazed his trail and, noticing him pulling a cereal box free from above the table, she ducked down and prised a couple of bowls free for them both, placing them from the side and feeling around for the handle of the fridge absent-mindedly. Her fingers found it and hooked in; _whoa, what…?_; a sudden pressure on the back of her hand jerked her head around to gain a fleeting glimpse of Shadow's paw atop her own for a second before he quickly pulled back, giving a shy smile as he realised the mistake,

"Heh, sorry", he managed weakly, the warmth in his voice about as tepid as his smile and both a lot colder than the warmth Julie was having to fight hard not to show on the sides of her face, "my mistake".

"Nothing to be sorry about Shads, just one of those things", she mumbled as the battle still raged, her fledgling blush still battling had against the will scrapping to subdue it, giving a last couple of stabs at freedom ass he finally pinned it down; _now let's see if he's feeling the same_; "and anyway, we got a lot more close contact than that recently, if you…"

"Don't", the hedgehog moaned, Julie just about holding in a hiss of triumph as even his black hide couldn't mask his squirming embarrassment made manifest, "I don't even want to think about that right now, not with what's just happened and how quick I just had to act; that was not a good start to the morning by any stretch of the imagination".

"I could think of worse…"; it was only when these first five words had registered that Julie realised she'd been thinking out loud; this time there was no denying her suddenly flaming face as her hands clapped over her mouth, though by some miracle from above Shadow didn't seem to have properly registered what she'd said through his agonised writhing as he no doubt recalled the event that had immediately followed his waking up,

"Well I can't, at least not many anyway; I just about get back to the land of the living and roll over and come face to face with you first thing – I must have aged fifty years; have my quills gone grey?" He bent his head forwards for her inspection as she bunched her fists on her hips and scowled,

"Are you telling me you'd have preferred me to say out of the bed last night; well sorry but I can't turn the clock back that far".

"No, Julie, you know what I meant", her housemate admonished in a long-suffering tone, "I couldn't remember anything that had happened the night before, you just startled me. Anyway", he took a deep breath, everything in his tone gone save a weary acceptance of something, "I can't remember it but I owe you one", she glanced up at that comment, not quite seeing where Shadow was going with this as his smile split into an almost sheepish grin, "I can almost guarantee I was in a bit of a state last night, you must have helped me though it, so thanks". _You were in a state, that's an understatement pal_; just for a second she revisited Shadow's regression to an almost infantile state, the virtual pleading he'd made as he'd begged not to be left on his own in the darkness, scared of the night and the cold as they'd closed in around him – she blinked and shook her head, the movement, bereft as it was of any of its usual popping noises, triggering off another slight memory that, just this once, she could use to help bail her housemate out of trouble; _I'm not claiming anything for that – it's just as well he doesn't remember what happened then because I sure as hell wish I could forget_;

"After the dance you did on my back and legs last night?" She rolled her shoulders, neck and hips as if to emphasise the point of her muscles' new-found fluidity, "consider us square, as long as the tap stays on, if you catch my drift?" His hand moved as though plucking a paper aeroplane from the air,

"Consider it caught", he replied with a wry chuckle before letting his hand drop again, "so, what's next then?"

"Well I don't know about you but I'm starving", Julie stated, hoping against hope her stomach wouldn't add its own voice to that assertion as she pointed to the cereal he had placed on the table, "so if we eat now, then you go and get yourself something close to presentable", she reached forward suddenly and gave a sharp yank; Shadow screwed up his face as the straggling spine she'd seized pulled free of his skin with a jolt of pain on his behalf, "then we can just, go from there; not much of a plan I admit, but you got any better ideas?"

The last remark was a direct challenge to him and he knew it; Julie smirked as she chased the notion that she could almost see through the hedgehog's vermillion eyes, peer into the gears of his brain as they chugged and whirred frantically to come up with something to beat her idea; her smirk grew a little but overall she deigned from celebrating too much as he finally gave up the struggle and shrugged,

"Sounds good to me; okay", he gestured towards the table as Julie leaned over and picked up the condiments, setting the bowls down opposite each other as a tinkling sound behind her informed her that Shadow had just opened the cutlery draw. Unfolding the top of the cereal, the echidna poured herself a generous measure, topped it up with the milk Shadow passed to her from the counter side, waited for her flatmate to seat himself and prepare his own breakfast before digging in with a will, the first normal thing she'd done all day helping to put a little stability back into her own life once more now that the events of the weekend had blown it all up in the air again; _but we pulled through_.

That thought gave her strength; furtively taking a glance over at where Shadow was absent-mindedly chewing away at his own food, the echidna allowed herself a single, victorious nod as she recognised that basic truth; _it's not been easy, especially for him over the past night, but we've survived it. We've ridden out the worse the past has to offer us, and we're still standing tall_; with renewed determination the former Legionnaire swallowed her latest mouthful and dug in deep for another; _and if he's not going to give in and break to this, there's no chance in hell I'm going to – knowing him I'd never live it down!_

XXX

As the warm water hit the skin around his eyes he held in a pain-wracked grimace; it was still tender and sore there, the lukewarm shower water trickling over it feeling like tributaries of magma sloughing their way across his face as he blinked up into the shower head. One of his forearms sank onto the wall opposite him and he supported himself on it, weary even at the day's dawning as the magnitude of what he'd gone through was made manifest through troubled sleep and restless dreams, draining his body of energy and making him feel listless. The shower water washed down through the spikes of his back until he stood back up, willing himself away from the pit of sleep that yawned open before him as he focussed on washing himself for now; as Julie had said, once he was a little more ready to face the world at large he could decide what to do from there. _Julie_; the name made his pause for a moment, a wave of nostalgia sweeping over him as he recalled what had happened first thing this morning and tried to fit the pieces together as to what had happened last night; _she must have been thrown right in at the deep end, in with the sharks, and the hedgehogs which are worse_; he smiled at that old quote of hers before returning to the scene in his mind, trying to put himself in the echidnas' shoes; _but I must have looked like I was having a fit or something – I don't know what I said but I bet it wasn't making much sense, and I tried to break down the front door, I remember that. If nothing else it explains this_; he squeezed the muscle of his tender tricep, the bruise that had been throbbing away merrily all morning expressing its displeasure at such a movement with a fresh surge of suffering; _and she was caught up right in the middle of it. I still don't know exactly why she got…in with me – I hope I didn't say anything stupid – nah, she'd have told me if I had_; he had to laugh at the thought of what such a 'telling' might have involved even if he couldn't stop himself blushing as he squirming imagined himself propositioning the ex-Dark Legionnaire in the dead of the night having just recovered from some kind of a fit himself.

Almost at the same time as he laughed he sighed, a line Enerjak of all people had told him on the one occasion they'd actually met coming back to him; _no secret can be kept again once it's been told – something like that. And he was right this time_; he rubbed his forehead as though hoping to chivvy along his malfunctioning recognition processes; _I can't forget anything I've seen today – man, imagine how Big lives, not able to forget anything at all_; in that instant the black hedgehog felt more in common with his purple cat friend than he ever had before at any point in the past, a touch of shared sympathy before he refocused his mind on the problem in hand; _but would I – don't even try to answer that, it's a stupid bloody question. Of course I would_; his tiredness was gone now, banished by the same answer that had buoyed him up earlier when he'd had Tails in his arms, weeping in grief for his loss; _Maria died for me, she damn well died to save me, and now it's my prerogative, no, it's by damn duty to make sure she didn't die for no reason_. Killing the power, Shadow stepped down onto the set down mat and began towelling off his legs, soaking up the water with renewed determination as he rapidly cycled through his options of what to do next; _nah, can't come up with anything meaningful – oh well_; as he drew the towel up around himself and changed his hand motion to a gentler one designed as so to avoid shredding the drying cloth around his back quills, the former ultimate life-form drew a sudden snigger; _I know someone I can bounce ideas off of, at least as well as she can bounce her forehead off me!_ Glancing up into the mirror, Shadow thumbed the side of chin where he guessed her strike must have landed before face his own reflection head on, giving a knowing wink and then quickly returning to his ablutions with a will.

XXX

As she heard the shower door slam she quickly drew the paper up, hiding what was in front of her behind the publication at the same time as make sure she was sure what she wanted to do could go ahead. A cough from the doorway made her lower the top half of the weekly issue of the local Echidnopolis listing publications and brought her into eye contact with Shadow; for a second neither spoke as they sized each other up without meaning to, then Shadow was the first to break the silence, nodding at the paper in her hand,

"Anything decent on?" Sweeping her eyes down the page on last time, Julie recognised once more that the film she'd had her eyes on was now on show and nodded,

"Yeah, been looking forwards to this one for a while now", she spoke conversationally before quoting from the paper itself, "romantic-thriller; a Dark Legionnaire finds out that her supposedly dead ex-colleague is in fact alive and incarcerated in Cling-Cling; that's what we call it anyway", she explained defensively as Shadow worked out that she must have meant the EST penitentiary unit, "and goes undercover as a guard to release him. It's a nail-biting race to the finish as she has to find a way out for both of them before the EST discover they've got a mole in their midst with an explosive finale guaranteed to leave you breathless. Rating 12".

"Sounds like a bit of a jaunt", Shadow commented with a shrug of his shoulders, "what time's it on?"

"Midday showing; should make it in plenty of time if I get off in about half an hour".

"What's the rush; I can get us there in a couple of minutes"; _okay, this is it_; recognising the query in his voice Julie made her point to stake her claim on what, in her opinion, was far more important to him that spending time with her; _pleasant as that might be…_;

"No, I, er, I reckon you've got something else that needs doing instead Shadow"; she timed it to perfection; just before he could start to ask she'd lifted her paper upwards, allowing him to see what had been concealed behind it.

As she'd expected, the sight of the little black book she'd winkled out of its hiding place in one of the wardrobe doors made Shadow's face flex involuntarily, though he concealed such a sudden shock with barely a ripple as he understood what she had meant for him to do. For a long second he said nothing, then with a barely perceptible movement he inclined his head a fraction,

"Yeah, but"; she needed to hear no more,

"No buts you", she wagged a finger warningly at the same time as give a joking smile, "I said it earlier and I'll say it again now; you've just remembered her, you've got to make sure you can keep remembering her, all the good times you had…"

"No, no, let me finish Jules", he raised a hand to stop her tirade before it could truly gather momentum, "you're right, I have to record what I've remembered and I'm going to; it's just that", he tailed off for a second, lowering his face as a sheepish smile edged over his lips, "I'm not too sure what to write".

He'd expected, and in fact had resigned himself to the certainty that Julie was probably going to burst out laughing at such a bare-faced and blatant announcement; in all honesty he was having to virtually bite his own tongue to stop a couple of peeps of laughter escaping his own lips. As it actually was, however, he was so preoccupied with getting ready for the echidna's mirth that he didn't register that it hadn't happened until a good thirty seconds had elapsed; however, as he recognised something was amiss his head shot upright, just in time to see Julie roll her eyes at his sudden understanding,

"About time; I know what you were thinking and I'm not that shallow; you haven't got any idea how to explain what happened last night, how do you think I feel?" _That's a damn good question – should have given that one a little more thought_; he would have mumbled an apology for his oversight in discounting her point of view on the matter had she not carried on, "so I'm giving you a little time on the matter – as I've pointed out a couple of times before now, you need to get your head sorted out". His resultant sardonic smile to that observation could have stripped barnacles off a brass dinghy and seemed only to increase her sudden giggle fit; in one movement she stood up and offered her former seat to him, moving marginally away from the table as he sat down, the book in front of him unopened, he noticed; _at least she respects my privacy, if not my pride_. The last half of that thought was directed sideways as Julie seemed to just about regather her control and hefted her bag over her shoulder,

"Right, I'm off then; I'll be at least a couple of hours if not more, that should be long enough?"

"Should be", the hedgehog replied with candour before adding, "but you can't go to the flicks on your own; give one of the Chaotix a buzz, or that guy, er, what's-his-name, two floors up, you work with him?"

"Kadu?"

"Yeah, or Rouge", the last suggestion came from nowhere and he considered it a blessing; _yeah, her and Jules seemed to hit it off right_; "I'm sure she'd love a day out with some company". Julie nodded,

"Knucks'll never be a city boy really will he?"

"Nah"; _a truer word was never spoken_; "he's lived in the great outdoors for too long to ever really love the concrete jungle. Go on", he pointed at her left pocket, the one she always kept her phone secreted within, "give her a bell; it's been a while since you've seen each other".

"Good idea for a change; there's hope for you yet", the echidna laughed for a second as she fished her phone out into view, scanning through the numbers with one hand as she continued to look at Shadow, the lines in her face softening as she finished, "I'll let you get some time to yourselves for a bit; if you need anything, you know where I am". As she flipped her mobile into view insinuatingly the hedgehog raised an eyebrow, a couple of stray butterflies beginning to stir in his stomach as the echidna took another couple of steps forwards,

"I thought it was a fifty crest fine if it goes off in the middle of a showing?"

"Fifty's not that much", Shadow let his eyelids fall closed for a second as Julie's descending form blocked out the light above him for a second; he felt every split-second of contact on his forehead before she departed, the mark of her lips almost seeming to pulse like a throbbing branded mark; when he opened his eyes once more Julie was on her way to the door; he would have spoken had his throat not felt so suddenly constricted – by the time he could force any words through the previously unknown blockage it was too late, the front door had opened and then closed, leaving him alone again with his thoughts and memories in the clear light of the day. _Maybe it's just as well I never said anything_; the rogue thought collided into life in his head just as he clicked the pen in the spine of his memory book open; _knowing me I'd have only put my foot in it somehow – Julie would have seen to that. And if it got to Rouge or the Chaotix…_; he shivered at that point, wondering for a brief instant if he should have told his flatmate that he wouldn't have minded her telling anyone else on Angel Island about what had been brought back to his present during the night, then he shrugged; _ah, she'd know what I meant to say – somehow, she always does_. At that point, his finger tipped the pages past their centre of gravity and his memory book fell open with a thud – he looked down, purged his mind of all else, and held his pen ready for the task at hand.

XXX

He was in the ideal position to begin composing his record of this, the most important moment in his history; he was in a serene, peaceful environment, ruffled only by a very occasional buzz as a hover-vehicle drove past in the street outside. Shadow had refreshments well within easy reach and no outside disturbances as Julie had so kindly removed herself from the scene, and, should he feel the need to refresh his muse at any particular moment, the options of watching a little television or perusing one of a selection of books in his lounge. He had everything an artist or composer could have possibly wanted to begin the sculpting of a masterpiece.

It was perhaps unfortunate then that he had also developed the world's most severe case of writer's block.

It seemed he had been staring at the blank page in front of him for hours, pen poised in his hand, trying to wrack his brain so he could attempt to convey the feelings in his heart onto the medium of the paper in front of him, but all his inner soul-searching did no good; it seemed his mind was lost in a haze of vague, blissful but barely sentient awareness. Every thought led nowhere, fired blindly into the elusive areas of his creativity, hoping to set off a chain reaction for something, anything to occur, but nothing came of his wild firing. Occasionally he had cause to hope, his hand began moving under the direction of his brain shaking itself like a torpored bear unveiling himself from his wintry hibernation, but almost as soon as the tremors began they subsided, his mind rolling over and losing itself in its non-distinct fug once more. Eventually, however, as all things must in the end, the black hedgehog reached a conclusion; _this is useless – I can't think of a single thing to write, and sitting here staring at a blank page_; his left hand flicked a couple of fingers, his memory book flipping shut; _isn't going to help matters. I need a walk_; he made to stand up only to find that the hibernation in his mind seemed to be slowly creeping outwards as his legs felt unwieldy, unbalanced as he lurched upright and tottered forwards away from the table. He rested himself on the counter for a second, shaking his head as though trying to clear it, before pushing himself upright once more and stepping in the general direction of the lounge, swaying in his stride but not coming as close to toppling as he had following just standing up.

Never before had reaching the settee felt like such an achievement; as e let his legs give way beneath him Shadow felt himself swallowed by the enfolding material, just about remembering to kick his shoes off before attempting to heave his legs up to join the rest of him, not concerned with leaving any space as Julie was for the moment gone. The lower half of his body felt as heavy as a tree trunk but he lifted it anyway, loosing all contact the second it impacted on the opposite end of his sofa; his arms extended over his head as he gave out a cavernous yawn, his brain trying to stave off the inevitable with a last shot of oxygen boostage even if he recognised that the pillows at his back and just under his head seemed to be oddly comfortable; that was strange, they'd never felt that soft before.

His last coherent thought was to wonder if there was anything worth watching on the telly.

XXX

_Hmm, wha?_; this didn't look like bed, and, he blinked at the suddenly harsh sunlight, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the glare, it certainly wasn't morning either; _oh, course not – I must have nodded off. Just check though_; with a private smile the hedgehog did a quick three point check; _no blanket, no decent pillows and…_; with a sudden twist he looked over his shoulder, a slight snicker slipping from his lips; _…definitely no Julie-Su. Hope she's having a good time though_; idly looking for something gentle to jog his mental processes back into gear without risk of stalling them, the hedgehog reached to the table and snagged the paper, flicking through to the entertainment section and reading the descriptor of the film she'd been going to see for himself. _Sounds like a neat little evening burner_; sitting up, Shadow covered his mouth with the back of one arm as he yawned; _have top ask her if it's any good when she gets in…_; at that second, irony struck – Shadow pricked his ears and hefted his legs off the settee as he heard a sudden knock at the front door. A sudden panic clutched at him as he blearily tried to work out what time it was; there was no way he could have been asleep that long, was there? _Oh man, I haven't written a thing and the only reason she went was to give me some time to get that done_; well, there was nothing else for it – shamefacedly, Shadow stood and sauntered over to the front door, running and rerunning lines of excuses over in his head, hoping to hammer them enough so that one might just fit this situation. He was so wrapped up in his need to explain away his wastage of time that it was only when he was in the process of turning the front door handle and opening the door that it finally dawned on him;_ hang on, Julie wouldn't need to knock to come in, she's got her own key. So who's…_; it was then that he looked up sharply…

…right into the eyes of his cobalt doppelganger.

Words failed him utterly; all words, that was, expect one,

"_Sonic?!_"

XXX

All he could think to do, and if logical thought had dictated this action he'd have laid better than even odds it had been more by luck that good judgement, was gasp, emptying his lungs of air and generally acting like a fish out of water in front of his only friend; the eventual realisation that Sonic was not alone on his doorstep only deepening his sense of surrealism as Amy seemed to magically appear in his peripheral vision. _I'm still asleep_; it made sense, it was the only thing that could explain how Sonic was here on Angel Island when Shadow knew for a fact that he must currently be enjoying his typically lazy Saturday doing as little as possible, a tradition that had been proudly upheld since before the two hedgehogs had known each other to the present day. Realising what was going on the black hedgehog blinked, trying to bully his body back to the land of the wakeful, away from this really fake 'faker' as the blue figment of his imagination raised a hand and reached forwards; the jolt that raced around Shadow's body was electric, the feel of the glove on his shoulder shattering his illusion that this wasn't really happening and leaving him bereft of bearings once more.

"I came as soon as I heard Shads", there was no denying it now; as impossible as it seemed Sonic was somehow here and now; despite the choked nature of his voice there was no way Shadow couldn't have known it wasn't the blue hedgehog speaking, "don't explain, they told us on the way in".

"What?" It was all he could come up with as he finally dared looked up at his friends' face, nothing else could make sense, "who…?"

The confusion earthed, draining away as soon as he met Sonics' eye; in an instant he knew exactly why the blue hedgehog was here, what he must have said to get Amy to join him on this venture and, most tellingly of all, how it was that both the hedgehogs before him now had managed to gain access to Angel Island so swiftly. For a second his gaze fell, his own voice gratingly thick as he once more jotted a debt of thanks down in his memory banks,

"They've got hearts of gold that pair; sorry, come in", he stepped to the side and wiped his face with his hand in the same movement, flicking away some dust from his eyes, "you, er, you've not caught me at the best time".

"Aha, proof at last"; _eh?_; Shadow snapped out of his reverie in time to see Sonic beaming, "you just said it, we caught you", he looked down as Amy shook her head in apparent despair, "told you he could never outrun me and he just admitted it, from his own mouth as well".

"Hey, no way are you having that", instantly the shields had come up and there was ammunition on his tongue tip, "I could give you a run for your money even on my worst days". _Snap back on that one if you can, or don't_; from the way Sonics' face suddenly fell, it became obvious that he'd said, perhaps not the wrong thing, but something very telling nevertheless,

"Much as I'd love to, I'm not taking you up on that offer Shads", walked past his ebon counterpart into the kitchen, Sonic pulled out three chairs for them all, taking Amy's coat and draping it over the back of one of them, his eyes not leaving Shadows as he did so. The black hedgehog nodded in deference to his friends' unspoken change of topic, then started as someone put a hand on his arm; he whipped his head around in time to see Amy entwine her arm with his, looking up at his face with mournful eyes,

"Tails and Cream filled us in on what happened; I'm not even going to say it, nothing I say's going to come close to what you must have gone through".

"But I got through it", he swallowed a lump in his throat and tried again, hoping his words sounded more legible this time around, "but I got through it, that's what counts; you were right Sonic, all along", there was no acknowledgement of victory in the blue hedgehogs' nod, merely a mute acceptance of the truth, "she was the most important thing I could have got back, and I've got her now".

"So don't ever let her go"; before Shadow could reply there was a slight punch on his arm and he swatted back in response, Amy dancing away from his ill-aimed swipe and taking a seat at the table, motioning for him to join her, "you both saved each other Shadow, you're both heroes, you and Maria equally".

"I know", sitting down before his knees gave way, the former ultimate life-form once more felt film threatening to cloud his vision and fought to keep his sight clear, "but there's still so much I don't get".

"Like what?" Unseen by Shadow as he closed his eyes for a second to prepare his answer, Amy's eyes darted sideways and, taking the hint, Sonic sidled off into the background, giving his girlfriend a little time to practice her training,

"Like why was the ARK attacked in the first place? I can guess it was something to do with the Eclipse Cannon, but why did Gerald build it in the first place? He wasn't a violent man, not as far as I could see anyway, so why create something that could level whole cities for crying out loud? And who, who would, or could, have shot…"

"Shush", before his words could crank up to their full emotional impact Amy had stilled them with her soothing tone, refocusing him on the task in hand, "Shadow, I know it's going to be tricky, but you've got to stop thinking about these other questions".

"I can't forget about them Amy, not after I just got her…"

"Yes, that's the difference, listen to yourself", at her gently insistent tone Shadow did indeed run the last line back through his mind; seeing his eyes flick over as she had in the simulations during her lectures, Amy helped out by repeating his last line in time with his thoughts, "I can't forget _them_, not after I just got _her_; Shadow don't ever, in fact don't even think about trying to forget her, she's as big a part of your life as Sonic, or anyone else you know now is – what I meant was forget the questions you've got, all they'll do is distract you from what's important". The question, she knew, was one that he probably wouldn't be able to answer on his own; _and if he asks it just gives me an opportunity to restate the overriding fact of this case_;

"And what's that Ames", curiosity aroused, Shadow didn't really think before opening his mouth for an answer, "what's important, apart from Maria?" Her smile blossomed and she reached across the table, touching his hand at the same time as speak,

"Nothing, you just said it; Maria is what's important here. Nothing else about this memory matters really, you either already knew it or were intelligent enough to take an educated guess beforehand, like on the matter of the Eclipse Cannon. All you need to think about, really ingrain in your memory, is her, what she was like, all the time you had with her, good and bad; if you forget everything else about your past", his eyes flashed in panic; as far as he was concerned to go through such a fate again, lose everything and regain it only infrequently and with no logical progression, that was worse than even death itself, "as long as you've got her, you've got everything you're going to need".

The panic stilled within him as he considered her words, retracing his steps again, reviewing his memory in the light of what Amy had said, viewing it all form a different angle; ignoring everything and everyone else, Shadow concentrated on what he could recall of the girl he had only recently rediscovered, of every moment they had shared with each other. Occasional glimpses of other thoughts flashed through his mind like sharks diving into a school of fish but he ignored them, focussing on Maria and Maria alone; the more he did so, the more he saw what had transpired between them, the more he began to see how right Amy had been. If he didn't ask why he'd been transfusing Gerald Robotnik's granddaughter and merely accepted that he had been, the sharper the image became in his mind, the more closely he could see the sort of game they'd built around it, ending as always with Maria giving a slight kiss to the bruised and bandaged tissue of his elbow crook. _It really is all the small things that matter most_; even at the end of it all, the new-found knowledge that Maria had given her life up to ensure his could be continued was enough to almost balance out the force of her loss – almost. As the scene before his eyes dissolved once more into mist and whiteness he found himself on the verge of welling up again and hastily swallowed, hoping to keep the tears bottled up this time for he knew, somehow, that he'd wept enough for now. _Oh wait_; glancing to the side he saw Amy waiting there, patient as always for him to catch up in his own time and begin once more; _wait, where's…_; that question at least was answered as he saw the object of his enquiry peek through the kitchen door,

"Where've you been Sonic?" A sudden flame of mischief singed him and the black hedgehog found his tongue moving almost without direction from his mind, "if you're looking to top up your collection of magazines I can guarantee you'll get no joy here". There was a hastily muffled squeak of mirth from the side of him as Sonic shuddered, only to then look forwards, dead into the ebon hedgehog's eye,

"No, I wasn't expecting there to be after Julie let us in on your little secret; something about a full Dark Legion shower room, a Chaos Emerald and plenty of soap that let you get your rocks off wasn't it?"

"Enough; I don't want to know about that and I don't need you getting any ideas", Amy reigned in their games with a harsh look to the pair of them, the last part of her comment aimed directly at Sonic as the blue blur attempted to look innocent; unfortunately, this sudden glance was seized upon by Shadow who, much like Sonic and Rouge had been unable to earlier in the year, suddenly found himself unable to pause in his headlong rush of embarrassment,

"Oh, sounds like someone's been getting up to certain tricks", he tipped a wink as Sonic braced himself for the worst and Shadow recalled one memorable quote from his oldest friend and turned it on its master, "I just hope they stayed up long enough to-ow!" It was Sonics turn to snigger as Amy, deciding for once that all the psychotherapy skills in the world wouldn't help her here, settled the matter in a much more straightforward and direct manner, leaving Shadow rubbing the ear she'd cuffed as she warned,

"When I say enough I mean it, both of you, you especially".

"Hey, I'm a good boy most of the time", Sonic defended himself as she singled him out for some special attention for no reason he could ascertain, "it's not my fault that certain friends tempt me down dark alleys at times". Luckily enough for the blue hedgehog Amy had never really lost her weakness for subtle and humorous charm, the snarl on her lips melting away quickly to be replaced with a long-suffering smile,

"Maybe, but have a care Sonic", she warned with a waving finger, "the darkest alleys are usually the ones with naughty corners waiting for you at the end of them". Shadow gave a diplomatic yawn at this announcement, hoping against hope that his fingers could conceal his smile as he recalled what had gone on the last time he had been present when Sonic and Rouge had gotten together to cause mayhem and merriment in equal measure.

A short time later, as all three hedgehogs were sat down and drinking a couple of Shadow's recently delivered strawberry coffee and just as the black hedgehog himself had finished explaining his housemate's mysterious absence, Sonics randomly directed glance paid off dividends as he caught the corner of something black out the corner of his eye. Standing up, he began speaking as he was talking,

"Shads, what's…oh", craning his neck to try and get a look at what his cobalt companion had glimpsed, Shadow nodded as Sonic turned around, his memory book held carefully in the other hedgehogs' fingers, "I should have realised; sorry if I lost your place".

"Don't worry; I haven't even started yet", again cursing his lack of creative ideas Shadow shook his head at the book itself as though it was somehow responsible for draining away his words before he'd had a chance to write them, "that's the whole reason Julie's not here, said she wanted to give me a bit of peace to try and get something down – fat lot of good that is when there's nothing in here for me to write with". He tapped the side of his temple self-depreciatingly, a grim chuckle on his lips as Amy gestured for her boyfriend to retake his seat; reaching over, she plucked the book from Sonics' hand and regarded the front cover carefully,

"Any, ah, any ideas at all Shadow, about what to put I mean?"

"Nah, not even one", he remarked back casually, not quite seeing the way her face set as though gearing up for something; _okay, he might not like this or he might agree, it's up to him in the end but I can at least give him my opinion_;

"Well, strange as this might sound Shadow, I think it might be best if you kept it that way".

The silence that filled the kitchen at her words was tangible; Amy was only grateful it wasn't a malicious quietness, rather a vacuum left in the wake of an absolutely shocking announcement, the brief calm before the storm where no-one dared speak before making sure they knew exactly what they were going to say for fear of making a severe faux-pas. Eventually however, after a pause that seemed eons long, Shadow narrowed his eyes in curiosity and pressed the point a little,

"What do you mean Ames; that's my memory log, everything I remember goes down in there, why should this be any different. You know what the doctors said, you were there; if I get as many of the pieces out and in the open as possible I might be able to fit it all together".

"I know, but, umm, this is hard to explain", the pink hedgehog agonised for a second, trying to think of a good way to get this across before she lost the moment, "well, put it like this, are you going to forget about Maria?" _What!_; the idea itself was sacrilege,

"No, of course not".

"Well then why write it down; the reason I'm saying this Shadow is because, well, it's a sad story – what happened to both of you was an awful thing to happen. I don't think you should have to see that every time you open this book, just because it might, and that's a pretty big might, lead you to other discoveries". Shadow opened his mouth to argue this point at the same time as try to understand the pink hedgehog's line of thought when the third member of the gathering, completely unexpectedly, broke in to add his own thoughts to the matter,

"I think I can see where you're coming from Amy", both other hedgehogs looked around at that, both of them seeing Sonic sit forwards, his head resting on his hands as he contemplated the issue in his mind, "and I think I can understand it too; Shadow, remember before you left, a couple of nights before you moved out, when we had Tails over with a pizza and that movie Vector suggested for us, what was it, um, White Haze…"

"White Smoke…" the last word eluded the black hedgehog and he didn't much care anyhow; what was concerning him was the oblique reference Sonic was mentioning and how it tied in with Amy's argument, "…White Smoke something-or-other; what's that got to do with anything?" Not seeming to hear his question Sonic pressed on with his tale,

"Remember how, well, us lads being lads, we weren't interested in all the talky bits, the romance, so what did we do when we hit a bit like that and wanted some action instead?" His hands rolled forwards suggestively and, still not at all sure what his friend was driving at Shadow had to give the obvious answer,

"We skipped forwards, but what's that…?"

"Exactly", the low excitement in the blue hedgehog's voice stopped his words going any further as did the finger Sonic extended, pointing out something obvious to him but still mystifying to the former ultimate life-form, "exactly; I think this is what you're trying to say Amy. It's the difference between a book and a film; listen", wetting his lips the blue hedgehog took a breath and dove into his explanations headlong, "if you write down what happened, the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth"; _knew you'd never resist it – even when you're trying to be serious you can't help giving some lame quip or other_; rolling his eyes as Sonic gave a slight puff of laughter at his own joke, Shadow found himself mirroring Amy's reluctant but still present grin; _I suppose it's one reason we get along_; "every time you read it, you'll have to read it all; even the ending, which I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy never mind you. But with a film, or in this case a memory, you've got that choice; you can edit out the bits you don't want to see, concentrate on what's important, the good times you and Maria had. That's what Amy's worried about", catching on to her boyfriend's impromptu example, the trainee councillor nodded her agreement vigorously, "she's concerned that if you write it down and keep reading the whole thing you'll always be hurting yourself because of what happened at the end, and if you get used to that, blank it out, you might miss something – she's worried about you, just like I am".

It was a shock and there was no denying that; such a radically different way of thinking was never going to be easily absorbed. Sitting stock still for a moment, frantically trying to come to terms with such a diversion from his normal pattern of movement following a returning memory, the former ultimate life-form tried to reach in and grab the tail of the circular logic spiralling around in his mind; _but if I don't write it down, there's a chance I could for… - don't talk rubbish, after last night there's not a snowball's chance you'll ever forget, and even if you do you've got Julie on hand to remind you, warts and all – true but, even so…I'll think about it_;

"Fair enough"; _eh?_; it was only when he saw Amy heave a sigh and smile that he realised he must have been speaking out loud and promptly went red, though luckily it seemed neither of his friends noticed, "just as long as you give yourself time to mull it over".

"Not a problem, in fact it'll be a pleasure; I'm just grateful both of you, in fact all of you", Shadow quickly changed his former words to take into account Tails and Cream, who must have flown like hawks to make this whole thing happen in the first place, "give a damn enough to throw your weekends out the window for me". With a laugh Sonic half-stood and reached over the table, gripping onto Shadow's shoulder with a squeeze,

"You bet we give a damn; without you I'd go absolutely spare from the lack of competition, Amy would have no-one to practice her lectures on, Tails' coffee-running business would wither up and die and everyone else, well, they'd suffer in some way or another – you're the glue bonding the rest of us together, unglamorous as that job might be".

"You have no idea", won over by the blue hedgehogs' outlook Shadow couldn't help but smile, an expression matched over the entire table. The moment seemed to stretch on, and on, and on...only Amy putting her cup down on the table, the clink of enamel on the coaster breaking the spell, was enough to see it end as she stood up and hooked her coat off the back of her chair.

"Well, we'll leave you to it Shadow; I'm sure it'll all work out for the best whatever you decide to do"; _leaving – why so soon?_

"Hey", the black hedgehog half-stood, attempting to forestall Amy's attempts to vacate his premises, "no need to get going so fast".

"'Fraid you're wrong there pal", Sonic corrected him with a frown, reaching down for his girlfriend's bag, "car parks out there are rammed at the minute, Tails only managed to nab a last minute parking space in one of the hour only spots; even with me running we're going to be cutting it fine. Anyway, Julie left you for a bit of peace and quiet and you should know better than anyone that those are the two things I just don't do".

"I can think of a couple of other things you don't do as well", fortunately at this moment the very edge of his vision gave him a genteel nudge and reminded him that, fun through it was to scrap with Sonic in a verbal duel the prospect of a Piko Piko hammer being waved around probably wasn't going to endear him to the people who lived downstairs too well, "but I'll leave those for another time".

"Better be a quick time from now", Sonic demanded of him as the two hedgehogs shook hands again, "give Jules our best", the blue hedgehog suddenly leaned forwards with an overly insinuating leer and Shadow braced himself for whatever was coming, "then give her your best; ah, leggo, please!" He would have whipped around at the sudden cuff had a couple iron-hard fingers not pinched his left ear and tugged downwards, Amy heaving a reluctant sigh and holding her right arm open, an invitation Shadow had no hesitation in accepting, ignoring the squawking of the captive hero the pink hedgehog had held in other hand,

"Take care of yourself Shads, we'll be in touch; you can get us if you need us, don't forget that".

"Already learnt that lesson Amy", disengaging himself from her hold he looked her dead in the eye, Sonic also turning as much as he was able to in order to see the black hedgehog's face, "I've done some thinking about, about what might have happened if, you know, you all hadn't been here – if I'd still been…"

"Stupid?", Sonic suggested from his cramped position; Shadow nodded at the word and, perhaps in gratitude, Amy released her ear grip and let him straighten up again with only his dignity bruised,

"Yeah, and what I came to, well it wasn't pretty, no sir", he took a step into his hallway and let the other two pass, finishing as he did so, "just goes to show you never know what you've missed until it's gone".

"And how grateful you should be when you get it back", Amy added, smiling wanly as she took the opportunity to finish what she'd started earlier and Sonic had unexpectedly helped her explain, "remember your past by all means Shadow, it's one of the most important things you can have, but it's not the most important; remember it, dwell on it occasionally, but you can't live in it, you can't get lost in your past", the black hedgehog nodded solemnly, digesting what she was saying even if it was a little too soon for him to extract the true reasoning behind them; he'd need some time, some peace and quiet, to understand that fully, "you've got to think about your present, and even your future more because, you're the living proof you can live without a past".

"And the living proof that, well", Sonic broke in, trying to conceal his dislike of the subject with a shrug and half-succeeded, "without a future or much of a present, it's a damn nasty world out there".

"It is that; anyway", now with even more food for thought than before, Shadow was suddenly anxious for the quiet time promised to him when Julie had left, he needed time to think and understand what had been said, reconcile it with what had gone on in his mind, "you better shift it this time, even you; by the looks of things you've got two minutes to find the Tornado and round up your ride before the parking attendant starts to get shirty about things, and if I have to run you a parking ticket next week believe me I'm going to be peeved about it".

"I can guess", Sonic chortled, "it'd take you two weeks to get to Station Square; better hope they give you a decent pack up".

"Yeah, they better pack up the rest of the backlog that's destined for downstairs; shouldn't take me more than an hour or two to clear it".

"It'd take you an hour to clear the landing zone the speed you move at".

"If they were landing me on…"

"You, shut up! You, get going! Now!"

"Sure thing Ames", both male hedgehogs chorused together, deciding that fun though the bantering was it really wouldn't do to annoy the pink hedgehog currently glowering at them with half a large pink mallet materialising in her hands, "I'll see you soon Shads, then we'll see who's fastest".

"I don't doubt it; don't cry if you lose", the black hedgehog called outside; for a split-second he was sure Sonic was going to pause in picking his girlfriend up to respond to the catcall but no, obviously even Amy's patience had been exceeded and an eye-blink later both were gone, the blue hedgehog grinding down the banister to save time as his passenger quoted directions to get them back to their ride home.

XXX

Now he had something to occupy his mind; as she shut the front door to his apartment Shadow leant on the wood in front of him for a second, the sheer enormity of what had just occurred only now sinking in; _it's not been more than a couple of hours since Tails left this place – since then, he and Cream have flown to Station Square, organised this visit with Amy, kicked Sonic out of bed on a Saturday_; he had to smile at that point, knowing from first-hand experience how daunting that task could be; _and got back here, just for me. No bones about it this time, I owe them big for this_; that was certainly true he mused as he found himself back in the kitchen, sitting down at the table again and thinking once more, this time with a little meaning behind the verbal effort as at some stage during the meeting with his former flatmate and his girlfriend his brain seemed to have been kicked back into gear, withdrawing Amy's last words out of his memory and twisting them over within the walls of his mind, trying to puzzle through them and see how much sense they made. _More importantly than that though_; reaching over, he placed one finger on the top of his book and drew it towards him, the marker still trailing across the table top as a limp red ribbon; _was she right about you? What should I write now, aside from the fact that Vector's got an awful taste in movies_; prompted by the reminder Shadow saw snatched of the film once more and recognised the cheesiness of the acting could have funded a grater-producing company for a year, though the name remained lost to him; _still, I've got to put something down, it just doesn't feel right not to record something like this – anyway, I can guarantee that no matter how good the flick is, if all Julie sees when she gets back is a big fat blank page she'll…_

…_She'll…_

With that thought coalesced in his mind at the same time as Amy words were being repeated idly from his lips, the breakthrough was made in time with a single snap of his fingers. Snatching the pen up from the spine of his memory book, Shadow began scribbling at an almost frightening pace, words flowing from the tip of his nib almost quicker than his brain could command the coherency necessary to make sure they'd be legible when he tried to read back over them. An occasional pause, a second's break from his frantic scribing the correct word to use teetered just beyond the grip of his perceptions, was all the rest he had until his labour was completed; picking the book up, reading and re-reading the transcript he'd just put down on paper, the hedgehog made sure it said exactly what he'd meant it to say in the manner he'd meant to say it before nodding, just once; _this is it – this'll do everything I need it to do_. Slowly, finally satisfied that he'd completed what he'd meant to do, he flexed his right hand and slowly closed the top of his memory book, taking in a deep breath with a final nod as he accepted what had occurred so recently; _the past and the present have touched, nothing I do can possibly alter that_; it was a truth, perhaps not the one he had most desired but a truth nevertheless; _but if I can't alter it, I can control it, work it into an advantage for the past_; tapping the top of the table he tried to picture the reactions this statement could have, all at once grateful and regretful that he wouldn't be around to see when it was read; _and the future I want_.

XXX

Pushing the door open a little, uncomfortably expecting a pistol to descend onto her unsuspecting left temple as had happened to the heroine that had been entertaining her not an hour earlier, Julie tried to survey the scene in the hallway – from what she could tell it appeared calm enough. Cheered a little by the fact that the most pessimistic of her predictions seemed unfounded, the echidna stepped inside her home, even going so far as to call out into the silence,

"Hey".

"Welcome back"; _that's okay, at least while he's here I can keep an eye on him_; another tick was added to her roster of relief, so much so that she very nearly missed the second part of Shadow's answering call, "…a cup?"

"No", the shock at her sudden refusal was so profound she almost fancied she could feel the wave of shock from the kitchen buffet her, "no more caffeine or you'll be prising me off the ceiling sometime tonight".

"No coffee", it seemed Shadow still couldn't believe she'd turned down an offer of her favourite drink, "what gives?"

"Vector gives; Vector gives very, very generously, and Charmy doesn't help matters much either", the echidna grumbled, suddenly glaring downwards as though her eyes alone could ensure her waistline stayed exactly where it was at present without spreading outwards at all, "buzz-boy's a complete Coke addict and he's always offering it around – I must have drunk half a litre never mind the chocolate drops Vector plied me with during the exciting bits". There was a laugh from the kitchen and Julie's recently blackened mood shone once more; _laughing – there's something I was afraid he'd never do again after this morning_;

"Not a good day to be your diet then?"

"Unfortunately no, the plan's gone completely to pot for the weekend". With a final huff she appeared completely in the doorway of the kitchen, her eyes drawn magnetically to her housemate's form, the black hedgehog still seated as he had realised he wouldn't be getting up to put the kettle on after all.

For a little while neither of them moved, each taking in what they needed to see from the other and leaving it at that; indeed it was only when Shadow stood up at all that Julie even realised she'd been staring in the first place – she hastily looked away and fought down a blush as the hedgehog moved over to her,

"You'll have to tell me about it when I get back".

"Back? Where are you going?"

"Out for some exercise", Shadow informed her, a gentle smile stilling her sudden fear that he was trying to avoid her, "I've been putting my brain through the wringer all day, my body's starting to feel neglected". Julie would have retorted to his slight insinuation with a couple of choice comments had she not seen the slight flick of his glance and followed his eyes with her own,

"You finished it? I mean", she put the leash back on her tongue after a second's concentration, turning back to the hedgehog after regarding the kitchen table, where his memory log lay quiescently shut, "you put down what you wanted to?"

"Yeah, with a little help; trust me", he didn't want to be untimely delayed here so he held up her probing look with a raised hand at the same time as answer her unspoken question with an almost imperceptible nod, "I'll explain what happened when I get back; if nothing else I need some time to run it through my own mind – believe me it takes some believing".

"I'll take your word for it", Julie affirmed with a wry nod before indicating the way to the front door with one hand, "you better get going, it's already getting dusky out there and there might be a frost tonight; not much fun going face first into the floor on a cold morning, especially going at the speeds you move at".

"Amen to that", Shadow agreed before taking his leave with a last bob of his head; a couple of seconds later, with a slight slam of the front door, Julie was alone in the kitchen.

Luckily her former training came back to her aid; rather than plough right on into the hedgehog's treasured memories, the former Dark Legionnaire instead crossed the room to the sink and ran a trickle of water from the taps, using a couple of fingers to rub her left forearm until the discolouration caused by Charmy fumbling his passing of the jumbo-sized bottle of fizzy drink he'd brought at the kiosk had been wiped clean. That accomplished, she checked her hands and gloves to make sure nothing was present on them that might besmirch the parchment in front of her. _No, this should be fine_; finally, when she was completely sure in her own mind, she stepped forwards and took the seat that until recently had been warmed up by her housemate; almost of its own volition her hand was suddenly attached to the thin red ribbon that marked the position of his most recent works and, after a second of trying to still the electric tingling that had swept through her, Julie pulled upwards slowly but insistently, watching with infinite care as the reluctant pages were dragged upwards, upwards, tipped back past their centre of gravity and finally fall open, revealing what she was simultaneously desperate and see and to avoid seeing. Licking her lips and crossing her fingers, the echidna finally drew on enough of her inner steel to incline her head and begin at the top of the page, scrolling downwards until her gaze was arrested by the date; _the 14th_; she glanced at the calendar and realised it was true; _that's today – okay Shadow, let's see what you've got_:

_14/11. Today I remembered Maria Robotnik, and everything she stood for in my past._

_That's all I'm going to write on the matter for two reasons – firstly they'll be a blizzard in hell before I forget her, anything about her, ever again, and secondly because, much as this'll make him insufferable to speak to next time we get together, Sonic just for once hit the nail on the head._

XXX

_Sonic – when did Shadow speak to him, unless it was a phone call_; for a second the name caught in her mental cogs before she forced it through, picking up the ragged remnants of such a seeming impossibility and logging a mental note to question the black hedgehog on that point when he got back. Until then, however, she continued to read:

_My memory's a lot like a video; you can choose what to see in there and I want to, have to concentrate on the good stuff – Amy said it'd be a bad idea to focus on all the questions and as she's the one out of us with the training I'll take her advice onboard. So everything about the ARK, my 'childhood', if staying in my head, at least for now; on the bright side at least there's no baby pictures for everyone to laugh at – eat your heart out Knuckles!_

_But even then Amy's not quite got everything right_ (Julie made a second mental note to inquire about how the rose hedgehog had got a mention in this transcript)_ because first of all I've got to write something in here, even if just a reminder for me to fall back on. Well I've done that, but the second thing's the more important one; she said I've got to focus on my present and my future more than my past; damn, I'm nearly cracking up writing this, Sonic doesn't know how lucky he is having someone like her – no, in fact he does know how lucky he is; that's why he's not going to let her go, no matter what it takes to hold on._

_But, anyway, that's a different story; the fact is Amy was only half-right when she said what she said; from now on, I'm going to be concentrating on my present, and our future._

XXX

Never before had so much rested on the positioning of such a tiny blob of ink.

The comma was the key; as Julie re-read Shadow's last sentence, there could be no denying it, no possibility that the last three words had been a throw-away line or a standing joke. The presence of the comma made it appear almost as if the black hedgehog was speaking to her directly – and he bloody well was! _He meant me to read this_; that was why he wasn't here now – just as she had given him some time to get over his unexpected shock he was repaying the favour; _he went after making sure I knew I had his permission to take a peek in here. And now_; she gently closed the book in front of her, not quite sure if what she was feeling was the right thing to be feeling, and indeed not at all sure what the dominant emotion she was feeling was at all, if there could ever be a name for an upwelling such as this; _I know what he was writing about. And I know what it means_.

Not even she could completely contain her reaction to the purely physical arena; a celebratory hiss escaped her lips as both hands, the forearms beneath them glinting in the dying rays of the sun streaming in through the kitchen window, shot to the heavens, denied their ultimate objective by the limits of the flesh but her spirit had no such fetters. Soaring away on pinions of rhapsody Julie knew that now she could look down, look back over what had been and see that it was all behind her, behind them both; compared to what they had come through up to now whatever the future might hold was nothing they couldn't bring down between them. And the future; as she swung around to see the glowing horizon she found the spectacle too enormous to take in; the possibilities were too many, too glorious to encapsulate alone even if she had all of eternity to make such an attempt. _But then, who said I was on my own?_; she looked down, knowing as she did so that she would see a black bullet speeding forwards beneath her feet and suddenly she powered forwards, diving down to keep pace – shoulder to shoulder she knew they could run and run forever, fly headlong into the face of the future and weather whatever it could contrive to bring against them.

They had not fallen, no matter how tempting such an option had been for both of them at one stage or another they had endured; now, now when the tribulations were over and run through, now she had earned wings to fly with. And as Julie reclined in her chair, suddenly breathless and yet with air to spare in her body, she made a conscious decision and launched herself willingly into the precipice of the unknown, certain that, no matter how far the journey, there would always be someone there to keep her.

As long as Shadow was running beside her, there would be wind beneath her new wings.

A/N: Sorry for the delay; Christmas was a part of the reason, but the other was that, after the emotion of the previous chapter I had to take a step back; I wanted to make sure I wrote this chapter right; the word in my head all the time I was doing this was 'delicately'. As always, please let me know if I did well enough and suggestions for improvement are always welcome.


	29. Chapter 29 A Vessel for the Past

Chapter 29 – A Vessel for The Past.

A/N: Wow, huge chapter once more – don't ask how they get so big, I just start writing and they take over from there. Anyway, that's by the by, I just hope people are still enjoying this:

BC (formerly PBJJ) – Well you guessed my challenge right; did you get the mail I sent you with my idea on it? Hope it gave you some food for thought, and that this new chapter picks up where the old one left off in your enjoyment stakes.

IOS – I heard the new game wasn't that great – some things are just better left they way they were! Aside from that, is Gears of War up to much; a lot of m mates have been ranting about it but I can't play it – my game console history ended with the Mega Drive! Just out of interest though, you said in your review you don';t read this in your spare time, when exactly do you read my work :-)? Anyway, thanks for the review on the massage chapter; no-one mentioned if I'd got the scene where Shadow hears himself speaking and puts two and two together right – now I reckon I wouldn't be too far wrong saying it went down well. Thanks – nice to know when you're appreciated!

TG – Delicately; that was the one word in my head the whole time I was writing chapter 28 – I needed to get the balance right between humour and seriousness. Anyhow, hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.

It had been an, interesting, yes, that was a good word, an interesting sort of weekend Shadow mused as he walked into his place of work his customary fifteen minutes early first thing on Monday morning. Again, as was customary in his weekly routine, the black hedgehog paused for a second after greeting the receptionist at the front of the C.A. lobby, halfway up the stairs as he tried to remember at exactly what point he'd started this ritual of entering work early at the beginning of the week and, as always, the answer eluded him, leaving him to the inevitable conclusion that since he was here now he might as well get on with it and do something useful because it was too far to go back home to make the trip worthwhile. Padding through corridors he knew as well as the back of his own hand, the hedgehog quickly located the department he'd been assigned to on what he was coming to think was a permanent basis; though it was company policy to rotate the runners between departments on a quarterly basis, he'd been in the Housing and Location Issues Department ever since the day he'd first burst onto the Central Administration scene. _Good thing too – barring one exception_; as he slid inside the darkened room and gave a slight shiver at the chill in the air; bereft as it was of its normal crowd of typing echidnas the air conditioning in the office was giving the atmosphere a definite nip; he directed a single scathing glance at the desk at the head of the office, something he'd have never dared to do if its normal occupant had been in the same building, never mind the same room as himself; _they're as nice a crowd as you could hope to fall in with_. Not looking around as he was sure he'd be alone for the next fifteen or so minutes, the hedgehog headed over to the runners rack; a selection of bags where the runners assigned to this department hung their running sacks at the end of the day and over the weekend; he remembered where his was by recalling his official number and hefted the bag off the row of pegs, throwing it around his body with the ease of long practise and flicking his gaze up around the top of the pegs, never for a second suspecting he was being stalked in this darkness; _and I thought it was the Dark Legion where they called you all by number_; he chuckled a little – somehow he could never recall the number that he was supposed to sign off all his delivered parcels with to officiate the run; _perhaps there's not so much difference between Necronopolis and Echi-oh!_ He held that thought as something very solid and very cold was stabbed into the flesh in his back, just above his kidneys, making him freeze in time for an arm to slip around his neck, compressing his windpipe and dragging him backwards, rocking him back on his heels as a harsh voice growled into his ears,

"Okay you", he wisely stayed quiet as his unseen captor continued, though he counted himself lucky that, if his guess was right, his assailant couldn't see his face, "I want gossip, lots of it and the juicier the better, you savvy?"

"Hmm", he disguised his true intent with deliberation, hoping she wouldn't see his hands move, "I guess so; but before I savvy", his hand shot backwards; he gently felt his fingertips compress into flesh and was rewarded with a badly-muffled squawk of laughter, the pressure around his neck dissipating as his favourite workmate was forced to jump backwards by his sudden attack, "you squeal!"

With a fractional pause Shadow span around on his heel in time to see Honey straighten up, just about controlling her giggles at the sudden attack even if she couldn't displace the grin on her face,

"Let me guess", he recalled a line Knuckles had once told him worked to rile Espio up and pointed at the object she'd tried to use to imitate a firearm, "in the right hands that could wipe out half the Legion?"

"You've obvious never had a fight with one and come off second best", the echidna riposted, setting the staple gun down on the nearest desk before seeing Shadow's questioning look and sighing, "I was trying to get a few reports together and hold a chat with Sefa at the same time, not really looking at what I was doing; next thing I know I've got a couple of staples right here; stung like…well, you can guess?"

"I can", Shadow assured her, seeing her tap the muscle between her thumb and index finger and give a slight shiver, "did they send you to the general?" Honey laughed,

"I wish; you know what Snappy's like – I got them pulled out with a pair of pliers, a plaster and a warning for being lax with the office supplies – staples cost you know?"

"I bet"; _sounds too much like Snappy to be anything but the truth_; the hedgehog's thought was cut off by a sudden click, then another; he tuned back into reality in time to raise his hand as Honey snatched her weapon back up and started popping off rounds at him, "hey, I'm an unarmed man – this has got to be illegal".

"No you're a man holding in the news I need to hear – until I get said news there are no rules. Now out with it", she backed up her verbal volley with another couple of rounds from the staple gun, "what did you do to get Julie to forgive you, and did it work?"

"Well", tempting though it was to draw this out and reduce his friend to a quivering mess of frustrated nerves, Shadow decided against that course of action for the simple reason that, thought the staples themselves weren't going to hurt him, the gun they were issuing from would probably work as a pretty effective club in such close quarters, "yes and no at the same time; take a seat Honey or this won't make sense; anyway, why are you so interested?"

"Obviously it won't make sense; why break the habit of a lifetime?" The blonde echidna pulled out the closest chair and settled herself as Shadow leaned on the nearest wall, "and I'm interested not just because I'm nosey; say nothing or else", the threat of the raised gun was enough to dissuade even Shadow's sore temptations, "but I've got a bet on with Micah and we've been working each other up all weekend; there's a dinner out riding on this".

"Well then, I guess I'd better not keep you in suspense", the hedgehog said genially before smiling, "so where's the betted meal going ahead; wait, no, I'll spill", he gabbled desperately as Honey threw herself to her feet, fist and staple gun drawn back by a woman on the edge, "I did some thinking about it and decided I'd try to use your, or Micah's method actually, to try and grind it out of her. I made a bet with her a little while ago and, as always, she scraped out on top and I had to pay eventually. I worked it all out, got a couple of things when I left early on Friday".

"Aww, and there was me thinking you'd just done that to avoid me for the rest of the day?" Honey fluttered her lashes prettily as Shadow beat down a threatening smile before replying, hoping that the laughter wouldn't be too noticeable in his voice,

"Nah, that was just an added bonus", he gave an ironic bow as Honey flicked her tongue out at him, "but I just nipped downtown, found this neat little place that sold me a pack of incense burners and some oil to burn in them, then I called a favour or two in and got it all ready; I'd told Julie that this was a ceremony of sorts on the world below, kind of like the ones they've got in the Legion and she had to vanish while I set it up…"

"They've got ceremonies in the Legion? I mean", Honey broke in, apparently flummoxed by this revelation before she caught the look on Shadow's face, "they, er, I didn't think they had a religion of any sort". Shadow scratched an ear as he tried to think of a way to put this next sentence into words Honey might understand; _and ones I can picture come to that_;

"It's a little tricky to explain, but yeah, they've got a couple of little does that go on through the year; I sat through one of them in the autumn time, just so Jules wouldn't feel so homesick like", he defended himself a little unnecessarily as Honey's eyes bulged at the news, "it wasn't too bad, nothing really terrible went on, just like any other kind of thing really, like carols at Christmas I suppose".

"Fair enough, but"; _got to give her points for trying_; Shadow suppressed a smile as he realised Honey was trying desperately not to let on how much she wanted to hear about this but the speed at which she tried to jump him back on topic was far too much of a giveaway, "what was the bet you pair made in the first place?"

"Ah, not important; the thing that is was how I made up for it – picture this", the hedgehog wetted his lip for a second as Honey leant forwards uncontrollably, magnetised by the lure of his news, "she's in the shower and I gave a knock, told her there was a little dress code of sorts; I hang it on the back of the door and go get ready, light a couple of candles…"

"You", unable to contain her wild guessing Honey jumped in headlong, "you put up a…what did you cook?"

"Nothing, it wasn't a romantic occasion", Shadow reprimanded, adding a slightly peevish tone to his voice as she interrupted the flow of his story; luckily however, he was quickly able to pick up where he'd left off, "but yeah, I go in the lounge, everything's set, just waiting for Julie; lo and behold a couple of minutes later I hear the bathroom door open, she was coming down the hall", Honey's feet stamped the floor a couple of times, her fists clasped hard under her chin as almost deranged apprehension began to set in, coaxed there by the hedgehog's tone and undercurrent of excitement, "I just waited behind the door; I heard her gasp, she must have seen it, she walked right past me in the dark; the room was lit by candlelight".

"What was it?" Honey moaned, almost writhing in anticipation as an entire weekend's worth of guessing, bluff and double-bluff was about to come to an end – Shadow held up a hand, picking up the pace as he took note of the virtual desperation in her body language,

"It went better than I'd hoped; just as she was looking I stepped up, she must have remembered what I'd said, saw it dawn in her eyes. She just lay down, perfect positioning, and I", he gave the barest of pauses, watching with a rapidly-growing grin as the echidna's hands shrunk into claw-like positions as through desperate to grasp onto the answer and never let go, "I started at the ankles and worked my way up from there".

As he'd expected, there was a slight time lag between Honey hearing what he'd said and actually understanding it; he waited a couple of seconds, then another few – the words of explanation were almost on the very tip of his tongue before the blonde Mobians' eyes suddenly swelled up huge and one hand clapped over her mouth, the voice behind it muffled as much by awe as by the organic barrier in front of it,

"You _didn't_?"

"I did", Shadow assured her proudly, one hand gliding through the air towards her in a textbook masseur grip, "the full works, right down to the dreadlock roots". That was enough; Honey shook with laughter for a second as the hand at her mouth slid up her face until it covered her forehead, the echidna leaning on her elbow to take the weight as she reeled for this sort of a blow,

"Ohhoho, spirits above", she tried to picture it and failed, having to resort to the genuine font of information in front of her as her own imagination failed to encapsulate what he was saying, her questioning voice panting with almost exhausted shock, "what did she _say_?"

"I'm not too sure", Shadow mused after a second of thinking, raising his eyebrows as Honey shook her head, "must have been a foreign language, unless you know what 'urrgghh', ummmm' and 'lowalowalowaaaahhhaahhhaa' happen to stand for?"

"A job well done would be my best guess; looks like Micah and I are going halves this Friday; neither of us managed to come up with that", dabbing at her eyes Honey shook her head one last time before spinning in her seat to observe the hedgehog opposite her, "so did she say it? I mean, after she'd had time to recover?"

"No she didn't – she didn't have to", he quickly added as the echidna before him swelled with indignation at the sudden thought, "I don't know how she did it but somehow she'd got hold of a CD from somewhere – remember the day I was off…ill", he said eventually, deciding to come clean about this after checking to see they were still alone in the office. Honey thought for a second then suddenly twigged, nodding,

"Yeah, Julie called in for you. Was it bad was it?"

"Worse; I'd, er, well I'd had a lot of problems before that Honey", the hedgehog said tiredly, not really wanting to go through this again but not really having a choice in this instance; _besides, say this now and asking her for the favour I need might be easier_; "so, after work, I went out, on the town as it were, just wanted to get drunk as quickly as possible, make it all go away – stupid yes", he answered her suddenly sharp look with a raised hand and weary smile, letting her know she was completely right to scold him for his sudden weakness of moral fibre, "and I'm not going to say it was the brightest thing I've ever done, but anyway, somewhere along the line, I forget where, one of my buddies joined up with me, guy called Vector…"

"Vector, so he…"; _oh no – I didn't want him to know about that!_

It was too late to snap her mouth shut as Shadow's head shot up, the black hedgehog seizing her slip up and silently demanding an explanation with his eyes, "…so he's a friend of yours?"

"Yeah", Shadow replied slowly, sizing her up almost as his question was delivered in a would-be curious tone that fooled neither of them, "how do you know him?"

"Micah's mentioned the name a couple of times", she answered casually, falling back on the old adage of blaming the boyfriend for anything; as long as he never found out about it nothing would happen, "he said, um, he said, what is he now – tall and, er, oh what is it", she snapped her fingers, hoping against hope she was doing well enough to fool the hedgehog into thinking her memory lapse was genuine and throw him off the scent she was desperate to conceal, "something like crackadoll?"

"Crocodile?"

"Yep, that's the one; must be the same guy; Micah runs into him when he's doing the shopping occasionally".

"Why don't you do the shopping", Shadow queried innocently; Honey sniffed dismissively, internally singing wonderful praises out to the world that she'd managed to cover her tracks,

"Because he can't tell one end of a hoover from the other and one of us needs to make sure the house is tidied sometimes in a week", she explained patiently before throwing back onto what was in her mind the right topic, "but anyway, what happened next?" Shadow's eyes crossed for a second before he suddenly realised where she was coming from,

"Oh, yeah sorry; we proceeded to get ourselves levelled; I don't remember any of it really, least of all what I was saying – more's the bloody pity", he muttered under his breath before raising his voice again, "but somehow ol' scaly managed to pull the wool over my eyes. Never asked how he did it but somehow he taped me saying I was sorry to everyone for generally acting like such a prat and, well, three guesses who he gave that little present to". Honey screwed her eyes shut in shared embarrassment even if she was quick enough to realise where the hedgehog was going with this story,

"Oh no; I bet she made your life miserable when she told you – I know I would have if it'd been me", she added with refreshing honesty; to her amazement however, Shadow shook his head,

"Nah, not really; I mean she kept the fact that I'd said sorry secret from me and strung me along for weeks that she was still hacked off, but after Friday night, when I'd done with the massage and she was snoring away merrily, she'd told me where that CD was and I listened to it – don't even think about it", he warned suddenly; he knew Honey well enough to recognise a devious smirk when he saw one blooming on her smug features, "that CD has been confined to Davy Jones's locker, I've made sure of that".

"Spoilsport"; his answering smile would have sloughed tar off a road surface,

"Quite, but anyway I just went to bed on that knowledge; after all, she'd heard what I needed her to hear and she must have accepted I was sorry – why rock the boat any further? So off to bed I went, and it all snowballed downhill from there".

As he'd expected, she didn't quite follow; he heaved in a sigh and, just when he was sure she was starting to think about what he'd said and the inevitable question was growing in her mind, he spoke once more,

"I, that night, while I was asleep, I had a dream, a really vivid dream; you know my amnesia", once more her eyes grew huge and her lips trembled but not a sound escaped them, nothing issued from her parched throat save an exhumed croak as the hedgehog bowed his head and spoke again, "I had a flashback, a really long and real-feeling one; I don't want to talk about it really, it's not something I enjoy at all, but someone close to me…they died, and I was there when it happened. Please don't…" For a second he was afraid she wouldn't be able to contain herself and the whole thing was going to have to come out again but to his ineffable relief Honey managed to clamp the reins on her tongue and, with a concerted effort, refused to speak, merely extending her hand onto his arm and, after a second strengthening her tone, speaking in a cracked voice,

"I'm so sorry Shadow; and of all the nights for it to happen, after that".

"I know, irony's a bitch", the hedgehog replied with a tepid smile, one Honey did her best to try and echo even if pity and concern were coiling around her emotional output for the hedgehog in front of her, "but to cut a long story short I went a bit nuts and, for the second time I might add", he fingered the side of his jaw for a second as he said his next words, "Julie's anatomy colliding at high speed with mine was the only thing that brought my mind back to reality. I had a bad night but, in the morning, we were both surprised really".

"I can imagine"; _even if I really can't_; Honey knew her words weren't true but they sounded supportive and that was all that really mattered, "it must have been…" Shadow shook his head, unknowingly diverging from Honey's line of thought for a second,

"No, it wasn't quite that bad; it could have been", he added wryly, picturing with iron certainty what might have happened had anyone who'd visited over the weekend taken a peek behind the settee and asked a couple of awkward questions, "but luckily it never quite got that embarrassing".

"Really?"

"Yeah, we were quick enough to…oh", the black hedgehog suddenly caught the eye of the echidna opposite him and realised the discrepancy between what he was saying and what she was hearing, "sorry Honey, I'm not quite on your page there; yes, remembering what happened, it wasn't the nicest thing I've ever had to do and, and I'm just glad the worst's over now, but the important thing is that I had help, every step of the way", her head jerked up, the merest hint of a hopeful smile beckoning and Shadow chose his words carefully to encourage it ever onwards, "Jules and I were caught out in the morning, some friends from the lands below arrived and caught me looking as bad as I can look without trying; of course, I had to tell them, they knew about my amnesia from the word go and helped me get over it as much as they were able to. Before I knew it, Julie went of to give me some quiet time, but these two, well they've got transport between here and downstairs, and they brought up other friends, really close ones, to help me; without that, I probably wouldn't have been able to come in today".

"Then why are you in", Honey pleaded, recalling for the first time in her life half-remembered passages from the tome that called itself guidelines for working in the C.A, "get yourself off home, no-one can deny that's a grievance holiday allowance; not even Snappy can gainsay it". In time with the ball of bile rising up her throat, concern for her friend given emotional feeling, Shadow shook his head,

"No Honey; not that I'm not grateful for the offer", he assured her with a smile before continuing, "but I just want to get back to normal, which is why I'll need your help". _Really?_; the echidna nodded, mind made up in a flash; _well you've got it_;

"What can I do?"

"If I start gazing off into the distance, like I'm lost in thought", the hedgehog explained slowly, fighting not to do just that as talking of the memory he'd been able to bring back from his misty past threatened to overwhelm his sense of the here and now, "just give me a tap; I had this problem through the weekend, getting lost in the past Amy called it, and I've got to stop doing it; I'll need you to snap me out of it if you see it, okay?"

"Sure; I can buzz you as well if you've been gone a long time", the echidna said suddenly; _oh brilliant_. Shadow felt another of his major worries for the day melt away in the face of that offer and nodded,

"Thank you Henu; it does mean a lot". She merely smiled, her hand racing down his arm into his, holding softly,

"No need to thank me, let me know if there's anything else I can do".

"I will, thanks again; mind you", the sudden note of conversational humour in his voice brought her head up, a slight grin hovering near her lips as he smiled, "if it had really gone to pot on Saturday, boy wild horses wouldn't have dragged me into work today; I'd still be hiding under the bed and praying it was all just going to go away".

"I just know…oh forget it", knowing it was a lost struggle Honey merely heaved a sigh, "go on – what happened?" Clasping his hands, Shadow leant forwards, his face open and expression bordering on the brink between humour and acute embarrassment,

"Well, you know I said the first two friends to arrive arrived early, well, early for Julie and I anyway", Honey nodded; _he didn't mention it exactly but I can imagine that was what happened_; "well when they banged on the door, everything was still out, and I mean everything". The emphasis on the last word tipped her off; only her gloved hand stopped her sniggers percolating throughout the entire deserted office,

"Oh no; they saw the massage kit you left out?"

"Thank God no; I was just fast enough – Jules hit the shower and I threw everything behind the settee, it was the only thing big enough to fit the table behind", Shadow explained as Honey wiped imaginary sweat from her brow, miming how close his escape had been, "before I let them in. That was fine; it was when they brought back the company, early afternoon, that it could have gone wrong; remember Sonic?" Honey's eyes closed in concentration, the pictures he'd brought in flashing before her mind as she struggled to put names to faces but, in the end, she took a stab in the dark,

"The huge purple guy?"

"No, the blue hedgehog, looks a bit like me", Shadow explained, an 'oh' from Honey letting him know she had him in her minds eye now, "well he came up and just as I was passing the coffee round he noticed one of the legs of the table poking out from behind the sofa", her hands covered her face and even then he could still see her grin, hear the disguised glee in her muffled voice,

"Oh no, what happened?"

"Well, Sonic being Sonic and not able to keep his mouth shut if his life depended on it, he asks what it is and if he can get it out; I said yes", the way the blonde echidnas hands' shot down and her flabbergasted expression stood out like a sore thumb made the hedgehog chuckle before he filled in the final piece of the puzzle, "if he wanted to do the work on it".

"What, he's a masseur too?"

"No", Shadow's own grin, restrained for far too long, slid out over his face, "I told him it was the ironing board".

All throughout that day, even when her paper feeder jammed half a dozen times and her computer along with around half the office shorted out due to a sudden power surge, nothing could shift the resolute grin nor displace the giggles punctuating her speech from Honey's lips. Only once, when she saw Shadow gazing steadily into the remnants of his canteen meal, did it waver and even then it was restored back to full health within seconds, aided by Shadow's comment that he had wanted a tap, not a slapshot.

"But all the better to cure you with Shadow"; with that, she showed the hedgehog a clean pair of heels and made it back to her desk just before he could grab her, his volcanic grimace broken in a split-second as he ran his hand down the length of her plait and by a miracle declined to pull out the bobble at the end of it. _He'll be well again soon_; that was the certain thought echoing around the petite echidnas head as she reciprocated the gesture of rough affection with a nudge from her elbow, peeking at him from the corner of her eye; _I'll make sure of that, and if I can't I can always do what I did last time – from what he's been telling me no matter what Vector did to him Julie can make that look like a storm in a teacup!_

XXX

_How long has it been now – a week or more_; Julie ticked off the days on her computer calendar just before she shut the computer down for the rest of the day and realised that her first guess had been right; _ten days ago this all kicked off_. With a reminiscent sigh the ex-Legionnaire picked up her standard desk equipment and stashed it into her bag with a distinct lack of anything even vaguely resembling order and stood up straight, heading for the exit of her workplace and absent-mindedly waving silent goodbyes to the echidnas who remained behind, working as they were full-time. She repeated the manoeuvre with Yesa, the desk sergeant heeding his innate sense of intuition and deciding against attempting to draw the other echidna into a prolonged conversation, instead letting her walk out of the headquarters at her own, noticeably reduced pace. _Lost in a world of her own_; glancing down and straightening his badge, a gesture he now did out of habit whenever making his mind up about something and wanting to appear casual, the elder Mobian nodded to himself as he reached a inner conclusion; _not for the first time recently either, a couple of days last week she was like that – oh well_; with a last jerk of his shirt hem, he drew himself up in his seat, hiding his inner thoughts beneath a veneer of impassive observance; _I'm sure it'll work itself out in time, whatever it is that's bothering her_.

As had become usual for the past week, Julie's trip home seemed to drag on forever, the echidna lost like a blind man out in the snow as she tried desperately to recognise a landmark she recognised as familiar to her; as had also become usual though, in this endeavour she was repeatedly frustrated – for all the training and drills the Dark Legion had rigorously installed into her; even now after several months clean she would have betted on herself to field-strip a glow-gun in less than a minute; all her past experiences couldn't do anything to help her here and that, almost more than the problem itself, chafed at her nerves. Feeling unable to do something, a sky-ball spectator on the sidelines who might cheer as much as she wanted to but was unable to directly affect the outcome of a game, was alien and uncomfortable to her and she tried to break the deadlock as much as she was able to but for once all her thinking was getting her precisely nowhere. _But there's got to be something I can do – he did for me_; she refused to give in, resolutely planting her mental feet and not yielding ground to this fresh pressure, thinking of it as another challenge, like all the other ones life had thrown her way, to be bested and broken down; _it doesn't even have to be anything big, nothing he did was, just smoothing out the little things that might have tripped me up, like making my pack up or making sure I could get to work on time. But this_; Julie shook her head, mechanical dreadlock slashing the air in front of her eyes as though acting out her frustrations as she tapped the side of her head; _this is all in his mind and, much as I'd like to and he's let me as much as he can, I can't get in there, not properly. He's just trying to do it himself, like I did_; for a second she stopped and shivered, recalling through a veiled memory the depths of despair she'd almost drowned in after having attempted to brush off Xenin's assault on not only her freedom but her hope for the future as well; _but he can't, and I should know because I couldn't_.

That was it, the central bone of contention she had to break in order to get this mess sorted out once and for all; Shadow was, as far as she knew, acting as normal as it was possible for him to act and that in itself was a problem – despite his repeated promises that his unconscious dwelling on his memories wasn't hurting anyone, Julie was a little too worldly-wise to fall for it completely. More than once she'd seen the black hedgehog either sat or stood upright, not moving as he seemed to concentrate on a point far away in the distance, not registering what was going on around him until she did something to actively snap him out of his trance. As always he'd deny, no, actually that was wrong; he never denied what he was thinking about – what he did deny, and what was currently driving Julie around the bend trying to figure out a solution to, was that looking backwards was both painful and distracting for him. _I know Amy told him that he shouldn't live in his past and he's taken that on board_; once more in her mind she gave the pink hedgehog a subconscious vote of thanks for applying the skills she had towards making sure Shadow's torment remained minimal and setting him some real, achievable goals to aim at; _but remembering shouldn't just jump out at him like this. He needs to focus his energy on something else, something linked to his past but not actually a part of it, sort of like a nice reminder of Maria rather than just having visions of her…_; she refused to complete the sentence, instead lowering her eyes to the pavement in respect for the deceased. But she knew what she was working towards, that was a start; as she brought her head up she recognised that much had been gained and the knowledge rekindled her determination; she knew she could crack this if only a little spark of inspiration would flicker up out of somewhere, if something would just galvanise her thinking, if…

At that precise second something galvanised her thinking, and just for good measure her unsuspecting body got a proverbial kick in the pants to boot; adrenaline was sent flooding all through her system and she jumped upwards as the world suddenly went black, two pressure pads sealing over her eyes, blocking out the light. She clawed up at them, desperation lending her strength, only noticing the words whispered into her ears when their issuer restated them, this time with increased volume,

"Guess who?"

"Wha?" She took a breath, the voice completely unfamiliar to her but the sudden realisation that this was because someone was trying to disguise their speech deliberately reduced her panic somewhat; it had to be someone she knew, if it had been a Legion agent she'd be down by now, "oh for the love of Pete", she clapped a hand over her chest, trying to still her hammering heart as she panted down some air, the sudden snake of fear transformed into a fuse of slow-burning anger as she straightened and attempted to turn the tables on her pranker, "don't do that to me, umm", she re-ran the words, noticing the grating speech and feeling the heavy pressure around her eyes, the strength in the hands ruling out her first, instinctive guess, "Vector?"

"Not quite", as the disguise sloughed away from the answer and the restraining hands fell away from Julies' face the echidna blinked at the sudden light before turning to face her would-be assailant, knowing who it was before she even went face to face, "long time no see Jules".

"Likewise", the ex-Legionnaire agreed with the Chaotix, accepting Mighty's extended hand and shaking briefly before slapping her heavily-muscled shoulder, "don't scare me like that".

"Ah why not, it's fun; you wouldn't have said anything if Charmy had done it", the armadillo pointed out suddenly, neatly trumping Julies verbal ace only to see the echidna pull another trick out of her sleeve to thwart her improving wordplay,

"No but I expect that sort of thing from him, and Vector too – all that talk for the kid to grow up, as if he's the perfect role-model". The armadillo gave a rumble of laughter, falling into pace with her echidna friend as she answered,

"You don't know how right you are; all the leg-pulling they rib Esp with, not like it gets them very far mind", she pointed out with a shake of her helmeted head, the wall-crawler's attitude to life in general still grating on her optimistic personality even after so long in the team with him, "anyway, what's on your mind; saw you walking down the street looking like a wet weekend, figured something was up", she shrugged casually before Julie could translate her affronted glance into words. Left without a meaningful avenue to escape down, Julie had to let the truth come out,

"And you'd be right in that figuring", she sighed, glancing to the side of her to see Mighty give a slight nod of encouragement, "it's about Shadow".

"I thought as much", the armadillo took in her friends' assumption with her usual openness, not mentioning the obvious reason behind the black hedgehogs' uncommon behaviour as she already knew exactly what it was; _Sonic said she was important to him – guess he must have been right or it wouldn't have Shadow this shook up_; "anything you want to spill on me?"

"Apart from half a gallon of itching powder?" Mighty whipped around suddenly, even her laughing green eyes suddenly narrowed to razor edges as Julie smirked, "well you did just give me a nasty turn".

"Threaten me like that again and I'll give you an even nastier turn – the inside-out variety", the armadillo growled as she rubbed a hand over the back of her shell, memories of what had happened last time that taboo had been breached in tandem by Sonic and Cream still painfully evident as she couldn't stop herself squirming at the spectacle she must have made of herself; _break dancing Charmy called it – they were only lucky I didn't break one of them kicking out like I was_; she shook herself in time to see Julie look over at her with a curious expression and gave a wry smile, "sorry, just remembered last time someone used that old trick on me – not good", she shook her head with a final grimace, banishing the evil thoughts back into the pits of her mind, "not good at all".

"I can guess, but, anyway", Julie decided not to linger on the subject as much for Mighty's memory as her own sudden need to clear the air around her, "it's, er, it's weird Mighty".

"No change there then; after living with the Chaotix this long I sometimes reckon that if I had to go back to a normal life they'd end up carting me off somewhere for my own safety, never mind anyone else's"; the sudden comment brought the smile she'd been hoping to see, but far too quickly for the armadillo's liking the expression was soaked up, lost by the wistful regret resurfacing over Julie's face. With another second's pause the echidna must have tried to find the right words for what she wanted to say and, listening intently, Mighty tried to sort out the next logical step for her to take, trying to put herself in Julie's shoes as she did so,

"Well quite; if you looked up abnormal in the dictionary you'd probably get a picture of Charmy grinning back at you from the page – but as for Shadow, no this is different. Don't worry", Mighty cursed quietly as she realised her fear must have shown on her face for an instant, Julie raising her hand to stave off such worries, "he's not pulled that trick again, or, maybe he has slightly, I'm not sure how to describe it exactly".

"Just give it your best shot".

"It's like he gets lost; 'away from keyboard' as Kadu would say", Julie explained as well as she was able to, heeding Mighty's advice even if she wasn't fully aware of hearing it, "he just stares off into space, forgets what's going on around him – he says it's not a problem, actually no, he doesn't say that he says he's got to stop doing it somehow, but that's the thing, none of us know how to stop it".

"Even if you know what he's zoned out about", Mighty finished for her, bringing a finger to her lip in contemplation as she tried to wrack her brain around this puzzle, "you need to find a way to make him snap out of it?" To her equal parts shock and consternation, rather than agree Julie laughed,

"No, he's trying to do that on his own; what I've got to do is help him somehow, but I can't help him directly because I can't be on hand twenty-four seven – you have any idea how hard it is trying to trail someone who's customary speed rattles the sound barrier?"

"I can imagine; if he was anything like Sonic used to be he'd be a real handful, and that was back when the Smurf wasn't going as fast as he can now – no, don't ask me", the armadillo said in the nick of time, Julie having just drawn in the breath to ask the inevitable, "I'm under oath not to tell another living soul about anything that happened back in our dancing days; I let Rouge know his old nickname and that was bad enough when he copped hold of me afterwards. Never, ever ever again".

"Aww, that's nasty from both of you, but anyway", immediately the humour was replaced by puzzled worrying, Julie's eyes almost misting over as once more she dived headlong into her problem, probing for answers but feeling nothing more than mist coiling around her fingertips, "what I need is to find some way of, er, of focussing, if that is the right word, his attention on something else; I'm not stupid, I know he's thinking about Maria when he tails off mid-sentence and I completely understand why but it's not healthy for anyone concerned, least of all him".

"Basically he needs something to keep his mind occupied?" _Yeah, and that's the problem – basically, you're right_; Julie thought and her smile must have conveyed her unease to the armadillo as Mighty craned her neck backwards, increasing the distance between the pair of them as she caught the undercurrent of tension present; _it's when it gets complicated the situation deteriorates_;

"Not quite Mighty; as far as I can work out he needs something to do with his past that can occupy his mind now, make sure Maria doesn't keep popping out the closet – oh that was an awful thing to say".

"Maybe but it was true", Mighty stated firmly, quickly stepping in to stop Julie beating herself up over something that had been, as far as the armadillo was concerned, necessary to say, "he can't, and no-one else can for that matter, live with one foot down memory lane and one in the real world – you're right, Shadow's got to find a line to divide the two properly; as far as I can see from what you're telling me he's not quite figured out where that is yet. But look on the bright side", _that did it_; in a second Julie's hope had come back to the fore – she looked earnestly across as Mighty grinned, "at least he's trying this time around; he must have learnt something. Even men can get it right eventually". Holding a hand over her mouth as snorting noises ripped out of her nose, trying to set the rest of her laughter free from behind the recently-imposed organic prison, Julie touched knuckles with the Mobian opposite her, shared sisterhood allowing the a joke at the expense of the other half of the world's population,

"How very true; they can, as long as you give them a packet's worth of sticky notes in direction and gentle reminders. Anyway", standing up and stretching off a little, Julie felt a little more freedom around her, the shackles restraining her imagination slipped a little as a result of Mighty acting as a post for her to bounce ideas off, "I'll be off, got some more thinking to do; thanks for…"

"Hold it", though the metal on her forearms were as nerveless as the shell clamped around the back of her friend, Julie nevertheless knew Mighty had seized one of her arms when she failed to go anywhere despite her legs moving; turning around she saw the other Mobian smiling a at her in a knowing manner she wasn't sure she liked all that much, "you've figured out what Shadow needs and well done, but you neglected something in your earlier thinking that I, in all my infinite wisdom, managed to figure out for you". Julie raised an eyebrow at the same time as tried to free her arm from Mighty's 'gentle' grip; _gentle for her maybe, bloody crushing to everyone else_;

"And what secret, oh wise and sagacious oracle that you undoubtedly are, have you managed to deduce from the chaos of the cosmos?" Mighty's chest hitched in laughter at the ex-Legionnaire's joke though tellingly she never loosened her grip on Julie's arm,

"I figured out that you need to unwind, all that thinking you've been doing's tensed you up something chronic", she said simply; while Julie's eyes were crossed trying to figure out if her words were actually true she delivered the second half of her killer combination, "so you need to come with me".

_What for?_; it was as the question was forming on the echidnas lips that she finally saw the strap crossed over Mighty's left shoulder and, recognising it instantly as the strap attached to the armadillo's gym bag, rapidly altered the question she had primed,

"Okay, where are you off? I didn't think you used the gym?"

"I don't; I'm hitting the pool"; Julie took a step back in shock, or at least she would have done had Mighty let up her grip and set her arm free as she shook her head suddenly,

"What, but I er"; _actually I never asked, I just assumed – well she'll probably say I'm wrong but it's an easy mistake to make_; "I didn't think you could swim". Heaving a tolerant sigh the armadillo rolled her eyes and Julie knew, even before she opened her mouth, that she was about to be educated differently,

"Everyone says that; it's not easy I grant you, trying to float with this thing weighing you down like a ton of bricks", she jerked the thumb of her free hand over her shoulder, "but I can just about manage; anyway I'm not going there to swim, no", she assured the echidna's sceptical expression with a raised finger and crooked smile, "it's true. I found out a way to work on my speed; I stand in the shallow end, water about up to here", the flat of her hand this time was positioned across from her neck, the armadillo virtually feeling the water lapping around her neck as she envisioned what was going to be happening a half-hour or so from now, pistoning her hand back and forwards in a series of short, sharp jabs, "and then I just box, under the water; the drag sharpens me up, gets me moving my feet more and that's the area I need help with. I, in fact everyone knows how hard I can hit".

"Amen to that", Julie chuckled for a second, seeing in her minds eye Vector going through a series of airborne cartwheels as everyone spectating gasped in awe and shock, "how many loops did you knock Vec for last time we got together?"

"A couple; it was his own fault, he ducked right into it", Mighty retorted defensively before coming back on track, "but I need to get some snap into my punches; pointless throwing them if everyone's just going to dance around them. Fancy giving it a spin", she finished, eyeing Julie with a smile as sweet as she could make it, "always more fun with company after all. You in?"

It took a couple of seconds for the full absurdity of Mighty's suggestion to sink in; _I've just finished work, I've got no kit and even less money on me and to top it all off I can barely swim for toffee – how is this a good idea?_ Mind made up, Julie set about informing the armadillo of her choice with a whole plethora of reasons to support it,

"Ah, sorry, I'll have to duck out of this one".

"Why?" _You can not be serious?!_; Julie's mind boggled at the armadillo's seemingly innocuous question, and it boggled a second time at the openly questioning look on her friend's face,

"How much time have you got? Look, for a start I don't have a costume…"

"You can get one at the pool, I'll sub you the cash". Choked off in full flow by the unexpected riposte Julie stumbled before, after recollecting her bearings, she regrouped at her second line of defence,

"Okay, but look at me, at these", she indicated her augmented dreadlock with a flush of triumph, one that was completely wiped away a second later by Mighty's excellently-timed comment,

"I remember you telling Espio they were completely water-proof; at least that's what you said when he threatened to get through your defences with a bucket straight from the nearest spring. You weren't lying were you?"

"Er, no, of course not", Julie was forced to concede that point as well; her second line was now a smoking hole in the ground left in the wake of Mighty's seemingly relentless advance, "they are…"

"So what's the problem; come on", the Chaotix member smiled as she made to lead the way, "as Vector would say, time is money and we're running short on both. Face it"; _gotcha_; Mighty glowed with internal pride as she recognised that she'd hit the nail on the head in her timing, Julie's falling face letting her know she'd beaten her off the mental train she'd been about to board for another lame excuse, "anything you come up with I can match if not better – there's no way you're getting out of this".

"But, but", bereft of other options Julie was forced to use the last, most effective and most personally unpleasant weapon in her arsenal, a weapon that signalled she'd run out of all other options and handed her opponent a technical victory, "I just don't feel like it right now Mighty; another time yes, but right now I just don't want to go".

"Aha, even that I can better"; _what!_ Julie looked forwards with alarm, the cocky self-assurance in Mighty's tone a world removed from the dispirited acceptance she'd been expecting – she had only the briefest glimpse of something moving forwards fast, her arm was pulled on irresistibly and next second the world had tilted a full ninety degrees, "you can not want to go if I don't give you a choice in the matter; trust me you'll thank me when we get there".

"But, hey, put me down!" Julie's brain suddenly caught up with the outside world and her cheeks went red, a feat not entirely accomplished by vertigo alone as she brought her fist down on the shell covering the armadillo's back, "people are staring, this is extremely undignifying!"

"Like I care", Julie felt as well as heard the armadillo's chuckled response, "Mightys' first rule on the world – don't give a damn about what anyone random on the street thinks because chances are you'll never find out about their opinion anyway". Needing to snap back at her unforeseen captor Julie opened her mouth before engaging her brain,

"That's stupid it makes…"; _actually_; her mind put in suddenly, a little peevish at being ignored for so long; _it makes perfect sense_; "…umm…" Her stuttering wasn't unnoticed; a second later another rumble of laughter reached her ears,

"Armadillo logic; nothing beats it". Giving one last wriggle for freedom, Julie came to the unfortunate but unavoidable conclusion that she was going nowhere fast; all she could do was try to keep her cool as much as possible and hope this story didn't get back to the ears of a certain ebony-spined hedgehog,

"I'll be beating you the second you let me down for here Michelle", the ex-Legionnaire huffed, crossing her arms and glaring through a shop window at a dumbstruck passer-by following the strange procession as it walked past, "you got my word on that".

"Well if that's going to be your attitude you've got 'til we get to the pool to rethink it or they'll be the devil to pay". That comment tickled; even in the ludicrous position she found herself occupying Julie couldn't help but snicker as her imagination drew immediate parallels,

"What, after living with Shadow; I can take the worst Old Nick can throw at me"; _oh really?_; Mighty didn't answer, her eyes instead flicking to the side of her shoulder, seeing the back of Julie's legs in her peripheral vision as she trooped along; _well Shadow told me a thing or two about you Jules, but still, better the devil you know than the devil you don't I suppose!_

XXX

Shadow hadn't been lying either; that was the conclusion Mighty had reached by a couple of minutes later, still carrying the ex-Dark Legionnaire over one shoulder and recalling how the hedgehog had gone to great lengths to point out how stubborn his housemate was when it came to matters such as doing anything she didn't agree with; _and I thought he was joking at the time – now I know better_. Still, though the drain this extra burden represented on the armadillo's virtually indomitable constitution was negligible the fact of the matter was that she was right, Julie was wrong and wasn't admitting it and that was starting to rub the armadillo up the wrong way. Well, Mighty's sense of fair play decreed that her friend could have one last chance to give this futile struggle up but after that, the armadillo's eyes flicked sideways, it was time to break out the big guns to get this straightened out,

"Julie", the slight movement transmitted through her arms let her know the echidna had shifted position, probably to hear her better, "you've got to the count of three to give this up and agree to come with me off your own bat". _Typical_; as she rolled her eyes the armadillo was only grateful the ex-Legionnaire couldn't see her smile grow, watered as it was by Julie's semi-sarcastic laughter,

"You just keep right on counting shelly, I'm saying nothing". The armadillo drew in a sharp hiss before tutting; as far as she was concerned use of her hated nickname negated the need for one of the digits,

"Okay then; two?" Silence.

"Two and a half?" Still silence,

"Two and three quarters; last chance?" Mighty waited a second, then another; it was during the third second that she rolled her eyes and moved her hand across her chest, keeping Julie's legs tightly hugged into herself to make sure the echidna couldn't thrash around too much; _well, don't say I never gave you a chance – Shadow, I sure hope you weren't over-exaggerating this either_. With that, the Chaotix placed her fingertips on the back of her friend's thigh and dragged her hand lightly downwards.

_No, he wasn't exaggerating_; as the captive echidna gave a spontaneous jack-knife and a half-muffled bellow of laughter, the armadillo couldn't deny herself a slightly prideful grin as she repeated her offer,

"One last time Jules; say it or this gets really unpleasant, for you at least"; as she'd expected there were a couple of seconds silence before her friend could compose herself enough to reply in even a desperate, gasping tone,

"No fair; this has got to class as torture!"

"Maybe", the armadillo gave a shrug, flicking the back of one of her captives' knees with one finger, eliciting a growl from behind her shell before continuing, "but it's effective. Just say it; I'm right, you're wrong and we'll just hit the pool together, best of friends – what'dya reckon?"

"I reckon you're going tah-hahaha – quit it! Heeheehee!"

"Wrong answer", the Chaotix assured her smugly over her shoulder, not letting up in her attacks as she could just picture Julie's face as she attempted to choke off the source of her giggling, "I stop when you say it". With that, Mighty simply tuned out the words and half-baked ramblings from behind herself, listening out for only three words and resolving not to stop until they were issued from the echidna over her shoulder,

"I'ahaham, I'm gonna rihip your shelf ohohohohoff", considering what she could have done Mighty was being merciful for Julie in at least two respects; by going as slowly as she was the armadillo was ensuring that the echidna could both talk and wasn't laughing loudly enough to gather undue attention from people in the street around her; _or, at least_; she reconsidered that statement with a glance around, noticing how many Mobians in the street were giving the odd coupling a sideways glance at the very least;_ no more than we're getting at the minute anyway_; "and, an' use it, hahaha, use itheheheit to grow plants in if yohoohoohooo – STOP!"

It was the unexpectedness rather than the volume that ensured Mighty's compliance, the armadillo freezing in mid-stride at the unforeseen command, formerly tormenting hand dropping limp to her side as she tried to look over her shoulder and see why the echidna had shouted so.

"Put me down!" Such was the urgency that Mighty nearly obeyed before it suddenly twigged in her mind and she stopped, a sly note in her voice as she saw through the bluff,

"Ah, nice try but you haven't said it", the Chaotix spoke smugly, already prepared to relaunch her offensive, "so…" Suddenly she was having to clamp her arm around the echidnas' waist even harder to prevent her squirming free, Julie trying to wriggle down over the armadillo's shoulder back down to her feet even as she found her voice again, all traces of humour gone completely and steel in her tone, a desperate, almost frantic note in her voice that compelled obedience,

"No, put me down, this is serious. Please Mighty, I…" She never finished that sentence as suddenly there was ground beneath her feet once more, the armadillo bending her knees to set her friend back on solid ground, not at all liking this sudden development and wanting to get to the bottom of what was going on as soon as she was able to, speaking as she straightened up,

"Okay Jules, what's bitten…Julie?" The sudden sight of a patch of empty space in front of her only deepened the armadillo's confusion; it was only the registering of a sudden cold breeze on her left side that let her know where the ex-Legionnaire had run off to, and run was quite the optimal word here. The speed at which Julie hammered across the road, barely sparing a glance to check for oncoming traffic, almost made Mighty's jaw drop, her confusion only deepening as she flicked her eyes up to see the name of the store her friend had hared off into. _What on Earth has she seen in there?_; myriad possibilities, each one making even less sense than the previous, snaked through her mind as she squinted across the road, shuffling back along the street she'd carried Julie down to get a better look at what was going on in the store. She had just enough time to see the augmented echidna yammer a couple of words over her shoulder at the assistant behind the till before virtually throwing herself out the doorway, looking left and right for something; Mighty quailed as those chameleonic eyes came to rest on her and suddenly dilated, allowing the sudden determination to rear up behind them, show itself plainly and a force on that scale managed to rattle even someone as steadfast as the armadillo. Tearing across the road again, the echidna somehow came to a stop just in front of her friend and managed to gasp,

"How much money have you got on you I need forty and I've only got twenty five I can pay you back".

"Err", more for an excuse to look down and drop her gaze from the sudden intensity in the echidna's face Mighty fumbled for her gym bag, "hang on I'll check". She knew better than to ask what she was shelling out towards, such questions would be lost on the echidna before her in this new and manic state; instead she simply ruffled through the folds of her private wallet and quickly plucked out a twenty crest note. She doubted it was in her hand more than a second before it was suddenly snatched away, Julie once more haring into the same store as before and, Mighty never had time to see which one it was as she pulled something off the window display, the thing that must have grabbed her undivided attention as it had; no more than a minute later the shop bell rang a fourth time and Julie was in front of her once more, breath coming in fits and starts even if she virtually glowed with inner triumph, the sizable bag dangling from one hand clasped as though it was her grip on life itself,

"Here", she thrust some change forwards, Mighty accepting the gift gingerly as her friend continued, a little less frantic than before but still with the general demeanour of someone who suddenly wants to be somewhere else other than where they are now at extremely short notice, "sorry it's not everything but I'll square up next time I see you".

"No problem", the armadillo assured her, realising that it would be a wasted effort to try and pin the echidna down into giving her a full explanation and instead resolving to do something about this later, "I take it you're not coming then?"

"No, sorry but this is important Michelle"; _must be_; the very fact that Julie had called her by her full name immediately sent a couple of alarm bells ringing in the armadillo's ears, "I've got to get home – I'll catch up with you another time, maybe next week, that okay?" Banishing her confusion for the moment, Mighty stuck on a cheerful smile and nodded down the road the way they'd come earlier,

"That's fine; now, go on, scoot"; Julie needed no second bidding – no sooner were the words out of her mouth than Mighty was once more watching her friend take off, running like the wind with the bag in her hand flying out behind her. Giving a low whistle at her passing Mighty shook her head before turning back around the way she'd originally been going – however, as was obvious by the next turning she took, her new course taking her directly away from the Echidnopolis swimming pool, over the past three or so minutes the armadillo's direction had changed completely.

XXX

A short time later and with the granddaddy of all stitches thumping away merrily in her side, Julie threw herself over the threshold of her shared apartment, storming into the kitchen, the fridge not even spared a glance as she yanked out a seat for herself and flumped down, blood thundering in her legs as she took a moment out to stretch them off; even as excited as she was with her sudden purchase she wasn't going to forget the pain a sudden cramp could send right when she didn't need it. _Especially with this_; reminded by the sudden thought, Julie carefully caught her breath and reached down to the side of her, one hand sliding into the bag that contained what must have been the single most important item she'd ever brought in her life; _I really owe Mighty for this one – if she hadn't been tickling me I wouldn't have reared up and seen this_. With that and an exhaled sigh, she slowly gripped the box within the bag and drew it up onto the table in front of her, grateful for her augmentations that she didn't have to use both hands to handle the heavy package. Placing it down in front of her, the echidna took a long look at her purchase; noticing the size of the container itself and the satisfying rattling sounds that emanated from deep within she gave a nod; it certainly looked like a long and complicated procedure that would keep Shadow wrapped up for ages, but at the same time she was certain he'd keep his mind on this subject. The final nod that put the matter beyond doubt was the label at the bottom left corner of the box; 'ages 12 and upwards' and 'choking hazard – keep out of reach of children'; _perfect – this really is just what I was after_; she ran a thumb over the picture on the front of the box, besmirching the illustration of the finished piece with ruffled light from the rippled plastic; _something connected to his past but not part of it – in fact this is better, it's linked to Maria directly. He'll really get into this I'm sure of it – as long as I'm careful and make sure he doesn't spend his every waking moment on this, it should, or at least I hope it'll keep his mind from wandering backwards…oh_.

Lost in her thoughts, Julie only noticed that the repeated movements of her thumb over the front of the box had actually ripped the plastic protection over it when a filament of the sundered translucent material feathered over her glove and onto her fur; pausing for a moment, the ex-Legionnaire licked her lips suddenly before heeding a sudden whim and tearing the rest of the plastic loose, stuffing it quickly into the bag she'd transported her prize home in and out of her mind – all that mattered was what was inside the box. As her fingers took a very delicate hold at the sides of the box there was another fractional pause as she belatedly remembered who she'd originally brought this gift for, but it was fleeting and nothing more; Shadow of all people was definitely easy-going enough to not mind her having a peek. _Whoa_; as the kitchen light illuminated the pieces of the puzzle before her Julie felt her eyes widen; this thing was going to take him longer than even her most optimistic guessing – she barely believed what she was seeing as she picked up one of the numerous tins contained within the cardboard-reinforced areas of the box and read the label with incredulous eyes; _you even get varnish with this thing! And you can make a carry-case for it…_

XXX

_Progress report – a definite improvement on yesterday_; as was becoming customary as he walked up the flight of stairs to his apartment, Shadow filed a daily note in his mental diary of the past day, comparing it to the previous week at work and actually finding himself slightly and pleasantly surprised; _only went into space about three times and only in front of a customer once – definitely encouraging, but nothing I can't improve on tomorrow_. As always his mental dressing-down ended on that challenging note, a dare to himself to make sure he could and would give it his all to make sure that tomorrow he wouldn't slip off backwards into his memory – even without Amy's words of council he was smart enough to know that he couldn't have his recently-rediscovered memories, trauma and triumph both, swamp his present and drag his attention away from the matters at hand. It was tempting though; he couldn't deny that yes, after so long separated from it he truly did want nothing more than to relive what he had come to perceive as his past life over and over again and once or twice he did fall into the trap, caught up in a daydream he didn't really want to end.

_But I've got to – Amy was right_; dredging his consciousness back to the sight in front of him as he crested the last of the stairs before him, the ebon hedgehog shook his head and once more, as he had countless times when he'd come close to letting his grip on the present slip, restated his goal; _I can not live in my past – it's a good thing to have yes, but if I keep on the way I'm going it might soon be the only thing I've got_. The last part wasn't strictly true but it was enough to keep him on his toes as far as wandering was concerned; the two women who were in his life most often were on hand often enough to snap him out of his trances and, to his great relief, such moments seemed to be getting slightly rarer as he kept himself active – now more than ever he was grateful he'd not taken up the offer of a grievance holiday as he felt certain that a couple of days alone in his apartment when Julie had been working would have been a lot worse for him than the situation he was in. _Still, stay alert and I'll have this licked pretty soon – Julie must have felt like this after the goon squad gave her a scare and she never backed down_; that much was certainly true and as powerful an incentive as anything else he could come up with – squaring his shoulders the hedgehog twisted the door handle and stepped inside his hallway; he would have given his customary greeting had not the sudden flurry of language from the kitchen caught his ears and made him raise his eyebrows.

"Julie", at her name the language stopped, all was quiet for a second before a second noise took over, a quick and hurried scuffling noise that did nothing to assuage Shadow's sudden suspicions; in fact if anything it did rather the opposite, "everything okay?"

"Err, yeah yeah, we're all fine here, just, um, just give us a sec?" _Really – nah, sorry_; despite his normal respect for other peoples' personal space, there was a certain threshold of curiosity he could tolerate before having to investigate and the sudden guilt in Julie's voice more than crossed it; _okay, let's see what you're up to_; with such a thought in his mind the hedgehog pushed open the kitchen door to see the scene of chaos before him.

For a second he couldn't make sense of what he was seeing; the only thing that provided a point of stability to work from was Julie-Su herself, but even then, why was she suddenly looking so guilty? And more to the point, why did his kitchen table look like a workshop of some kind, covered in what looked to be various pieces of wood and tins containing Heaven-alone-knew-what?

"Jules, what's all this? Hey", he answered, or at least he thought he answered his own question as he picked up one of the thin slats of wood nearest to him and noticed the outlines of wooden pieces within it, ready to be pushed through when needed, "I never knew you were into air-fix and things like that".

"Well, that's, er, that's the thing", his housemate wheedled, seemingly not able to look directly at him as she fiddled her hands in her lap, trying to speak without moving her lips, "this, ah, this isn't for me Shadow". As she indicated the assembled pieces piled higgledy-piggledy on the table the hedgehog felt only confusion,

"What? But I'm no good at…" He found his question muted as something was pushed gently but insistently towards him; glancing down as he took it, the hedgehog found himself regarding the box the kit must have come in – he had a second to take in what this random scattering of pieces could eventually combine itself into before Julie's voice made him glance up; now she was looking at him, directly at him as the next words came at him without pause, without a doubt that they were the right ones for him to hear,

"You promised you'd go sailing one day Shadow", his eyes and mouth both fell open as Julie stood up, her finger spearing towards the top of the box now held limply in his hands, "and to do that, you'll need a ship of your own".

Almost without his realising the picture was held aloft before his eyes once more by his shaking hand and this time he could absorb it; now he realised what it was every detail sank in deep and then deeper; the hand-stitched sails hung down from the ornately decorated masts, the forecastle of the proud vessel crowned by a figurehead that pointed out towards the horizon as the gun decks; _no, no guns – Maria would never have used weapons of any sort_; he would have to see if there was a way to remove the cannons, create a peaceful ship of passage rather than an armoured frigate from this kit. But it was all there; this was real, this was something he had and could affect; history was history and nothing he could feasibly do was ever going to change that but this was happening in the here and now; _and who made it happen?_ Without really realising it the box had slipped from his hands, meaningless now he could understand what was meant to happen next, what he could do with the raw materials provided for him by the Mobian in front of him, staring at the fallen box almost speechless. She looked up in time for him to reach forwards; she might have struggled at his suddenly forceful grip but he didn't care as he pulled forwards; nothing was going to stop this. She looked up into his face; he had the briefest instant to wonder why she was looking so suddenly startled before the link was established and he felt all those concerns simply fade away.

XXX

_He dropped it_; Julie felt the whole world shrink into the distance, the barely audible boom of the cardboard sounding like the death-knell of reality as with agonising slowness the container fell to the floor, rocked and then came to a steady halt; _he, he doesn't like it – oh no, what the hell have I done?!_ The world started to spin slowly in her vision, the scene almost greying out until a sudden contact stopped it; she glanced down, going on instincts and seeking to escape the sudden grip on her arms, struggling against the sudden pull but unable to get anything meaningful put together as a resistance; almost frantic to be away, avoid hearing Shadow's forthcoming scream of rage Julie dared to glance up, try and see a way past him; the sudden contact on her lips was electrifying, divorcing her from reality once more. She barely recalled anything past that instant; a vague puppeteer had control of her body now and she was lost within a blanket of bliss where fear, worry and all other forms of panic were denied entry. Her extremities moved but she barely recognised the movements, trusting to instinct to get them right and feeling only the results of such trust; there was warmth at her front, slight breathing at her ear as she realised that he must have broken their kiss at some point, she couldn't remember when and didn't care – as long as he was close to her like this, it didn't matter, nothing much really did. _Whatever we went through to get here, no matter how much that might have hurt, it was worth it_; cocooned within a nirvana deeper and more open than even the paradise his hands had induced upon her earlier, Julie recognised only that truth and accepted it gladly, all her normal resistance to such emotions forgotten; _to get to where we are now, where I am_; her fingers flexed, she must have somehow entwined her hands with his as she felt similar pulses of feeling shoot like lightning up her arm; _anything's worth it_.

Sometime later, she couldn't be any more specific as she'd lost track of time the same way she'd lost track of pretty much everything else, a voice breathed into her ear,

"I owe you one". Without thinking about it, she knew what her answer had to be; rolling slightly in their joint embrace Julie turned her head to reply,

"No you don't", her voice was little more than a murmur but it didn't matter, he'd hear her, "I never paid you back the eighty I owed you". _Brrr!_; it was only when she recognised that there was sweat drenching the front of her shirt that the echidna had some inkling of how long she and Shadow had been stood together as they had – now he'd taken a step back the sudden gust of freezing air around her chest and midriff seemed to snap her out of the trance she'd been in as he looked her up and down, frowning,

"Julie this is about more than money", he began, the echidna forcing herself to keep a straight face as he went on, pointing at the pieces scattered all over the table as he tried to keep his thought coherent, "I…I never thought…sailing…"

"I know Shadow; I never thought about it either until I bumped into Mighty earlier, and you're right this isn't about money", the ex-Legionnaire explained as best she could whilst also indicating her most recent purchase, "remember how you picked me up when you did; after Knuckles and then after the Legion went for me? This is just like that", reaching forwards she clasped his hands in hers, bringing them forwards as she smiled, suddenly shy and not quite able to meet eyes with him, "it's just something to keep your mind clear, let you get some rest from whatever's going on in your head; you went into the Legion's den for the answers I needed, just when I needed them; this", she pointed at the table once more, "this is just the same for you".

"And, and unlike me", his smile was stained with a touch of shame, "you were actually on hand to see what happened when the news was delivered properly". At the sudden reminder Julie laughed, all at once surprised that she could laugh at such previously damning memories and merely accepting that she could laugh at them,

"Yeah, and thank the spirits it went as well as I hoped", she shrugged as Shadow eased one of his hands free of her grip, trailing it down the side of her face and cupping her cheek delicately; _now this I could get used to_; not able to hold in a shiver of pleasure from the caress the echidna was barely able to finish her sentence, "glad you appreciate it". She turned the side of her face further into his palm, loving the feel of his gloved fingers around the back of her head and neck; his grip shifted slightly, a little firmer and she opened her eyes a crack; _oh, that's what you're after_; a grin tugged the corners of her lips as she saw Shadow's face approaching hers once more, lips puckered and after a fractional pause she leaned in to greet him reciprocally; _well, I guess I can oblige, just this once…or more if this keeps up…_

XXX

It was as she drew back, having once more lost all sense of time and most of her sense of reality, that Julie's dreamy eyes flicked upwards lackadaisically and caught sight of the clock; the sudden vision of time ticking away correlated with the reminder of what day it was she gasped, having to use one of her hands to push Shadow away slightly, the hedgehog slightly misreading her signals and taking her surprise as another invitation.

"No, Shadow", the sudden urgency penetrated his haze of euphoria; he shook his head and a second later followed her finger to the clock face, "look at the time; you're going to be late!"

"Late for…oh God it's Monday! But…" The name of the day was muffled as his hand clapped over his mouth; if he didn't get a quite serious move on Honey and Micah were going to be stood around in the dark and cold for far too long for him to be comfortable; _but, then again_; his thought echoed the movement of his eyes and mouth, straying to the puzzle pieces;_ should I really be going with this here now?_ For a second Shadow felt torn between conflicting desires, one to do right by the past and the other to do right by the present – the two wrestled in his mind for a second before he came to the sudden realisation; he could virtually hear the reassuring, soft and confident, always confident tone in Amy's voice as she spoke to him once more and he finally understood what she'd meant; _dwell on the past don't live in it – I can take my time on this ship, make sure I get it right because it doesn't matter how long I take, but if I keep my friends waiting too long I might lose them altogether – Amy Rose, one day after you've gotten that piece of paper you need the university to give you, you and Sonic are going to be rich, rich Mobians with a talent like yours._

"No, nonono", he waved a finger at the wooden equipment on the table, the smile broadening on his face as he saw Julie prick her ears at his mental decision, "I'll come back to you; Julie, assuming you can keep your cavern of a stomach at bay for long enough I'll get a takeout for us on the way back, that okay?"

"An insult and a tempting offer in the same sentence", the echidna chuckled for a second as she crossed her arms, shaking her head before giving him the nod, "I can wait; after all, you need to keep learning your trade to keep me sweet; I can get hold of Sonic at a moment's notice don't forget".

"As if I would", her housemate slimed obsequiously, his over-the-top crawling almost making her laugh again before he glanced at the time once more and got ready to move out, "okay, I've got to split; would you mind making a start if you could?" _Okay, time for me to…huh?_;

"Shadow, I", it was the tone of the sudden query rather than the actual question that gave him pause and made him look around again, see Julie reach for the nearest chair for support as some question tore at her for a moment, "I can't do this, it's yours".

"Never stopped you earlier did it", he riposted with lightning swiftness before, seeing the quick pang of hurt in her eyes, he relented a touch and softened his voice, "come on Jules, this is me we're talking about; I'm going to need all the help I can get to make sure I get this right without it taking until the island sinks back into the sea. And anyway, aren't I talking to the girl who could field-strip a glow-gun and put it back together inside of two minutes?" _Bull's-eye_; the reminder made her eyes flash again, though this time in acceptance of the challenge rather than hurt as she smirked back at him,

"You bet you are; I was doing puzzles like these at the age everyone else thought a kid putting two blocks on top of each other made him Einstein".

"Right", the hedgehog drawled in obvious disbelief before pointing to the clock once more, his meaning obvious, "well, see you later tonight and I'll bring dinner".

"You better, unless you want to find out where the word man-eater was derived from first-hand". As she'd expected with time pressing even his powers of super-speed uncomfortably the hedgehog didn't reply, merely disappearing down into the hallway – with the slam of the front door she realised she was alone inside the apartment once more, and it felt glorious.

XXX

Some time later, having finally gotten over repeating the events that had just occurred over and over again in her mind, wiped a soppy grin off her lips, blinked the faraway look from her vision and located the instruction manual of the ship-building kit in front of her, Julie-Su found herself in the far-from-ideal position of having to work very, very slowly to make sure she could get the bottom of the ship done first and, more importantly, done right. Having read with some surprise that, if built correctly and painted with the varnish supplied liberally enough, the finished piece would be completely water-tight and able to actually float in a still pond, the ex-Legionnaire was utterly convicted to the goal of making sure that she followed the instructions to the absolute letter and then some; though it said in the virtually unreadable small print accompanying the kit that the ribs making up the bottom of the vessel should just slot easily into the main spine running along the bottom, she was adding a couple of spots of glue to the tip of each rib just to be on the extra-safe side. _This should give them a bit more stability_; her internal reasoning was sound as she nodded in triumph, reducing the contact between her hands and the most recent rib she'd constructed marginally over an extended period of time, wary for any movement, the slightest hint of a wobble that might have indicated an improper setting of the rib within the spine of the ship's bottom; _especially as all the decks are going to be braced up on this – right, job's a good one on this one – for once you got something right Xenin_.

Just for the very faintest second Julie had a cause to direct some very ill-mannered praise towards her former drill-sergeant and his exacting need for perfection in all things; despite her best efforts some of his drive to be the best or, in this case, do the best job possible, must have rubbed off on her and now Shadow was going to reap the reward. _Maria will too, spirits accept her_; once more Julie nodded in deference to the memory of the deceased before looking down for the next spur she had to use, locating the rib labelled 4 from the wooden tablet in front of her and carefully easing it free of the surrounding material. Gently she took up the craft knife supplied with the kit, the sharp edge very carefully paring away the slivers of residue left from the extraction of the wooden rib as Julie wielded it with apt dexterity and even greater concentration. Satisfied all was well in this respect, the augmented echidna set the knife down and reached for the tube of wood glue, twisting the cap free with a couple of fingers at the same time as invert the rib itself, the tip cleaned up ready for the glue to make sure it would never move once she'd finished this next stage of construction. _Okay, carefully does it – if this is anything like the stuff old Hapi let you use it'll glue fingers together just as well as it will wood_; the memory of her at least half-insane former crafts teacher made Julie smile, remembering fondly his erratically-functioning bionic eye that half his students swore could actually see even when it was switched off as well as the odd clunking noise his metal leg always made whenever it hit the floor; _one of the tools he kept on his belt always bumping into it – he never took that belt off – come on now, concentrate_. Mnemonic diversion complete if entertaining, Julie narrowed her eyes as she let the tip of the glue tube touch the wood of the rib, alert for the very slightest hint of any clear liquid leaking from the end of it; only a drop would be needed, more than that risked rendering the rib completely inflexible and that could spell disaster when it came to installing the decks themselves.

Of course, irony dictated the exact series of events that happened next; Julie could have reacted to the sudden stimulus at any time except the one it actually occurred in. Having just inserted the newly-glued rib into the spine she had to keep the two pieces of wood held together tightly for a few minutes, give the glue time to get a decent grip before she could let it go; for this she needed both hands and a few minutes stood perfectly still so, of course, at the exact moment she'd started holding them together, the knock at the door came.

XXX

_Ah, now this is awkward_; she spared enough time for a glance around her surroundings and just as quickly shook her head, recognising that there was just no way she could be quick enough to brace the hardening rib against anything before it shifted minutely in its position, destroying the integrity of the ship's base. As that was the case, the echidna resorted to the only option she had left,

"Come in, it's open"; she had to hope her call was loud enough to get through the front door, but the sudden succession of noises from the end of the hallway assuaged her concerns; _wonder who…_;

"Hey Jules"; _Charmy?_; now that was unexpected – if anyone, Julie had been expecting Kadu to appear as he sometimes did, asking to borrow some mundane item or other such as a hammer or a saucepan to complete a job he needed doing – the sound of the buzz-boy's voice threw her for a bit of loop in that regard, "where are you?"

"Kitchen" was her curt reply; as she'd expected the bee appeared in the doorway a couple of seconds later; even he couldn't help but be struck by the scene in front of him for a couple of seconds as Julie tried to give a wistful smile at the same time as not move her hands.

"Wow", the single word from his awed senses was the only reaction Charmy was able to come up with at first; however, his natural insectile curiosity banished rapidly threw off such hindrances to finding out what was going on and he quickly pulled out a chair opposite the echidna, sitting down and reaching for a couple of pieces of wood, "neat; is this what you brought that meant you had to get away from Mighty?"

That was unexpected and the time it took Julie to process how Charmy had known what had happened earlier in the day explained the time lag between her hearing the question and her answering it,

"Er, yeah, it is"; _of course, they're team-mates remember – they share a house so it's probably old news to all of them by now_; "listen, I take it that's why you're here, to find out?"

"You got it", the bee winked over at her and again she fought to keep her face straight in the face of an assault from his infective charisma, "Mighty's sense of direction being what it is, i.e. non-existent, she sent me over to check everything was okay, so yeah that's one reason I'm here". Pursing her lips at the same time as start to disengage her hands from the two planks of wood she currently held, Julie saw the trap he was setting her up for and moved deftly to avoid it,

"Let me guess; the other reason you're here is to see me?"

"That's one of them I'll admit"; _must have seen that coming – oh well, plenty of ideas left where that one came from_; as he gave a mental shrug at Julie's quick evasion from his preliminary word's work, his eye was caught by something in the box and, inquisitive as always, where his eye strayed his fingers were quick to follow, "hey – here's goodly gear; a sail, a sail". He carefully stretched the thin material as Julie flexed her fists, shaking her head at his quote and holding her hand out for it,

"Well not quite", the bee glanced up curious, casually folding the square of cotton up like a handkerchief before passing it back to here, "as of now it's a napkin but it'll magically transform itself into a sail when we get the masts up and running".

"Now that'll be something to see", Charmy agreed as he picked the top of the packaging up off the floor and took an eyeful of what the completed work would look like, "wow, this is a beast and no mistake; no wonder you wanted to get it started so quick". _What did I say there?_; though he'd hoped to one day be Vector's equal in the field of reading people Charmy knew that it was unlikely to ever happen fully; he knew he wore his heart on his sleeve most of the time and just couldn't keep his face straight the way the crocodile could. Julie must have seen the look of open questioning on his face – she was moving to answer the query he hadn't even asked, though there was something of a contrite note in her voice as she did so, the explanation not flowing as well as it should have done to an accomplished talker such as the ex-Legionnaire,

"Well, sort of; listen, whatever else you do tonight do not forget to tell Mighty I'm sorry for sprinting out on her like that and I meant what I said; I'll catch up with her next week sometime. But, thing is Charm, I, er, I didn't really get this for me, if you see where I'm going?"

"You got this for Shadow?" His exclamation was equal parts awe and calculation; she could virtually see the thought he was putting into trying to deduce the reasons behind her actions but, in the end, not even his sharp little mind could quite break the deadlock, "why; not wanting to sound rude but I didn't think this was quite his cup of tea, or, coffee in his case; black, no sugar right?"

"Yep, that's his order alright", Julie confirmed flippantly before turning more serious, "but the reason, well it's, it's complicated; you know…he had that…nightmare, a little while ago?"

As she'd expected even Charmy's face fell as he realised exactly what she was talking about; no-one even marginally connected with the black hedgehog she was shacked up with could have possibly not understood the core of chill behind her solitary words,

"Yeah, I know what you mean". Even his voice seemed to have had the light and laughter drained out of it, the grimness of such an occurrence still tangible for the pair of them. But Julie steeled herself; she had to push on regardless through this rough territory to reach the verdant pastures beyond,

"I know it's not pleasant, but Shadow can't forget about it – he's trying to live with it, the way Amy suggested he should, but it's not been easy".

"I can imagine; how have you been bearing up?" His sudden question caught her off-guard and touched her quite deeply – sometimes she felt she was so concerned with how Shadow was coping that she forgot to look after herself and figure out how she was picking up the pieces, "you know where we are if you need to spit some bricks out at someone?"

"I know and I'm grateful"; _good_; the sight of her re-emergent, if slightly rueful, grin was enough to give the bee cheer once more as he watched on, "but I've been coping, and now thanks to this", her grin suddenly bloomed, rising to a glorious crescendo as she triumphantly waved a hand over her recent purchase, "so will he. That was part of his memory you see; he and Maria said they'd go sailing one day…"

"…And this is the boat", Charmy finished for her, working out where she was going easily and giving his own grin, "genius, absolute genius Jules".

"Thanks, but you should have seen his face when I told him what it was for"; _actually, funny you should mention that_; as he observed the echidna in front of him shiver in rapturous bliss Charmy's smile twisted a touch; _going off the pictures you've given me I think I can get a pretty shrewd idea what happened. Hmmm…_;

"Jules?"

"Hmm"; so wrapped up in her own very recent history the echidna was bereft of all her usual danger senses and so never saw the barb in the bee's innocuous opening first line,

"Talking of Shadow", the pause he left was absolutely crucial; just as she was starting to knit her brow he moved in for the killing blow, "have you made out with him yet?"

As he'd expected the explosion came but he forced himself to ride it out, not dropping his eyes from echidna's face; the second he saw past her fur once more he knew the answer to his own question and all the frenzied blustering in the world wasn't going to alter his conclusion,

"Wah; are you…no I…"

"And that", he clapped his hands in victory, choking off her tirade before she could put any thought into her words, "is another textbook case of echidean responses to embarrassment; Knuckles is just the same when we give him a ribbing about the juicy bits of his marriage. Oh come on", he chuckled as Julie let her face fall forwards, dreadlocks forming a semi-steel barrier between her magenta cheeks and the rest of the world, "if you weren't into each other that much one or other of you'd have moved out a long time ago, 'specially from a flat with only one bedroom in it". Julie didn't respond; there wasn't any way on this earth or any other she would have been able to, squirming as she was to try and avoid the visions dancing in her head about what had gone on not an hour ago, the high emotions that had swept right through her suddenly unearthed excruciatingly by the insect before her and certain, just so certain that he was going to make the absolute most of this opportunity. Dimly aware of his voice once more the echidna forced her reeling mind to come back forwards slightly, tune into his voice if only to distance herself from the cloying certainty that if the bee let his mouth run away with him to a couple of other Mobians about this, then what she was feeling now was going to be only the precursor of what was to come,

"Well, tempting as it is for me and you've got no idea how hard I'm having to try not ask", that at least was the truth; despite the grin on his face there was a definite look of effort in Charmy's expression as he carried on, the words slightly hurried as if in a rush to get them out, "I'm not going to go fishing for specifics; but it's just too, too…cute".

"Cute", the echidna finally managed to gasp, inhaling for the first time in what felt like fifteen minutes; nodding at what he took for assent the bee carried on before she could reinforce her one-word beachhead,

"Yeah; I mean it was obvious really – he went after the Legion for you and you took him back in after he made that horrendous cock-up and ended up levelled with Vector, something had to be going down pretty soon. Ohh I'm so happy; now what's it worth I don't tell the rest of them? Or Rouge – I bet batgirl would…"

"You so much as dare and I'll throw you off this damn island Charmy Bee", Julie glowered up at him with gritted teeth, adding with icy venom in her voice as the riposte was on the tip of his tongue, "after I've ripped your wings off and made you eat them that is". _Ouch_; confident as he usually was in a slanging match Charmy couldn't quite suppress the ripple of unease that slid through him at those words; at the minute Julie had the look of someone who would literally carry out that threat if he didn't behave himself, and looked like she was more than capable of doing it too; _right then, forget the teasing, right into the good stuff_;

"Okay point made", the insect said easily, hoping to diffuse her internal time-bomb before giving the detonator another little tweak, "well, now that we've ascertained your first red-hot smooch is out the way…"

"Second"; Julie had no idea why she growled that word out at him but some part of her simply demanded that Charmy couldn't have it all his own way – she had to prove he was wrong in one small regard irrespective of the new shame such an admission would doubtless heap upon her. To her surprise however, though the smirk and a couple of peeps of laughter were irrepressible, Charmy managed to avoid giving a quip or comment at the news, merely taking a second to recompose himself before carrying on,

"Well, even more so now we're actually a little behind schedule as it were", his grin was the only thing that stayed confident about him as Julie growled and started to slowly crack her fingers together, "it's my duty as a friend and confidante to invite you pair out to your first engagement as an official couple; interested?"

Whatever Julie had been expecting to hear that hadn't been it; of that Charmy was one hundred and ten percent certain. To his immense relief it also seemed that he'd been correct in that assumption as the echidna blinked a couple of times in confusion, anger temporarily waylaid by this new and faintly intriguing idea as it swirled around in her mind; _a date? What's he on about this time?_;

"Er, I, er, well, what did you have in mind? Anyway", a certain amount of fire was injected back into her tone, hoping to burn back his advances before he could probe too deeply, "we've been out together before now; you should know, you've been there with us a few times". Charmy nodded acceptingly before raising and weaving a finger slightly,

"Ah, that's as maybe, but you've not been out to a function like this before, and before you say anything about how wonderful I am in arranging this save it for Mighty; she sorted this out, not me".

"What; when?"

"Forget it, that doesn't matter", the bee reminded her forcefully but not unkindly, reminding himself that she was new this whole 'going out with someone other than a friend' thing, "what does matter is that a fortnight before jolly ol' St Nick does his rounds, there's going to be a formal dinner taking place with a couple of seats left unfilled, unless of course you and Shadow can make yourselves available?"

"A formal dinner; you mean a real shirt-and-tie job; heh", the ex-Legionnaire chuckled for a second, "never been to anything like that before; in fact never been to anything other than a traditional Legion shin-dig".

"Let me guess", Charmy broke in on her recollections with a bit of a smile, "for shin-dig read booze-up?"

"Most of the time, but getting back to this, offer of yours", Julie moved into a more business-like persona as she steepled her fingers, regarding the insect before her with a calculating gaze, "who's throwing a bash like this, and who else have they invited?"

"It's being held by Lara and Wyn; Knuckles' family", the bee extrapolated as Julie drew a blank look for a second before giving a gasp of recollection, "yeah, they've got something to say and I'll bet you any money it's to do with the bundle of joy they've got in the pipeline; Lara's BTS you know?"

"BTS?" Julie hadn't heard of that one; smiling, Charmy ghosted his hands over his stomach to give the impression of a bump,

"Beginning To Show – Vector, not me", he was quick to point out as Julie tried to look sternly disapproving of the comment at the same time as wrestle down a smile, "but anyhow, let's see", he started to tick off names on his fingers, "there's both of them, obviously, Knuckles and Rouge both signed up of course, Mighty, Esp – yes, we finally managed to coax him out of hiding for this", he sighed, shaking his head as he recalled the struggled they'd had to sign up the chameleon to the even this modicum of an evening out without resorting to fisticuffs or, worse from the wall-crawler's point of view, a quick dip in an ice bath, "Vector, me; oh, and you'll get to see Mighty's squeeze if you show up – Tails is bringing him up, he's been invited as well, him and 'one other'. Want to take a bet who he invites?"

"No because I've got the same person in mind you have", the echidna grinned before giving a nod, making up her mind, "sure, you can count on us to show up; tell Lara we're grateful for the invite".

"Sure, I'll let her know", the bee assured her before leaning forwards, inspecting the ship once more, "what are you up to now?" Carefully rotating the pieces she'd made up so far, the ex-Legionnaire allowed him to inspect the work she'd done so far, explaining as she pointed out some of the details,

"See these ribs here? Well they should just slot into place, but the instructions say this thing'll actually float if it's made and varnished up right", Charmy raised an eyebrow that this; _it'll actually do that – I thought it was just a display piece_; "so I'm gluing them in place to make sure they don't move in the water; it's slow going but I'll get there in the end".

"Oh right – need a hand?"

"Oh, er…", for a second she wasn't sure what to say; after all it was supposed to be Shadow's work in the end; _but he did ask me to work on it after all – I can't see the harm_; mind just about made up, she gave an engaging smile and nodded at one of the pieces she had yet to push out of its mould, "…sure, he wouldn't mind; just carefully get that one loose and trim off the excess – just go steady with that knife".

"Oh come on", the bee said casually, hoping she wouldn't notice his half an eye still held resolutely on the flimsy wooden shaft he was prising from its wooden bed, "do I look that stupid?"

"You want that answer with or without honesty?"

"And aren't you just the comedian these days. Now where's the glue you've been using…?"

XXX

If ever there was a king definition of 'exhausted but happy' Julie would have laid good money that, as she slumped back into her chair and tried to flex her flattened fingertips, ignoring the pain they were transmitting right up her arms as she smiled almost indulgently at the result of her and Charmy's work; _just as well he stayed as long as he did – I'd never have got all this side done if he hadn't been here_; she'd have been pretty close to it. Running the tips of her fingers along the palms of her hands, the echidna allowed herself a long moment of pride as she viewed her achievement; one side of the bottom of the ship had been completely built up and glued into place; _and if just two of us could do that in a single night_; the mere thought of this piece being finished so quickly sent a shiver up and down her spine – as far as she concerned the sooner this was done the quicker Shadow's priceless memories would be enshrined for all time; never again would he look in the mirror and feel the fear of losing his past, losing Maria over the course of his…immortality. That sudden thought quashed her triumph slightly and she frowned, eyes mournful as she reached that old conclusion once more; the simple fact that Shadow would one day be left alone, all his friends gone and she couldn't help but pity him for that – to have that to look forwards to, knowing all along it was coming and not able to do a damn thing about it took a lot of guts and quiet stoicism that she found, if she was completely honest about it, not a little humbling. _Still_; she shook her head and scanned her eyes over the paper once more, determined again; _it's not getting him down, so there's no reason it should me either…_;

"Hello"; _huh? No, surely not…_; the voice burst into her ears like a thunderclap and she immediately shot up in her seat, hardly daring to trust her own her senses; _…I can't have been working that long!_; "Julie, are you still up?" Not even the sight of the clock itself blatantly pointing out the obvious made her believe that she'd been sat where she had for near enough three hours – it was only when the door to the kitchen creaked open and Shadow himself poked his head around the door that she really believed what was going on. Her mouth worked soundlessly, her brain not able to connect to her lips in time to come up with anything like an explanation as he gaped at her incredulously,

"Have you been there all night?" She swallowed and gave a nod; he stepped fully into the room and shook his head, bag of takeaway swaying in his hand, "man, I only asked you to make a start, not get the whole thing done".

"Sorry", she mumbled before just in the nick of time her memory came to her rescue; plucking one of recent lines from his mind her drawling tone grew in strength and confidence as she continued her answer, "just got into the rhythm and it all went from there; pretended it was a glow-gun and it all fell into place".

"So I see", the hedgehog half-chuckled as he stooped by the side of her chair to inspect her work more closely, "this looks absolutely perfect; you'll have to show me how you do it sometime".

"How does tomorrow sound; you're not going out then are you?"

"Nah", she felt him twist over her shoulder and grinned sheepishly as she felt him kiss her cheek, "not on the evidence of this anyway; you have really excelled yourself this time, easy as that might be". Her grin curdled as she reached over and shoved him playfully,

"Hey"; only his skilful deployment of the plastic bag he held onto the tabletop prevented her carrying on with the insults – the scent of a hot takeaway blunting her sharp tongue on the rock of sudden hunger resurgent, "okay, get the plates and I'll let you off; oh, and this wasn't all my own work", she added, reminded suddenly by the sound of the kitchen door banging shut that she'd only seen out her previous guest about three quarters of an hour before as Shadow looked up from his squatted position in front of the plate drawer with interest, "Charmy popped in…ah, a couple of hours or so ago; supposed to be a flying visit you know, but", she swept a hand across the table towards the semi-constructed nautical vessel, "he got slightly bogged down".

"So I see", the hedgehog replied faintly, setting the plates he'd gathered down on the side as he took in again the craft done in his few hours of absence, "well I need to say thanks next time I see him; what did he come over here for, originally at least?" He glanced across as Julie's shoulder shook for a second, though before he could deduce whether such a tremor stemmed from mirth or misery she turned to face him,

"He came here with an invite for us and some cheap fun for you"; an ebony eyebrow rose but before Shadow could ask she had continued, "apparently Lara and, oh I can never remember his name; Knuckles' step-dad?"

"Wynmacher?" At the helpful reminder Julie nodded before picking up where she'd left off,

"Well they're having some sort of a meal or a do about this time in December, buzz-boy said he'd let us know the details when he had them set in stone himself, and they decided to extend a greeting to us. I took the liberty of saying yes", she pointed out with a meaningful glance towards the calendar, "I hope you don't mind?"

"Not at all", Shadow replied easily, his eyes following hers and immediately posting a mental reminder to keep every night of the twelfth month clear until further notice; _got that sorted, but what was that about fun she mentioned?_; "and the fun for me?" _Okay here we go_; she knew he was going to come out with some sort of quip, resigned herself to it and forced herself to think of happy, smily things in an effort to force his good mood up at the expense of her self-esteem. Then she spoke,

"Well it's going to be a fairly posh do, all skirts and suits, you follow", his nod confirmed that he did; Julie swallowed slightly before continuing, "so you're going to have to help me find a little black number from somewhere". It took a couple of seconds to sink in fully; _ah, and there we go_; but eventually it dawned over Shadow's face and she could virtually see the effort he was having to expend pinning down his suddenly lively tongue and keep a straight face,

"Oh, er, is that all? Sure, sounds like a laugh". She fixed him with a beady eye for another couple of seconds; his fingers fumbled for the cutlery draw and plunged inside, hoping to distract himself from the opportunity, the rest of his body gradually twisting to see what he was pulling out of the spoon draw haphazardly; _okay, I think he's going to leave it_; she waited until his back was completely turned before sending her attention back to the tabletop, clearing some space from the to eat at the same time as pack everything meticulously back into the box to make sure nothing got lost,

"This dress size you're after", the voice was reedy with the effort of trying not to laugh as the hedgehog finished with a muffled snigger, "two digits or three?"

The happy, smily faces in her mind suddenly vanished; of its own volition her left hand crabbed over the tabletop and scooped a sudden something up into her hand; _oh yes_; seeing the weapon her body had selected, the ex-Legionnaire let her own snigger percolate the air; _it's showtime!_ She turned around slowly, paused just long enough to see Shadow look over his shoulder and go white at the sight of the craft knife in her hand before grinning like a maniac and taking a slow step forwards, laughing darkly all the time as he threw his hands up in futile defiance of his slowly-approaching doom.

A/N: I ask you, when will he learn? Ah well, assuming I can talk Julie into putting the sharp object down I'll see you in the next chapter.


	30. Chapter 30 They're Always There

Chapter 30 – …They're Always There. 

A/N: I know it's been a while, but what used to be 'me-time' is now more like 'anyone-but-me-time'; still, I'll try to get the next, and last, chapter up as quick as I can. This one's a real doozy; it was meant to be two chapters but I couldn't bear to split them up in the end, so you might want a drink and a couple of sandwiches before sitting down to this one. Before that though, I would like to thank:

BC – I agree; never actually tell a girl she's a little on the porky side – unfortunately Shadow still doesn't seem to have gotten that message yet! As for the idea I sent, I can't give it a spin yet, still got the rest of this story arc to finish – only about five or six more stories to go before that happens!

LH – Ah well, you know what they say – waiting only makes the end of the wait sweeter. Besides, when sealing with cookie as tough as Julie is, would you dare to rush anything?!

KittyKat 93 (KK93 from now on) – I know it bites but, if you've read the rest of my stories and seen what Knuckles and Rouge have been through together I think you'd agree that they deserve and need one another. Besides, with the rest of the story you'd have to say both the main characters of this story have had reason to be grateful the guardian was already married when Julie went looking for him

XXX

The sudden knock at the door made both echidnas look up; as his mother's shoulders shrugged and she looked nonplussed, Knuckles pushed himself upright from the book she'd been poring over with him to answer the front door, grateful for the break more than anything. _There's only so much a man can take at one time – whoever you are I owe you one hell of a favour_; reaching the front door with as little haste as he could manage without appearing either slovenly or rude, the guardian finally allowed his hand to settle on the handle to his mother's home and, after a final second of glorying in release from the virtually unendurable but at the same time frightfully interesting torment Lara's rapidly maturing maternal instinct had shackled him into, Knuckles finally sighed and, accepting that he really couldn't stretch the bounds of good manners any further, pulled the door open,

"Hi, sorry for calling…Knucks?"

"Shadow?" Jarred back to reality by the sudden recognition of the voice that was speaking, the guardian brought his amazed gaze upwards at the same time as finish gasping, "why, what are you doing here? I thought you were working?"

"I am", the hedgehog replied in a tone almost identical to his own; it appeared that Shadow was as surprised to see him as he was to see the black hedgehog stood on the doorstep of his mother's house, "this is just a quick drop-in, I don't have long. Is Lara about; I just wanted to say thanks, about the invite", he tacked on as Knuckles furrowed his brow for a second,

"Oh that", with a snap of his fingers the guardian was able to join the dots, "yeah, yeah mum was saying Mighty mentioned you lived up here now; she'd have said something earlier if she'd remembered". Shadow waved the comment away with a raised hand and a smile,

"That's okay; I just dropped by to say thanks from Jules and I, and to let her know we will both definitely be showing up whatever date she sets – did you hear that?" Noticing his friend suddenly switch his attention to a point over his shoulder, Knuckles half-span to see his mother standing in the hallway, doubtless perturbed by her son's absence and coming to see for herself what the reason behind the hold-up was. Smiling, the elder echidna inclined her head, Shadow doing likewise to see that Charmy had been exactly right in what he'd told Julie of Vector's observations the previous evening – there was definitely a pronounced swelling just underneath her stomach that he could clearly make out from here. Seeing this and remembering the less-than-ideal circumstances behind the last time he'd actually seen the echidna lady for any length of time, the black hedgehog smiled suddenly and whistled idly, leaning on the side of the porch in a gesture of relaxed homeliness as he directed a glance at Lara's midriff,

"So", he gave a slight chuckle as she rolled her eyes, folding her arms as she recognised immediately what he was looking for, "enjoying your maternity leave?"

"You bet I am", the nurse confirmed with a grin, patting her unborn son at the same time as advance down the hallway to put her hand on the shoulder of her elder child, "these two have wangled me more time off work than every illness, accident and natural calamity under the sun put together; pregnancy, nature's way for women to get their own back and make men do all the running for a change".

"Don't, just don't; Rouge is a master of skiving off and acting innocent as it is, I don't need her getting any more ideas", Knuckles implored her before turning back to Shadow, outright pleading in his eyes as he attempted to convey the horrors he was going through to his friend in a manner that would hopefully penetrate the smirk the hedgehog was having to visibly suppress, "Shadow, get me out of here; she's making me read up on breast-feeding for the Master's sake – Shadow the Hedgehog, I beseech and implore thee…"

That reminder was enough to break through the hedgehog's impassiveness and get him giggling properly, Lara just about managing to hold onto her matriarchal expression of disdain as her guardian son almost fell to his knees, reciting the old line Shadow had spun him on one memorable occasion as he clutched at his friend neurotically, desperate to get away from books of baby names and graphic diagrams of the latter stages of the labour process. Unfortunately, zeroed on target by an unerring maternal touch, the virtually whimpering guardian was hauled back to his feet as a couple of Lara's fingers reached through his dreadlocks and pinched around his ear before dragging back upwards,

"Not a hope you; as Spectre would say, this is not conduct becoming of a guardian, and besides, if you ever want to make me a grandmother I'm going to make damn sure you know what you're going to be putting Rouge through – believe me you'll thank me for it when you're having to put up with hot flushes and sudden mood swings". Trying to speak diplomatically as he realised who still had hold of his vulnerable earlobe, Knuckles nevertheless felt he had to defend his point of view on the subject,

"And how's reading a couple of books going to help me when she starts craving seafood and trying to give the teacups flying lessons – I can't exactly alter the laws of biology can I?"

"No, but at least you'll be able to understand that it's not her fault for doing so; it's all about the hormones", Lara explained patiently, Shadow just about recomposing himself by this stage as he watched mother and son disagree in such a comical manner in front of him before the elder of the two echidnas turned her attention to him once more, "anyway, I'll let Wyn know to book the extra seats Shadow; thanks for letting us know so fast".

"My pleasure, and thanks again for inviting us in the first place", the former ultimate life-form inclined his head once more, ears and quills flattened in humility as she merely smiled,

"Not a problem, anyway, you'd best get back to work; come on you", she dropped her hold from Knuckles' ear and he stood up straight, shaking his head as he realised he wasn't going to worm his way out of this one, "I'll need someone to rustle up something for us to eat later, Wyn's working a late shift tonight". At such a normal request, the guardians' face brightened,

"Ah, now that I can do; there's no diagrams right?"

"Not a single one".

"Praise the spirits for that", looking like someone had just lifted Angel Island off his shoulders Knuckles turned and draped an arm around his mother's shoulders, flicking her dreadlocks affectionately as he continued, "as long as you don't mind salad and fruit, I can manage that".

"Sounds good to me", Lara assured him to his evident relief before Shadow cut back in by clearing his throat; both echidnas suddenly looked back at him as though they'd forgotten he'd even been there in the first place; _still, not like I was expecting anything else – they're family expecting a new addition soon after all_;

"Yeah, sorry but I wanted to ask a favour Knucks", the guardian nodded and, swiftly checking the time, Shadow decided to keep it short and sweet, "I need you, and Rouge as well at some point, to drop by sometime soon, doesn't matter when really; just give either me or Jules a call, one of us should be in. Believe me", he held up a hand to stave of the questions he could see plain as day brewing in his friend's face, "it's something easier to see than to explain – just trust me".

"Okay, we'll see what we can do", Knuckles nodded after assimilating the request for a second or two, "I'll let her nibs know when I get home tonight; she should be able to get to you at any rate, all the time she spends in this town".

"Oh boy; Rouge has one day out and you never let her forget it do you"; Knuckles goggled at his mother as she made that innocuous remark before launching into a tirade of his own to both defend and press his point of view on the subject,

"I mind when all I hear is a 'I'll be back in a couple of hours' and a door slamming while I'm getting some extra kip; about nine hours later she comes flapping back having just about sent us stony broke, and on my card as well". Lara shook her head for a second before stepping in to defend her daughter-in-law,

"Give the girl a little fun". _Uh oh_; from the way her son's smile grew to maleficent levels she knew she'd said something wrong there,

"Oh believe me", Knuckles paused to give a gruff snigger as a couple of images superimposed themselves from his memory over his eyes, "Rouge has never complained about the fun we have…"

"Anyway", Shadow quickly broke off his inflection before Lara's glare could get too scathing, "I'm off; see you sometime soon and you", he smiled at the soon-to-be mother once more and fought to stop himself fading back into the past as she returned the favour; there was more than a hint of Maria's expression in that soft expression – throwing back the memory and reminding himself of what awaited him on his kitchen table when he arrived home to bulwark himself, he dragged his concentration back to finish the sentence, "sometime in December; until then give Wyn my best and I'll be on my way". With that, the hedgehog span on his heel and took off, just about hearing Lara's tongue-lashing of her son's smut at the very edge of his hearing and grinning because of it even as he trained his eyes on the road and made another tick in his most recent mental list.

XXX

_Okay, got the invite sorted out_; ticking down the mental list he had in his mind and holding out a single finger to gently forestall Honeys' inquiring glance about why he wasn't heading down to the C.A. canteen, Shadow quickly came to the next unresolved issue he had to deal with, fishing his phone out of his pocket as he did so; _the Chaotix isn't a problem and it'll be easy to get Knucks onside once they know what's going on – so, just this to sort out_; a sly smile slit his lips for a second even if he mentally promised himself he wouldn't make too much of a meal of the opportunity, no matter how much of a laugh he might have been able to wangle out of it; _and to, er, keep tabs on the relationship the foxboy doesn't have._ Giving a last slight snicker, the hedgehog pushed the send button on his phone and brought it to his ear, only idly hoping the fox wasn't in the air at the minute,

"Hello?" _Must be my lucky day_; raising his eyebrows at the speed of the pick up, it took a couple of seconds for Shadow to regather his tongue and take his first step down this conversation's path,

"Ah, hi Tails; don't worry, just a quick ring – you're not flying are you?"

"No, actually I'm in the garage as a matter of fact, working on the oil your flatmate's going to need pretty soon. Let her know will you?"

"Oh right, yeah no problem, thanks for that. Anyway, leaving that aside, I need to know when you're going to be up here next – you have any idea?"

"Er, no, not off the top of my head. It's a bit of a slack period really, everyone's back at work and saving up for the big Christmas rush; I'll tell you now if I get more than about three nights' sleep between Christmas and New Year I'll have done well the way the bookings are going".

"You be careful, don't kill yourself working", Shadow warned gently before making his voice more conversational, "but when you are up next, just drop in for a minute will you? I've got a, ah, a bit of a project I need a hand with, you follow me?"

"Sort of?" _Bingo_; from the undercurrent of curiosity in the fox's voice Shadow knew he'd aroused the younger Mobians' professional attention, "what sort of thing you got in mind?"

"Ah, it's easier to see than to explain; oh, that was the other thing I was going to say", he had to break off for a fraction to make sure he could force the words through his smile in a tone that wouldn't make Tails suspicious, "we've been invited to a bit of a ball Lara's been kind enough to throw for the lot of us; now I know she's invited you – I mean, come on, you two are so close I reckon Wyn gets jealous every now and then".

"That is not true", just as the hedgehog had predicted the fox's response was unmistakably affronted, "I get on just as well with him as I do with Lara".

"Okay, but who else did she invite? Don't deny it", he was just quick enough, spelling out his deeper meaning before Tails could put two and two together and find a legitimate reason to cut him off, "I know your slip of paper said Miles Prower and 'one other' – have you asked who I think you asked? Did she go red?"

"Yes and no"; _what?_; it wasn't so much the speed of the foxboy's reply, it was more the colourless tone and matter-of-fact way he answered that made the quills on the back of the hedgehog's neck stand up, "yes I asked Cream and she did say yes, but, well, I asked because, I thought she, ah, she might need a bit of a reason to get excited again; she'd been a bit flat, in fact a lot flat, prior to the invitation".

"Bit flat – why what…?"

He suddenly tailed off, recalling with a sudden horrid certainty the only thing he knew of that could possibly have beaten down Cream's optimism, the subject forbidden from conversation and, as such, buried at the back of his mind until Tails' tone had sent him frantically digging to exhume the ghastly truth of what must have happened so recently. Hand covering his eyes and teeth gritted as though it had been him in the cauldron of nerves, Shadow answered his own question down the phone to a sympathetic ear, the one saving grace of this nasty situation,

"Her ALT – she didn't make it?"

The sigh from the land below Angel Island told him more than any number of words could; it was a couple of seconds before Tails answered him but that scant pause gave the ebon hedgehog a glimpse into a modicum of the disappointment both Mobians must have gone through; somehow he could just see the inspector give a single shake of the head and almost heard the world come crashing down, splintering apart in a rain of glass to shred the rabbits' confidence in her own abilities,

"No she didn't – she tapped the brake on take-off, nearly pin-wheeled the whole plane and he couldn't pass her after that"; _damn_; he could see it all transpiring before his eyes and was helpless to look away; he could only endure in quiet stoicism and wish Cream better luck on the next attempt; _and she is going to have another go – failure's the mother of success and she's worked too hard to give up now_; "but she carried on, flew the rest of the whole circuit pretty much perfectly; I was watching the whole thing, aside from a couple of minor errors she did as well as I could have hoped when she was in the air. Nerves got to her, that was all".

"Believe me she's not alone there; I hope you told her that?"

"Of course I did"; _good_; the weary irritability in the fox's voice let the hedgehog know exactly what he must have said when Cream had touched her feet on the floor again, "you need nerves of steel to even get in the cockpit for an ALT; I think it's something like three percent who pass first time, if that. But it's still not a nice thing to happen, so yeah, once Lara said what was going on I thought it'd be a way to put the bounce back in her step".

"Sweet idea; nice to see you using that mammoth I.Q. at last, for something other than technology I mean", Shadow swiftly amended, holding his mobile away from the side of his head as Tails unloaded an earful on him; when he was sure it was safe for him to put the phone back to his ear, the hedgehog continued, this time with an idea of his own, "but anyway, here's another idea to get her back in the saddle as it were; I'm going to need her help on this project as well, so you tell her for me that I'm only going to let her do her bit when I'm sure she's flown the pair of you to Angel Island, yours as well if she needs any extra convincing – she'd never want to let you down now would she?" The sickly-sweetness coating his last few words made the hedgehog wish Tails was close enough to let him pinch his cheek; unfortunately, the fox himself must have had the same idea if his next tirade was anything to go by; _wow – I didn't think he knew any of those words. Hey, that one's new to even me_;

"Tails", the reproach in his voice was genuine and luckily enough to deter the mechanic from speaking any more, "that's quite enough of that language thank you very much – I get enough of it at home from Julie, I don't need it at work as well".

"Likewise Sonic provides me with all the nudge-nudge, wink-wink I could ever need; I don't need any more of it. I'll let you know what's going on with flights when I find out about it myself and I know what Cream's doing a few weekends from now – you can wait that long I assume?"

"I'll have to; don't either of you pair rush yourselves, I've got plenty of time to see this through". _Yeah_; just for an instant the truth of that statement soured Shadows emotions; _all the time in the world_. It was only the sound of the fox's voice that brought him back to the present,

"Sure, we'll see we can cobble together later on; catch you later Shads, and remember to pass the message on to Jules will you; you wouldn't want to let her down now would you?" Unable to prevent that sort of shot, the hedgehog could only wince and bear it before finishing in a mutinous muttering,

"Of course, see you later". As the fox hung up and Shadow let his phone rest gently in the palm of his hand, he felt himself give a dark, secret smile; his finger was actually reaching for the tempting buttons before he managed to blink and put the reins back on his vengeful cravings; _after all, a sarky comment from me down the phone isn't too bad – a month of innuendo from Sonic within cheek-pinching range is too much, even for a smart-alecky foxboy. Unless he really gets a bit much that is…_

XXX

Once in a week was bad enough but as the knock on the front door came again and once more she was unable to do anything about opening the door, occupied as she was by draining the water from a large pan of rice without scalding herself from either a splash of boiling water or in the cloud of steam billowing upwards from the sink, Julie could do nothing but roll her eyes heavenwards and wonder if someone up there wasn't having a discreet laugh at her expense. _At least I'm better off than I was last time_; that much was certainly true, allowing the echidna to smirk upwards as Shadow, having called that the door was his, passed past the kitchen to answer the sudden cold-caller. Satisfied that most of the water was gone with only a minimal amount of rice slipping through the pan lid to bung up the plughole, the ex-Legionnaire placed the pan back on the cooker and switched the hob off in the same movement, trusting to the residual warmth of the cooking appliance to evaporate the last lingering traces from the dish at the same time as head from the kitchen door, pausing only to wipe her hands on a dishcloth as she did so; _Charmy last night, my money's on Mighty this time – hope I've got enough to pay her off with_;

"Hey Shads, got the message off Knuckles earlier"; _just as well it wasn't_; Julie let out a sigh of relief this time around as she recalled the exact state of her weekly finances and realised that having to pay out the fifteen crests she owed the armadillo would have put quite a dent in her monetary plan; _and what was this message Shadow gave Knuckles?_; "now what's this little project you've got going, and how do we fit into it exactly – come on, I've been trying to figure this out all day since I heard about it". Hearing this, Julie had to chuckle a little even if she cursed that Shadow had negated one of her trump cards by finally coming clean to his friends about one of his hidden talents,

"Sorry Rouge", she called into the hallway, jovially blithe to the possibility that she might have grasped the wrong end of the stick in this instance, "we just sent the board back, but we can put you first on the list for when he gets his own if you like". There were a couple of seconds from the hallway followed by a sudden burst of whispered conversation; the first few doubts about the sagacity of her choice of words were just beginning to creep over the echidna when Shadow's voice rose to end the confusion,

"I've got no idea what she's going on about either, situation normal there I must admit, but as to the thing that's been driving you up the wall Rouge, please follow me to the lounge. Oh, and, well if you're careful it shouldn't matter too much, but it might help if you take your gloves off, but I'll leave that decision up to you when we get there".

"Fair enough; as I keep telling Knuckles, it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind and her husbands as she sees fit. Well then, lead on", Julie gave a slightly self-conscious wave a second as the bat poked her head around the kitchen door and gave a smile, "and good to see you Jules, but why are you slaving over a hot stove – that's Shadow's job surely?"

"Nah, not in this house", the ex-Legionnaire timed it perfectly; just as the bat's mouth was closed from the mock-outrage that had forced it open she finished, "I hate washing up so I make him do it – it's just easier for me that way". With a laugh, Rouge retracted the top half of her torso from around the doorframe, a last wave of her hand accompanying her parting words,

"Right on sister, let him know who's boss; wait up BB, this I've gotta see".

"Hold up, I'll come with you", heading out to follow both her housemate and her friend, Julie made all speed towards the exit of the kitchen, desperate to be there at the moment where all would be revealed this first time and another brick could be added to the certainty of Maria's legacy. She arrived at the lounge door just in time to see Rouge's reaction to the sight before her, and it was a corker; the bat's eyes swelled up huge, reminding the echidna oddly of Cream for a moment as Shadow quietly explained what had happened – more than once her friend's eyes turned to her in mute astonishment and Julie felt compelled to nod, adding her credence to Shadow's story, all the time realising that they'll really lucked out between them this time.

The partially completed wooden ship lay at berth in its private miniature ship yard, glue, twine and a selection of craft tools haphazardly strewn across the surface of what had once been one of the desks staffed by a member of the Echidnopolis Security Team; being in the right place at the right time had meant Julie had overheard that one of the desks of typing pool one was going to be chucked out, something to do with one of the steel legs starting to buckle through age and excess weight; a couple of casual enquiries with the manager of the pool had ensured that the top of the desk was still perfectly serviceable and, yes, as long as she was willing to unscrew it in her own time she could quite happily take the desktop home with her. A quick phone call had summoned the necessary reinforcements and come five o'clock she and Shadow had carted their new ship-building platform home with them; aside from a couple of hairy moments going up the staircase to the first floor, they'd not encountered any problems and now the entirety of the modelling kit she'd brought lay atop the former desk top, all the frameworks stacked neatly with most of the pieces close at hand to make sure the job could be done well first time around. The skeleton of the ship itself, all the ribs now in place and the bottom deck, where the ballast was going to have to be poured in once either of them could pluck up the courage to actually melt down the evil-smelling concoction held stickily within the tin labelled 'ballast mixture', half completed, proudly held centre stage in the middle of the board, and it was to this Shadow pointed as he finished his quick story to the guardian,

"Well, this is it, so far at least; you helped write the book Rouge, I'd be honoured if you'd help build this as well".

"But, er", there was still confusion in the bat's gaze but, giving credit where it was due Julie could see she was trying to understand and reason through a couple of things on her own; in the end though, Rouge shook her head and asked for advice, "why a ship? I'd have thought something like a space station would have been more appropriate, especially for you?"

"Nah, no I, er, I'm not trying to remember the ARK here Rouge", taking a steadying breath Shadow looked up at her wryly, "this is about Maria; I remembered I promised her something, that we'd go sailing together one day when we were able to get down to Earth, when Gerald had finished his research and we all returned to the planet. And, thanks to Julie", the echidna lowered her eyes slightly, not wanting to take anything like a central role in this tale as Shadow went off, "I've got a ship now. But I'd like you, in fact I'd like everyone who helped write my memory book, to build this with me; would you mind?"

"No", the bat gave an almost disbelieving chuckle as she shook her head, a wide smile starting to brim on her lips as she put a hand on the hedgehog's shoulder, "mind? Shadow, after everything you've done for me, me especially; you gave me away on my wedding day, you stood in for the father I've never had and made it all happen, on my side at least. If this is something I can do for you, something that'll help you as much as you have me", her hand suddenly shot upwards like a striking snake; Shadow jerked backwards, shaking his head and attempting to glower with a smile at the same time as straighten up the quills Rouge's fingers had knocked out of place as she'd ruffled the top of his head, "let's do this".

Standing in the doorway, the echidna let out the breath she'd been holding; _I didn't think she'd say no – you'd need a heart of stone to refuse – hey, even I couldn't say no and I've got skin like tree bark_; in fact, she had to contradict herself at that last thought, her eyes falling to where Shadow was now knelt at the side of his creation, Rouge stooping to join to him; _well, most of the time anyway – I guess everyone's got an exception somewhere along the…huh? What happened to her hands?!_ Though she liked to think of herself as a mostly polite Mobian, and she was certainly one who'd had to put up with enough staring to last her a lifetime since she'd quit her former home, Julie couldn't help but gape at the sight revealed to her as Rouge eased off her gloves. From someone as naturally blessed with beauty as the bat was, the sight of her comparatively tiny hands, the fingers as thin as breadsticks and completely naked, bare of the downy fur that covered the rest of the bat's body, and the nails sunk into the tips of these spindly digits as ebon and jagged as the spikes on her housemates' back; it was virtually unthinkable that Rouge could have such an imperfection besmirching her otherwise exemplary figure. Try as she might to resist the vision Julie was transfixed the sight before her, hardly comprehending anything else; before she could even consider looking away the bat was regarding her from her knelt posture on her floor, gazing up at the echidna sadly before turning her attention back to her bare hands, twisting them in the light to see them more closely before giving a wry comment,

"I know, they're not pretty". Finally realising the rudeness of her conduct, the echidna dropped her eyes to floor, her face starting to burn at the same time as, almost of its own volition one of her own hands rubbed the metal of her forearms,

"We've all got things we'd love to change", she murmured dreamily before suddenly snapping back to reality, the sound of her own voice shocking her enough to bring her down to earth with a bump, "eh, oh, sorry, I, er, I wasn't, lost in thought".

"First time for everything I guess".

"Hey", despite the fact she had been in the wrong Julie wasn't going to stand there and let Rouge make a bad situation more uncomfortable for her; _I don't even let Shadow get away with that one pal – you haven't got a prayer_; "I'm the queen of the put-downs in this house batgirl and don't you forget it". Chuckling at the echidna's raised eyebrows and wagging finger Rouge gave a clumsy half-bow from her kneeling position as Shadow sighed at the pair of them,

"Come on you two, don't start…"

"It's a bit late for that Shads – we're long gone by now".

"…exactly – put a sock in it or we'll never get finished you", the hedgehog managed to choke off the fermenting feminine fun and games by pointing out Rouge and making that point; having succeeded in one of his primary aims he then turned onto another, pointing out Julie this time, "and how's tea coming on – I can just about survive on your cooking at the best of times and I'm sure leaving it out for too long will do it much good".

"Oh, right", having completely forgotten about the food she'd been preparing Julie rushed back into the kitchen without even considering his insult towards her culinary skills; checking on the other pan she had on the go at the same time giving the rice she'd drained a stir to stop it sticking together, the echidna gave a low whistle of relief as she realised her absence had done no harm to her experimental dish; _just as well, he'd have never let me live that one down if I'd botched it up then._ Raising her voice, the echidna hollered back down the hallway,

"Should be about ten minutes; long enough for you?" She cocked her head, waiting for the answer that duly back to her,

"That'll be fine; this stuff's pretty quick-setting".

"Call you when it's done"; with that, she set her mind back on the task for a little while, all the time contemplating how to apologise to her friend for her staring at the same time as wangle an answer out of her; _I'll bet it's embarrassing for him, just a friendly insult or something like that_; a snigger split the air as she gave the contents her saucepan a quick stir; _just as long as it drives the spiky one around the bend, it's just what I'm after!_

Fortunately her brain clicked into place just at the right time; as she mixing her results from her impromptu culinary flash of inspiration into the rice she'd already prepared she heard the lounge door slam and, quickly tipping in the dregs of her stew without bothering to mix it properly, was out into the hallway as quickly as she could be, just in time to avoid bumping into Shadow as he led Rouge to the front door,

"Oh, perfect", she took advantage of his stunned speechlessness and raced on ahead, "dinner's ready, I've just dished up – go okay?"

"Fine", Rouge answered for the pair of them, recovering from the echidna's sudden arrival slightly the quicker, "got most of the bottom deck done now, just don't try and rope me in for pouring in the ballast", she gagged as though reeling from a vile stench, "Shadow gave me a whiff of that stuff – urgh!"

"You and me both", Julie commiserated with the bat, wrinkling her nose up at the mere memory of the horror lurking within that little steel can, "but anyway, before you go there's two things I need from you". _Okay_; pursing her lips for a second Rouge tried to sized up what her echidna friend might be after – she was pretty sure she had a fair idea what one of them was but the second of the two had her completely stumped; _what's your game – only one way to find out I guess_;

"And they are?"

"Well first off, I need to say sorry…"; _thought that was coming_; raising one of her now re-gloved hands, Rouge forestalled the need for further apology,

"I know, I've been there before, it's just the way they're meant to be; they're not my best feature it has to be said". Giving a gruff chuckle, Julie clapped her forearms together with a mechanical chink, looking down at her augmentations and smiling wistfully,

"Likewise, but this isn't the way these are meant to be; anyway, second thing", she broke away from such negative thoughts with a shake of the head and suddenly sharp smile at Shadow, "what did you call Shadow earlier, BB wasn't it? What's that short for?"

Rouge didn't need to look behind her to know how that question had gone down with the Mobian behind her; she could virtually feel the way his eyes had flared into life and were now concentrating very firmly on a point right in the middle of her shoulder blades, the glare threatening to vamp itself up to lethal levels if she put a foot wrong in this sensitive area,

"Ah, that, yes well", she took a slow, languid step forwards, seeing her sly grin mirrored on the face of the Mobian opposite her and had to clamp down a smile as she tried to picture the look on Shadow's face; _if they could kill I'd be in a casket by now – oh well, what can I say – sorry Shadow, it's just funny making your life miserable_. With such a goal in mind, rather than calling the answer out loud, the bat had another, much more subtle idea; she strode over to where Julie was waiting, brushed back the dreadlocks from the side of hr head and leant in close to whisper something right into her ear.

XXX

_The second I get you alone you suffer batgirl_; he could tell, he knew he was exactly right the second Julie's eyes, having originally been crossed for a second in confusion, sparkled with a sudden explosion of mirth as bat pulled away from her ear, a smirk on her face as she grinned right in the teeth of the hedgehog's smouldering glower,

"Yep, that's the word; don't worry I'll see myself out". He didn't make a move to pursue her, knowing even he couldn't make past the beaming Julie-Su, down the stairs and through the entrance of his apartment block before the cocky bat could grab some sky and fly right out of his clutches; _you know, I never quite understood why Sonic had such a pebble in his shoe about you batgirl_; the sudden slam of the front door was the only thing that cut off his death-glare, and even then he kept it trained on the wood for a few seconds as though hoping to reduce to door to charcoal; _now I think I understand_. Only when Julie's maleficent grin had grown massive in his vision did he finally give up his one-sided staring contest with a huff and turn to her,

"Okay, what did she tell you?"

"Nothing much".

"Really, now why don't I believe you in that?"

"Because you're paranoid; now come on, I'm starving"; _ouch_; Shadow had to wince as he conceded that blow, rotating to follow Julie down the hallway at the same time as try to dream up ways of lessening the impact this new name was bound to have on his pride, never for one second suspecting the seamless duplicity that had been weaved around him or that, as Julie placed a bowl down before his with a knowingly mocking smile, that he was being conned with the same trick that had worked so well against him before.

With the spoon halfway to his mouth and his gaze fixed on the apparently oblivious echidna before him, desperate to know just why her smirk was so huge, he moved to answer the knock at the door without recognising he'd heard it; it was only when he threw the door open once more that his mind was dragged back to the present and Rouge wilted under the sternness of the gaze that snapped onto her, giving a nervous chuckle at the hedgehog's unflinching expression,

"Heh, forgot to mention; Lara's got the date set"; _whew_; though she was normally impassive and impervious to glares of all kinds, one of the few traits she shared with her most hated friend and most treasured insulters, even she was grateful when the words took the edge off his steel eyes, softening them with a gleam of anticipation; _must be something to do with his eyes – I've known him for years but it's just not right for them to be that colour_; "see you on the tenth, if you're still interested?"

"You bet we still are", turning his head, he shouted down the hallway, "hey Jules, we'll have to get your size eighteen ordered by the first week in December", grinning at his own fleeting joke, knowing even as he did so that the echidna was sure to make him pay for it later, he span back to Rouge; after blinking for a second at the suddenly empty space before him, he twigged to what was going on and stuck his head into the hallway, enraged at the batgirl sneaking off before he could give unload a proper earful on her,

"And you're going to cop it next time I get my hands on you Rouge!"

XXX

A couple of days later, marking of another day on the calendar as was his custom, the hedgehog drew a thick red line through the small number towards the bottom of the page marked November and took a step back, satisfied with his labours and, more importantly, that he'd made it through another week without his mind wandering; _not had a problem with that, in fact_; a smile tugged up on the corner of his mouth as he knew where this thought was going and that, because of it, he was going to have exercise every iota of his willpower at sometime this weekend; _since I started work building Maria's ship – because of that, you will not, repeat will not, make any crude or insulting comments when Julie goes dress shopping this weekend – you will be civil and helpfully constructive at all times, no exceptions and no excuses. Got that? Good_; with that mental hatchet buried, he looked back at the calendar and flipped to the last page; ignoring the entry towards the bottom of the page gaudily illustrated with small sketches of party poppers and what might have been a steaming turkey, he concentrated his attention on the other highlighted date, the sheathed tip of his pen tapping on the laminated paper in a rhythmic pattern as his mind danced ahead to what lay just a few weeks away now, and a very pretty picture it was, and if he could pull the strings he needed to well enough he could make it better still.

The silence was broken by a sigh mixed with a chuckle as he recalled what Julie had told him Charmy had offered her – their first date together as an official couple; _I still can't believe she cracked through – of all the Mobians to spill your guts to it had to be him didn't it?_ Still, it wasn't like the insect was an easy guy to hide things from and, weighing things up in his mind, Shadow reckoned he owed the bee overall; because of his talent for worming information out of people and making connections that should have been well concealed, the bottom of his ship now had its correct filling of ballast; once more Shadow shuddered as he'd walked through his front door and had been hit by what had felt like a virtual wall of stench, the foul odour making his eyes water as he buried his offended nose in the crook of his elbow. Only when Mighty, apparently completely immune to the deadly stink, had emerged from his lounge, given a cheery wave and disappeared into the kitchen carrying a pan and what had once been a wooden spoon had he finally understood what had gone on; _I also started really sympathising with Tails and Wyn – if hickory nut vinegar is even close to the that sort of smell…yuck!_ He wrenched his mind back from that unpleasant area of his recent past in time to consult the calendar again, his mind partially on the celebration ahead and Charmy's words – it was possibly one or the other, or maybe even the combination of both those thoughts that suddenly sent the calendar's pages falling faster than leaves in a gale.

_No_; there was no way that could be right – he must have made a mistake; that was the only explanation. Slowly and with infinitesimal care this time, Shadow peeled back the pages of the calendar one by one, counting each one off individually as he did so, stopping only when he came to the month of November and choked off his counting in blinking speechlessness; _five months ago, near enough anyway_. There was no denying it, it was marked out there on the date box in plain black and white; even now he could read the faded writing that had once clearly stated 'Honey – surprise a/w', the 'a/w' his shorthand for 'after work'. So it had been five months since the night he had gone out into the evening alone and come back with a sodden, bedraggled little bundle of woes that had somehow metamorphosed into the headstrong, determined woman he was grudgingly proud to call his housemate in front of his friends and something else, a good deal more privately, to himself. _Five months – Honey always said she and Micah did something special on their six-month anniversary_; a new line of thought breaking off at a tangent to his normal pattern of thinking, Shadow chewed his bottom lip thoughtfully as he ran the new scenario over and over in his head; _but if I wait that long it'll be Christmas, the two'll clash over the festive season – nah, can't have that. Maybe I should do something before then_; it wasn't a completely novel idea if he was honest with himself; ever since Julie had presented him with the half-completed project they were both still resolutely ploughing through he'd had half-formed ideas in his mind that he needed to do something for her in return, something to help even the balance despite how much she might have insisted they were square; _problem is, what should I do, if anything?_

It wasn't a question he was all that sure how to answer – in this aspect of life, even to Sonic and possibly even Tails at a stretch, he was a complete novice; the last thing he wanted to do was frighten Julie away by coming on too strong, if that was the right word. _No denying it, she's got hooks in me_; his self-honesty surprised even himself and though he could occasionally misread the signals he'd have laid better than even odds that Julie probably felt the same way about him – however therein lay the rub; _but I don't have a clue about how to say it and they'll be a cold day on the sun before she will, if only to watch me squirm with indecision_. What he needed was some good, honest advice, and as he checked the clock and realised he had at least a good fifteen minutes or so before Julie was due back from her appointment, a thrill ran up his spine as he was sure he'd never have a better shot at getting some than now. Quick as a flash he had his mobile in his hand and his fingers on the buttons before stalling once more as another question reared up to send him sprawling flat on his face – who was he going to call?

_Knuckles_ _– after all he is married, he must know what this is all about. But then again, who's he married to?_; well, the guardian was a possibility, but knowing the echidna as well as he did, he was sure that as certain as day follows night if he confided his dilemma to Knuckles Rouge would also get to hear about it; Knuckles was just no good at keeping secrets from someone as experienced at digging them up as the bat was. Shadow was certain of this eventuality just as he was certain that Rouge would never stoop to being malicious with such knowledge, but an uncomfortable notion in his gut told him that the more people who knew about it the more of a chance there was of his plan getting back to Julie herself and that would land him in a worse position than before so he decided to trust his gut and put that potential candidate on the back burner. His second thought of Sonic was likewise dismissed; though he knew the blue hedgehog was at heart a good person and would eventually do his best to help, such aid would come at the price of an almighty castigation of his pride and he just didn't feel up to suffering that sort of mortification right now. _Mighty could…nah, she's too close to Jules and only just better than Knuckles at keeping stuff private, I would use Big but I can't get in contact with him and it would look very suspicious if I just handed Tails and envelope for him out of the blue. Amy…_; it was a tempting thought but, no, he shook his head; for some reason a nagging voice in the back of his head told him he needed another guy's words of wisdom to help him over this hurdle. Bearing this in mind he ran a list of names back over in his head, ticking them off as he went and coming up with nothing ideal; he was half-considering the thought of swallowing his pride and had actually flicked his phone menu to scan down the list of contacts for Sonic's private number before he glanced at the calendar once more and the name of his salvation hit him right between the eyes.

A second later, having scouted quickly through the Echidnopolis telephone directory and silently applauding his own quick thinking, the hedgehog quickly keyed a set of numbers into his keypad and, arranging himself comfortably on the settee, brought the appliance to his ear, crossing his fingers that when the answer came he was able to say what he needed to say with minimal fuss, precise clarity and, most importantly of all from his perspective, negligible embarrassment.

XXX

"Wyn, it's for you"; _what?_; not at all expecting that, the chef glanced over to see his wife step aside from the kitchen door, her arm pointing towards the front room where the trilling of their communication disk had wailed from a few scant moments before. Carefully transferring the pan he'd been sautéing a selection of vegetables in to a cold ring to avoid burning them, the chef wiped his hands quickly on a dishcloth before looking over at his wife,

"Any idea who it is?"

"Yes, well sort of", Lara tried to explain as the taller echidna made to move past her, "I know the voice, but I can't put a name to it, you follow?"

"Yeah I know the feeling; probably Jose wanting to know if I can make it out Saturday night", Wyn smiled as he sauntered over to where Lara was standing, pecking her cheek at the same time as run one of his hands down to her belly, caressing his future son with gentle, loving fingers, "he just won't accept that I've got more important things to worry about now; my party animal days are long over". With a chuckle, Lara tapped her husband in the chest with a soft push,

"Like you ever had any to start with?" His smile became slightly more fixed, eyes a little harder as he flexed his hand on her stomach enough for her to feel it – not even close to painful but more than enough to let her know he was actually there,

"Have a care Lara, unless you and Junior want to go hungry this evening?" Her mouth fell open, bottle green eyes sparkling with equal parts mirth and indignation as she stepped aside, allowing him to move down the hallway,

"As if you'd let your wife and child starve? I can see the headlines now: 'Top Chef Arrested for Not Plying his Trade'".

"I'll deal with you when I've dealt with this", Wyn assured her, radiating the same humorous threat that she was, not breaking eye contact until he pushed through the lounge door and headed towards the settee, scooping up the communication disk and setting it to his ear,

"Ah, yeah, this is Wyn speaking. Who's this?"

A few seconds later, when the mysterious cold-caller had actually given his name, Wyn relaxed enough to sit down and arrange himself comfortably on his sofa, making a light-hearted point as he did so,

"Lara hit the nail on the head with you Shadow", only after the Mobian on the other end of the line actually asked him what he was talking about did the chef fill him in, "she knew the voice but not the name, same as I did. Anyway, what can I do for you?"

"Well, two things really; first off", the hedgehog gave a fractional pause and a subliminal chime went off in the echidna's mind; if he hadn't known better he would have thought Shadow was gearing up to say something he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to confide to anyone, "I wanted to say thanks for the invite; Rouge gave us the date, the tenth right; well, we'll both be there on time and presentable".

"I should hope so", the echidna chuckled before going fishing for a little more information, "but about the 'we' you mentioned, you'll be bringing along this Julie-Su the Chaotix and my step-son are always going on about?"

"Huh? Oh her, yeah, yeah you'll get to see her then – hang on, I thought you already had met?"

"Not personally, or at least I haven't", Wyn confessed easily, seeing no point in making up an untruth at this stage in the proceedings, "Lara might have I off the top of my head I can't remember her mentioning it".

"Oh well, it'll be a surprise for you then"; _yep, something's definitely up_; as Shadow's chuckle betrayed his nerves Wyn felt his former suspicions cemented into certainty, though he held his tongue in check for now, wanting the hedgehog to carry on rather than offer him and easy way out of what he wanted to say next, "but, er, yeah, the second thing I was after…"

"Yes?" Wyn prompted as the hedgehog tailed off; _this has got to be something to do with Julie – Rouge was saying the pair of them looked like they had something going on_;

"…Well, I was just checking the calendar and, er, I realised that, well, by about the time of your party it'll be, ah, six months since…since I, we that is, actually first met".

"Oh?" _Why's he telling me…oh…_; as the understanding dawned in his eyes the echidna had to hold the disk away from his ear for a second, hoping against hope that none of his spluttered laughs would suddenly erupt from his ticking lungs as the hedgehog's mangled speech enabled him to picture Shadow's expression of contrite, tortured anguish perfectly. Only when he was sure he was coherent enough to carry on did the echidna replace his line of communication with the confused hedgehog back to his ear and speak again,

"I see; well, six months is a bit of an achievement from what I've heard about the pair of you – the way my stepdaughter-in-law tells it you're usually daggers drawn".

"Believe me that's not an understatement", for the first time in the conversation there was a little concrete humour in the hedgehog's voice, though to Wyn's ears he still sounded a lot less than completely sure of himself as he continued, "but, anyway, getting back on topic, I figured that, six months, I didn't want anything to collide with what you and Lara were planning, so I was looking to, ah, begin the celebrations a little early, if you like".

"Fair idea", pausing for a second to turn the hedgehog's logic over in his mind, Wyn realised he could see no flaws in the facets he observed and said so, adding in a little personal praise for Shadow's far-sightedness, "and thanks for putting yourself out like that for Lara and I, means a lot".

"Don't mention it, but this is the rub Wyn"; _okay_; as always things had come to the crunch and all the chef could do was listen to the hedgehogs dilemma and try to cure it the best way he knew how, "I'm not quite sure what to do about it; I mean I know I want to do something, but I'm not sure exactly what I should do. I was originally thinking about a meal out but then I realised, what's happening next month?"

"Yeah, two in a couple of weeks might be a bit much; I can see where you're coming from", Wyn assured him before trying to think about what he'd do in the black hedgehog's shoes; _truth be told I did take Lara out for a meal at six months, seemed like the easiest thing to do but, like he said, he doesn't have that option really._ Making a thoughtful tutting noise at the back of his throat, the chef totted a couple of facts up in his head before, having come up with a very rough and ready plan, sought to iron out some of the fine details with a little more information from his new plotting partner,

"Right, so meals, no problem; you two go to the cinema on a regular basis anyway so I'm told?"

"How'd you know that?" Wyn gave a slight laugh at the sudden suspicion before soothing ruffled nerves,

"The Chaotix of course; I know Vec and Charmy have stood in for you on a couple of occasions", a low breath of relief let the echidna know he'd defused that particular problem and he moved on quickly, "but let's see, what else do the pair of you like doing?"

"Er, good question", it actually was now he thought about it; tracking back, Shadow found himself hard-pressed to think of more than one or two minor things that he and Julie actually liked doing together, "nothing much, and certainly nothing that you could have a celebration over".

"Well in that case, you've not got a lot of options pal", Wyn informed him candidly before letting a grin break over his face, "looks like you're going to have to do it old school and spend some dosh on a present of some kind".

"A surprise present?" _Simple but perfectly logical – now why didn't I think of that?_; once more Shadow had to ask the greater powers why it was always the most obvious things in the world that were the easiest to overlook before turning back to his conversation, "perfect; yep that sounds like the business; thanks Wyn".

"Hold up there", Shadow obeyed and prevented himself from shutting off the conversation, listening to whatever pearl of wisdom the older Mobian could come up with next, "any idea what you're going to get for a start?"

"Umm, no; don't panic though, something'll come to me", he added quickly, though some part of him that liked to err on the side of caution made sure to add, "though I'm open to suggestions". _Bingo_; he'd played it straight all the way up to this point and now Wyn reckoned he'd done enough to get away with a little snip of the saucy humour he was so well-known for,

"Well there's the usual things; flowers, chocolates, though from what I hear Julie watches her figure; then again", the deepening of his tone made sure he had Shadow's attention hooked before he landed his killer punch, "if she's one of the more, how can I put this, adventurous types, a couple of choice items of, shall we say, risqué negligee might be…"

"NO!" As he'd expected the outrage in the hedgehog's tone was tangible and made him snigger, Shadow joining in as well a couple of seconds later as he understood the rationale behind the echidna's suggestion; fortunately Wyn was able to contain himself to add the second string to his bow of humour,

"Aww why not; she's not one of those shy girls is she?"

"No; believe me she's nothing of the sort", Shadow muttered darkly, a couple of particularly choice examples starkly illustrated in his mind – so preoccupied was he with reviewing and cringing from these images that he almost missed Wyn repeated question entirely. When he had heard it though, he set about his explanations,

"Why not; how much time have you got? Right, for a start I haven't got a clue about her size and I'd sooner French-kiss Vector than ask her for it, secondly she'd probably laugh about it, then tell everyone else about it so they'd laugh about it and I'd never stop hearing about it, thirdly"; _well_; he did feel rotten about the next reason he'd come up with but, despite the twinges of guilt in his mind this was just a bit of harmless fun; _there's nothing wrong with this – it's not going to hurt anyone_; "well, I'm not saying this to be rude to her but the fact of the matter is if she tried to wear a thong she'd never find it again".

_Ouch!_; though he couldn't help himself laughing at the youngster's cheek, there was no denying that had been a pretty harsh put-down by anyone's standards and Wyn felt obliged to say so,

"That bad huh – I thought she was doing a lot of exercises to stay in trim for that sort of thing? Shadow? Shadow, are you still there?" _Funny, not like him to hang up_; Wyn pulled the disk away from the side of his head to inspect that he was in fact still connected when the hedgehog's weak disembodied voice floated out of the appliance towards him,

"You're stood right behind me aren't you?" Wyn looked up despite the absurdity of that statement and, having seen nothing of the hedgehog, would have said something had not the hedgehog continued,

"You heard every word I just said didn't you?" _What's going…oh dear_; lamentable though it might be for the hedgehog Wyn couldn't help but give a mighty grin as he understood the rationale behind his sudden change of tune; _I said it before and I'll say it again – ouch!_ Just as this thought finished in his mind Shadow spoke once more, voice a mewling, pitiful plea as he made his final observation plain,

"This is really going to hurt isn't it?"

"Well", tempting as it was to listen in, Wyn was smart enough to know a cue to hang up when he heard one, "I'll leave you to it Shads – hope that helped".

"What?! No, you can't…" Mercifully the echidna hit the cut off button this time and the appliance fell silent; staying where he was for a few seconds with his eyes closed, Wyn had to give a smile half-regrettable, half-hysterical for the predicament Shadow's runaway mouth had landed him in. Standing up, not able to wipe the smile away despite his best attempts at seriousness, the chef finally stood up on shaky legs before attempting to cross the room towards his tea; he managed to totter a couple of steps before folding up in gales of laughter, pounding the floor in mirth, not able to stop himself even when Lara rushed in to see what the matter was and completely unable to explain to her what was going on; only later in the evening when sanity had finally restored itself was he able to tell his wife what had transpired and, as he'd predicted, send them both plumbing the depths of hysteria together.

XXX

To anyone observing the scene from the rear, it would look like a scene of perfect coupling bliss; the girl, having just come in from a doubtless hard day, leaning over the back of the settee to hug her boyfriend and ask how his day had been, he in kind reaching up to caress her dreadlocks lovingly and repeat the question on her behalf. Such a scene was almost too picturesque to be true, and it was possible that the casual observer may have enquired what was making the gargling noise, and why had the sudden hair stroke suddenly devolved into a vicious hair-pull? It would have been upon circling the settee and seeing the front of the scenario that the observer would have been able to wince and, if possessing of a soft heart, attempt to intervene in the unequal struggle before the black hedgehog's face went any purpler than it already was.

_Tug away all you like pal, I'm doing nothing_; the pressure on her dreadlock roots was sore but such was the foulness of her mood it was more the fact that he was messing up her recently improved hair do that irked her more than the actual pain itself and made her lean back on her heels just a little more, forcing the hedgehog to hang just that little bit more bodyweight on his throat, the throat that was currently being squeezed against the metal of her unrelenting forearm. He'd been in the perfect position to start with, she'd got the drop on him and it had been just straightforward from there; by snaking her arm around his neck and lurching upwards, he'd not been able to get his feet underneath him due to the settee being in the way and because of that he was choking himself on her arm; _hmm, better let go soon though, he's starting to fade out_. Tempted though she was to keep the hold on for as long as was safe, she wasn't feeling quite that malicious or hurt, though that didn't mean when she finally let him flop back to the seat Shadow was out of the woods by any means; like twin eagle claws her hands hooked into his shoulders and pressed deep into points that simultaneously deadened his arms and, more gratifyingly from Julie's point of view as she gave another twist of her fingertips, hurt like the devil. Making sure she had him pinned, the affronted echidna made her demand in a voice like stone being smashed into stone, a voice no-one, least of all someone who was completely at her mercy, would dare risk ignoring,

"Well now Shadow", she stayed with him as he collapsed to the side, keeping the pressure on his pressure points as she continued, "I can just about take you insulting me to my face, but you go behind my back and things start getting nasty. Who were you talking to?"

"Ah, noawww!" She relented, just a smidgen, to hear what he had to say, "no-one, you know". _Oh is that the case_; as far as she was concerned that made his pun even more unforgivable – just as she started to clamp on the pain once more, however, Shadow must have been able to break though the haze of agony in his mind and realise the stupidity of what he'd said, hastily correcting himself,

"No-one you've met", he shrieked, relieved beyond words when her curiosity stayed her hand, giving him a little more priceless thinking time, "you will soon though; it was Wynmacher, Knuckles' step-dad".

"Right"; _she's still mad_; trying hard to concentrate through the agony still sheeting up his arms, the hedgehog came to a couple of conclusions, the first of which was that he still had a long way to go to save his skin on this one, "and why, oh why, were you insulting me down the phone to someone I've never met before? Come on, answer me!"

"Because it was a joke".

"I'm not laughing".

"Not that kind of joke", finally mustering the energy, Shadow kicked out against the footplate of the settee, sending himself skidding out of Julies grasp and onto the floor in a collapsed heap, rolling onto his back and continuing before the echidna could pounce, realising that he had to come clean and forego his hoped surprise in order to avoid a pummelling, "listen, go get the calendar, then I'll explain".

"No, better idea", Julie advanced around the arm of the sofa, Shadow shuffling backwards along the floor as quickly as he was able to, his eyes on her feet at all times in case she lashed out at him, "you explain, then I'll see if I need the calendar. Now get on with it".

"Okay, I was checking off a couple of dates earlier, then I realised something; it's been five months, actually a little more than that, since you first moved in", one look at her still-thunderous expression had let the hedgehog know that inviting her to guess what he'd seen would be at best a pointless and at worst a painful exercise, "and, and in December it would have been six. So, I figured that, well, bit of a milestone that"; _at last, we're getting somewhere_; relief that he could see the truth dawning over the echidna's face made some of the pain fade away before he recomposed himself and carried on, "us being together so long and not killing each other, close as we've come to it, I thought I'd try and get something arranged, sort of a celebration thing".

"Right?" _I'm still not exactly sure where he's going with this, or how my back end wound up involved in it all_; the thought sent a pulse of anger to drown her brain in red before she crested the wave of wrath and thought once more; _but he's definitely not trying to pull a fast one here_; "so why'd you call, er, Wyn, that's what you call him right?"

"Yeah, he doesn't mind; but anyway, like I was saying, I was trying to come up with something, but the fact is, what with the meal we've got coming up on top of Christmas and New Year as well, December's getting to be a packed month; I didn't want it to get to be too much. So I decided to see what I could do, a little closer to now so to speak, but then I realised there isn't a lot we actually do together, short of annoy and insult one another"; _whew_; though nothing showed on his face he was more grateful than his slight sigh let on when she smiled at that little quip; _the more she's laughing the less likely she is to break my nose afterwards_; "so I was stumped; I had a great idea in theory but needed some help with getting it into practise. I needed some advice and didn't know who to call, then I looked back at the calendar and saw Wyn's name, it all just clicked from there". Sliding across the armrest of the settee, the echidna took a seat herself, pondering his words and, deciding she needed a little information to really make her mind up, bunched her fists under her chin and peered at him imperiously before demanding,

"So what did he say?"

"Well, when we realised what I just said; we're both pretty independent, he said go for the old surprise present routine, though it's anything but a surprise now I guess", he chuckled at his own joke, then abruptly cut himself off as he realised she wasn't laughing; injecting a note of sobriety into his tone, he then sought to cut to the chase of his insult she was never meant to hear before she could bring it up out of context again, "and, well Wyn pulled a Sonic on me; said if you were the adventurous type I should go a bit beyond the normal flower and chocolate routine and go for some, ah, what did he say I should put on my shopping list? Err, oh yeah", seeing out the corner of his eye Julie was taking an interest, he put on a strained smile and spoke the next words with perfect seriousness, tempered with just a hint of nervous anticipation of her response, "risqué negligee?"

She tried to hold it in, he had to give her that; her face crumpled inwards and she curled up so much her knees nearly touched her forehead, juddering as she tried to keep her laughter confined to her stomach. Wisely, the hedgehog stayed quiet until she was ready to ask the question coherently, wiping her eyes with a couple of fingers before tilting her head to regard him again; _that's a relief – she's not really angry with me any more_;

"Right, now that's something that's never cropped up in the same sentence as my name before now", the echidna confided before suddenly adopting a brisk, cutting edge to her voice, "I hope you said no?"

"Yeah, you heard what I said; I gave a load of reasons, you just happened to walk in right on the last, worst and most patently untrue one of the bunch"; _nothing wrong with a little bit of old-fashioned greasing – hang on, why actually are you here?_; "and how did you walk in anyway; you're not supposed to be back for another five or ten minutes".

"Got lucky", the echidna assured him flippantly, sliding down onto the settee itself and reaching up to replait the dreadlocks that had been ruffled by Shadow's struggle fro freedom, "the girl got through her last customer fairly sharpish and did the same with me; I was a bit better off than I thought I was – just as well really", the hedgehog rolled his eyes as Julie gloated in his direction with an evil leer, "someone needs to defend my honour; you're certainly not up to the job".

"Lucky for some you mean, and as if defence is your strongest point", Shadow shot back from his prone position, crunching himself back into a sitting position and view his flatmate better from, "if I remember rightly you work a lot better on the offence; the biscuit tin has yet to recover from your last great push". _That's brave for a man I've got every right to beat to a messy pulp_; Julie hoped she kept that slight twinge of admiration smothered under an avalanche of glowering as she let her gaze rest on the hedgehog imperiously, a timely reminder of routine chiming in her mind allowing her to come up with her next move on the fly,

"Speaking of pushes", the hedgehog pricked his ears and followed Julie's thumb as she jerked it over her shoulder, "if I'm not being served with my dinner in the next half-hour I'll be pushing buttons on that phone and you'll be picking up my tab".

"Your tab", Shadow snorted as he came to his feet, rolling his shoulders to try and staunch the jabs of pain that rained down to his fingertips from there, "be cheaper to feed the five thousand; I'm going, I'm going". Grumbling under his breath as the echidna retook her seat, seemingly undaunted by the virtual promise of violence in ex-Legionnaire's snarl, Shadow set off for the kitchen, still swinging his arms as though to re-establish feeling completely.

_One of these days Blackie, one of these days…_; but, as she well knew, the day when she was destined to deliver unto Shadow all his just desserts with interest was not this day and there was nothing she could do to change that. Still, the cheerful thoughts of her housemate trying to pick up the teeth she'd knocked out of his smarmy mouth detracted from her previously gloomy mood; having just been stung by the fact her regular hair saloon had upped its charges, she'd been trying to come up with a way to live through the rest of the week and have enough left over to settle up with Mighty come the end of it. Mood lifted, Julie cupped her stomach and cast her eyes around, reaching for the TV paper and, swiftly coming to the conclusion that there was absolutely nothing worth watching on, she and Shadow would probably end up doing one of the few things they actually didn't mind doing together for the rest of the night. _Guess he was wrong, there are things we can do together_; nodding deferentially to the pile of wooden chips and glue that were, slowly but with ever-increasing speed as both she and Shadow became more practiced with welding the wood together both thoroughly and with haste, building up into the finished piece as more nights passed; _that said, I wouldn't want to make a big occasion out of it. Actually, what was it he said earlier –I'll have to check the dates myself but he might be onto something there. Hmm…_; mind moving into slightly different gear this time, Julie tapped her fingertips together and, taking one last look at the miniature shipyard and making a mental promise that she'd get back to that job later in the evening, stood up to follow Shadow into the kitchen, a plan starting to formulate in her mind and needing to be fed a little more fact before it could be nurtured to the next stage of development.

XXX

"You know", scrabbling for the glue as he was, Julie's sudden comment made him jerk his head around suddenly and only luck prevented the tube of solvent from squirm from his fingers and make a mess of the carpet, "try and be clever and I'll ram this mast somewhere sore, but I've done a little brainwork over dinner".

"Really?" _Say nothing, say absolutely nothing_; he knew she was just waiting for him to open his big mouth and it was taking every scrap of willpower he could possibly muster not to walk right into her trap – finally his sense of self-preservation won out, just, and he managed to plaster an expression of polite neutrality over his face and enquire further, "about what?"

"About what you were saying earlier", the echidna informed him easily, the tip of her tongue poking out the corner of her lips as she gently slid the bottom of the mast into the anchor point at the very bottom of the ship itself, a sigh of relief letting the hedgehog she'd managed it successfully; _mind you, that's the easy bit – getting the decks to fit right once we've sorted them out right is going to be the real pain_; "you were right; it will be six months in December".

"What? Oh that", suddenly twigging onto where she was going with this the hedgehog nodded, "yeah, I told you it would be. I don't suppose you've got any ideas about anything to do because of it, and don't mention…" He had to smile a touch as the echidna's eyes darkened at the reminder and she scowled,

"I won't and if you so much as try…", the craft knife suddenly whistled though the air; Shadow immediately beating the grin off his lips to nod attentively at her less-than-subtle hint; it must have thankfully worked as she put the sharp object down gradually and relaxed again, continuing her line of thinking as if there had been no interruptions, "but yes, I've got a cunning plan". Her beaming smile told him everything he needed to know and, unable to see a way out of this one gracefully, Shadow simply shrugged and took the bullet to his ego,

"Okay, what have you managed to cook up this time; as long as it's better than the abomination you spawned from out the oven last week I'm not going to complain".

"Me neither; even I don't know how that happened – I must have knocked the temperature control with my elbow as I was standing up or something. Anyway, back on topic, how are you feeling up to a little challenge?" _Now this has potential_; stroking his bottom lip as though thinking, Shadow quickly sized up the situation and nodded at the echidna to continue; to his relief she did so without teasing, obviously desperate to show off her latest wheeze, "well how about this? I reckon you're right, we are independent of each other, it's just one of those things so Wyn was right, in the respect that it's going to have to be a present each".

"I can live with that", Shadow assured her with a nod before his tone took a slightly more velvety edge and Julie's guard rose accordingly, "so what's the challenge?"

"Okay, try this; no more than ten crests each, one present only and", this was the killer, he could tell; anything Julie saved to the last was virtually guaranteed to be her most powerful surprise, or most devastating blow, "it has to be something formal – we give them to each other just before we head out to meet the others on the tenth, and we have to wear or use them, so if it's a bad or insulting present everyone will get to see it and, I don't know about you of course, but I'll be very quick to point out where it came from. How's that?"

_This is really going to kill me to say this_; try as he might, wriggle as he could, there was no way he could twist and writhe enough to get out of admitting what was coming next; _I can't think of a single thing wrong with that_. Sucking on his teeth for a second, the hedgehog eventually glanced up, took one look at Julie's expectant expression and, finally, gave a single, shallow nod. Exultant with her victory, the echidna hissed with triumph and put her hand forwards, seeing to seal the deal there and then; Shadow nodded again and made to shake, only for the ex-Legionnaire to jerk her fingers upwards at the very last moment,

"What gives?"

"One thing", Julie stated clearly in a tone that brooked no argument, leaning forwards until her face was half-swallowed by semi-obscuring shades of grey, making her look even more formidable and ominous than normal, "if you for one second try to act on the suggestion made by your friend earlier, well let's just say the first, last and only time that 'risqué lingerie' will be seen at all will be in the middle of an autopsy, stuffed down the neck of your cold, dead corpse. Need I say more?"

"Nah, point taken, although"; _oh no – I know what you're thinking, and it's low, lower than low – I forbid you to say it, I forbid…oh, go on then, I'll never forgive myself otherwise will I?_; "if you were to try and choke me to death with the contents of your underwear drawer, can I at least have your word they'd be clean when you did so?" Her face fell like a rock; he couldn't help himself, he'd gone too far to risk stopping now, "I mean, you wouldn't just whip 'em off and do me in with 'em would you?"

She lasted five seconds, five seconds Shadow would remember for the rest of his days before her eyes suddenly yawned into pits of utter, helpless disgust and she clapped her hands over her mouth, almost giving the appearance of attempting to strangle herself as his words, as he'd hoped they would, set off a chain reaction in her mind that led to nothing pretty,

"Arruuughgh", the echidna's next words were equal parts horrified gargle and wrath-fuelled shriek; Shadow was long gone into throes of mirth as Julie gripped hold of the sides of her face as though trying to rip her head clean in half, "I can't get that…urrggghhh…it's in my head, I…eeeecckkkk…visions, the horror – get it out, get them ouuutttt!"

"You, you thought", the hedgehog choked as she fell onto her side, almost curling into a ball as grisly scenes spawned by his comment burst into a ghastly parody of life and paraded up and down in her mind, "you thought, I couldn't lower the tone, but I did", he crowed triumphantly, hugging his stomach and falling over as Julie was only able to quiver in response, barely able to look at him without grimacing and shuddering once more.

For some reason not a lot of ship-building was completed that night.

XXX

Nearly a fortnight later Julie found herself in a similar position, kneeling in the front room of her shared apartment, only this time her hands were still and she was merely gazing at the ship before her, taking it all in as for the last time her eyes scanned over the now scarred, chipped surface of the desk top it was backed upon and reassured her that she was right just to stay where she was and gaze at her work; it was no crime to be idle with this vessel now because there was nothing more she could do with this vessel.

The ship she and Shadow had laboured long and hard on was finally, utterly ready.

_Well, almost_; there was one thing left to do, one final piece of the puzzle that couldn't be inserted into place yet because Julie knew she wasn't the one who could place it; carefully picking up the miniature figurine, she examined the carved, varnished wood close up and nodded in deference to her original thought; _this last bit is for Shadow to put together_. Closing her eyes, Julie softly placed the figurehead of the vessel back onto the board before turning her attention back onto the rest of the ship itself, her fingers moving forwards gently, caressing certain areas of the sleek prow and sides of the vessel and lingering on a couple of features almost as though recognising the work that had gone into them, and not only the work that she and her flatmate had done. _Shadow always said it was the others who wrote his memory book for him_; the hedgehog's voice once more chimed in her mind, his words resonating through her sense of logic as she once more accepted his argument, the simplicity of the words he'd spoken; _and because of that, he said he wanted them to help build this thing, almost like a monument to Maria and the ARK itself. And they all pitched in, every single one of them…_

The 'portcullises' for example; she tapped each one lightly as her hands moved down the flanks of the replica in wood, a slight smile crossed over her face; even now she could feel the tension within the tiny wires that were still straining to pull the cupolas open and allow the guns to roll forwards and deliver the threatening broadside. But that hadn't, had never been Shadow's vision; as he'd said many times, at no time could he remember Maria being at all inclined with violence, and likewise even biblically the ARK, as the ship simply had to have been christened considering what Shadow now knew of his past, had always been a ship of mercy, not aggression and conquest; therefore no guns had been placed on the foredecks of this model. However, as they'd completed the lower decks Julie had noticed, and Charmy had commented a couple of times, that it just looked strange for the ship to have gun portals, yet no guns to be present within them; a ship of the line with no firepower, it seemed out of place.

So they'd tried to glue the cupolas shut only to realise how strong the wires keeping them open actually were; unless they held the wooden slats down until the glue was virtually hardened, the tension within these minuscule springs would be enough to rip the structure open again, leaving a chasm that could only be explainably filled by the barrel of a cannon. _We were at a loss_; even by their most optimistic estimates of time, she and Shadow had come to the unwelcome conclusion that it was probably going to take them the better part of a full week and weekend to get every single one of the cupolas shut; _but then Vector came through for us. Typical scaly though_; her eyes glistened with laughter for a second, a grin tugging her lips as she remembered what Mighty had once confided to her when the crocodile had cropped up in polite conversation; _nothing he does is every far away from for a handy supply of cash._

She'd been as mystified as Shadow when, out of the blue, the knock had come and, rather than Charmy, the head of the Chaotix had stood smiling at them from the doorway, giving a friendly comment to their momentary gormlessness before sauntering inside, shutting the door behind him whilst the mammal and the monotreme had been shaking their heads in confusion. Even now she could hear Shadow's question when, over a 'nice steamin' cuppa', Vector had enlightened them to a solution to their problem and backed up his bold declaration by throwing it onto the kitchen table with a heavy chink:

_"Err, Vec", the ebon hedgehog scratched the side of his head for a moment, not at all sure if the reptile had his facts completely straight as he finished, "might just be me being stupid here, but how's a fistful of coppers going to help?"_

_"Ah, thought you'd say sommat like that", the crocodile confidently confided with a cheerful wink before kicking his chair back and standing up, "I'll show ya now if ya want – you'll get the idea, then I can leave ya both to it. Right, where's this boat o'yours 'aboured?"_

_"In the lounge"._

_"Right then, les' get crackin'"; having done just that with his knuckles, the leader of the Chaotix had scooped up the money bag and then took the lead towards the half-completed ship and knelt down beside it, sliding a single copper into the palm of his calloused hand as he did so, talking all the while as they'd both looked on over his shoulder,_

_"Now laugh if ya wanna, but a long time back I use'ta do the ol' wargamin' – nothing pro like, just a bitta fun when I was kickin' around in me teens. This is how I used to get the models to stand upright, 'specially the top-'eavy ones, made'a metal like, kept fallin' over. All ya do is; Jules, be a doll and 'and me the metal clippers will ya? Cheers"_;at his wink and smile she couldn't help but admit she'd cracked a grin of her own before he turned serious again;_ "well, jus' get one o' these little coins, get one o' these blocks", he'd picked up one of the loose cupola covers and held it loosely over the surface of the coin, a remarkable feat for someone as deceptively clumsy as the crocodile appeared to be, "take yer clippers an', be careful like, don't want one o'ya to lose a fingertip on my 'ccount, but cut 'round the block like this", gently and carefully Vector snipped a cut out of the cupola in the metal of the coin itself, going steady with the work and rewarded a couple of seconds later when the small square of metal fell into his palm. Holding it triumphantly, he'd taken up the glue, snipped the corners off the square, placed a small bead of the solvent onto the metal and then turned to them,_

_"Right, this is another little tip I picked up, bit messy though – I'll unnerstand if ya take no notice o' this one, but this glue works by binding water molecules together, gotta love chemistry one-oh-one for that piece of info, so if you want to get it to set quick, all ya gotta do is…" and he spat carefully into the interior of the cupola he'd just cut around before sliding the cut-out inside it, gluey side down. He'd waited a couple of seconds before inverting the finished piece and shaking it, speaking as he did so as she goggled at the feat, Shadow by the side of her equally transfixed,_

_"See; that square ain't gonna move now, so for my next trick", using the glue again, the crocodile had quickly smeared a thin ribbon around the lips of the gun hole and then licked his thumb, smearing the edges of the cupola cover with saliva. Hooking the spring at the top of the cupola around the virtually microscopic hook in the side of the ship that fixed it in place, Vector then carefully pressed down, gently easing the lid of the hold shut and holding it there for about five seconds_;Julie remembered thinking the second he let go it was going to spring back upright the same way it had with all her and Shadow's efforts so far, but no_; when he released the pressure, it stayed down._

_"See, 'cause of that square the lid's heavy, and the glue's workin' already 'cause of the water it had there to bind with instan'ly", nodding in satisfaction at the work, the crocodile let the little bag of coppers clatter to the desktop, "so that'll save ya both some time"._

_"Some time"_;Shadow had been incredulous as he'd slapped the Chaotix's muscled shoulder;_ "Vec, you've been a life-saver". He'd grinned abashedly_; Julie had to wonder how someone as seemingly formidable as the ferocious looking crocodile could be so comprehensively disarmed by such a gesture of friendliness; _and shrugged, clearing his throat as he did so,_

_"Ah, it's nuthin, 'sides"_; he'd nodded at the coins he'd left behind; _"ya look like ya need 'em more than I do anymore"._

_"Aha"_; Julie had been sure she'd seen the connection behind why Vector was finding it hard to part with such a collection of virtually worthless copper coins; _"a memento of your detective days – Charmy said you lot were so broke you were living off bread and jam most of the time". Vector had looked up and given an expression torn between wistfulness and serious contemplation,_

_"Right an' wrong Jules – yeah, I've had these in me pocket fer years, even since 'fore we all turned to bein' P.I.'s", his eyes had turned deadly serious_; she'd recognised he was trying to fight off reminders from his past that he'd rather stay buried; _"I dunno how it works up 'ere, but back in the Square brass knucks are 'ard to find, and the old bill don't tend to look too kindly on ya for 'aving a set. These coppers put a cannon in me right cross that got me outta more than a few scrapes", he'd smiled at them disarmingly, especially as Shadow had reached to try and gather them up, doubtless try to offer them back if they meant so much, "but, like I said, that was another part o'me life, I've moved on. I don't want 'em no more, and your need is greater'an mine, so, off ya go". He'd swept his hand over the ship, the tools of his former aggression to be incorporated into a monument of mercy and stood up, Shadow mirroring the action with deep, deep respect and thankfulness in his voice as he did so,_

_"Vec"_; Julie blinked – even the memory was nearly enough to make her throat constrict and eyes water; _"if there's anything we, I mean I, can do…"_

_"Actually Shads, yeah, I been thinkin' an' yeah, there is something", his eyes had twinkled with fun as he'd leant forward ominously, "next time we go on a night out, you pick up the tab at the end o' the night – how's that? Shadow, ah, that were a joke – put the coppers down, I'm…"_

"Julie?"

The voice snapped her head around, the phantom Shadow that had been stooping to gather up the coins Vector had laid down before proceeding to leather the impudent crocodile vanished as the flesh-and-blood version regarded her from the doorway, cocking his head as she blinked,

"You alright?"

"Yeah, yeah sorry, lost in thought".

"Oh, okay", taking a step forwards he stretched his arms up, the gesture offered by a pop in the small of his back, "anything on your mind in particular?"

"You bet", she shuffled to the side, giving him a clear view of what she was blocking from his field of vision, "see for yourself".

XXX

She shuffled around on her knees, seeking to remove herself from Shadow's path as the hedgehog walked past, virtually transfixed by the sight before him; his eyes were barely focussed, his movements uncoordinated as he almost stumbled towards the completed vessel, voice a strangled, hoarse whisper,

"Finished", suddenly he turned to look at her, something in his eyes almost burning beyond the film of tears the glistened there as Julie had to glance at the floor, not able to see him eye to eye, "you finished it?"

"No, not quite; look", she pointed at where the figurehead was still on the tabletop, nor yet slotted into its moorings, the last step of this construction, "you've got to, to just glue the figurehead on, then it's finished". He didn't reply; in all honesty she hadn't expected him to – despite the fact he must have known it wouldn't have taken much longer to do due to the amount of work that all parties had put into this project, the imminent certainty rearing up before him must have come as a major shock nevertheless. With shaking fingers the hedgehog reached down, Julie felt her fists clench of their own volition, mentally urging the hedgehog on; _you're the one here Shads_; he brought this last fragment to his eyes, looking at it closely before turning to gaze down at the ship itself again; _you put that in and Maria's safe, you'll always have her. Come on, what are you waiting for?_ The expectancy was reaching fever pitch; even for someone as normally laid-back as she could be at times it was a real struggle to keep her jaw clenched shut, resist the urge to keep a lid on the comments she so desperately wanted to make in order to see this toil ended. But, as Shadow stooped and there came the sound of wood on wood, the bindings were removed from the echidna's jaw and it suddenly hung loosely open, speechless at what had just transpired before her unbelieving eyes.

Shadow had put the figurine down, carefully, by the side of the vessel; he'd deliberately left it unfinished.

_What – Shadow, how can you…?_; something must have been transmitted from her eyes to his back as he slowly eased himself around to look at her and gave a sad, almost weary smile,

"I know what you're thinking", he said, his voice quiet but simultaneously filled with some mysterious quality that Julie instinctively knew she had to pay attention to and didn't dare to contradict, "but I've given this a lot of thought over the past couple of days Jules, especially when I saw how quickly we were getting on with this. I wanted it to be this way you see", he gave a sombre chuckle, Julie losing a little of her awestruck stupor and instead rocking forwards, paying attention to his explanation of his plan, "the figurehead, well traditionally it's supposed to point the way towards the ships' destination right?"

"Yeah?" Even if she'd had no idea at all about the traditions of the nautical profession she'd have agreed with him; fortunately he didn't seem to notice her tremor of indecision, carrying on with his explanation in the same serious, quiet tone he'd been using,

"Well, especially in this sort of thing, I've never had any kind of direction for myself; because of what happened with Metal I lost my directions – I had to rely on other people to point me to where I needed to go. This", he stooped and picked up the figurehead again, mirth beginning to seep into his expression as carefully twirled the wood between his fingers, "I think, in fact I'm sure, this needs to be put into place by the guy who gave me a bearing in the first place, someone who actually showed me what had gone on before the world's most lethal can-opener put my lights out…"

"Sonic?" Julie blurted out as she made the connection, the knowledge of where hew as going with this line of thinking hitting like ton of bricks; as Shadow glanced at her she almost blushed, looking at the floor in front of her like a chastised schoolchild before, mercifully, she heard his voice again and let out a quiet sigh of relief; _thank goodness, I thought for a minute he was going to have a go at me for ruining his big moment_;

"Yeah; without him I'd never even have made it this far. So", suddenly flippant, he tossed the figurine into the air and caught it dexterously, a grin on his face breaking the tension in the room with an almost audible crack, "I'll get on the blower to Tails later on, let him know that it's a go for Friday".

"Friday?" Julie repeated suddenly, the date chiming in her mind and leading her to rethink her future plans very quickly; in a bid to earn more thinking time she probed more for his plans in what she hoped was a casual manner, "what's going on then?"

"Well I was hoping to get down to Station Square Friday night; I'll have to skip massages for one night though, have to let Honey know if this all works out, but I'll stay over the night with Sonic and Ames; hitch a lift back up with Tails and get back here and get ready for the big night on Saturday. Not a bad bit of planning for a ten minute brainstorm, what you think?"

"Not bad"; _you don't really need him, what if he says… - he won't, and I haven't got a clue anyway, if anything I can be sure he'll be completely honest_; fingers twisting in the bottom of her shirt, the ex-Legionnaire fought to separate the warring halves of her mind and hammer out something like a solution to her problem in a balanced and, more importantly, a hasty manner,

"Julie?" _Oh great_; time was suddenly up – Shadow was looking at her directly in a very quizzical manner and she had to make a snap decision, "everything okay?"

"Yeah, sort of", she stuttered, mind racing a million miles a minute before she slammed on the breaks and thrust the words out of her mouth, "there just something I wanted to do on Friday, but I can…"

"What?"

"Nothing, I'll get Mighty…"

"Julie", the edge of firmness in his voice broke off both her speech and the faint thrillings of virtual hysteria in her voice as Shadow took a step towards her, "I asked what your plan was", his eyes suddenly narrowed, brow furrowing as another question was triggered by the first one, "and why didn't you tell me earlier, I could have rearranged this whole thing".

"No, no you couldn't; this is much more important than my thing", Julie assured him before crossing her fingers behind her back, inwardly praying for a minor miracle that this wouldn't sound too embarrassing and spoke again, her voice thick with glottal self-indignation, "I, just wanted a bit of company when I went to pick up, er, what I'll be wearing Saturday, that was all".

The sudden groan before her sent her stomach plummeting into her shoes; she looked up to see Shadow with his face in one hand and the blood stopped pumping around her system, freezing to crimson slush in her veins as her tongue was tied; _any second now, any second now he'll say something smart_; and all she could do was wait for the axe to fall.

"Oh hell", his curse was just the prelude, of that she was certain, "I'm sorry Jules, I'd forgotten about that", his fingers parted slightly; she found herself meeting the gaze of one of his vermillion eyes before one of the corners of his smile poked out from under his hand and he finished, "just out of interest, did you all get through that work they called you in for?"

"Yeah, just about got the last of the paperwork sent off today", Julie filled him in, remembering with equal parts incredulity and horror the phone call she'd had first thing on Saturday morning, a request from the weekend manager of typing pool four asking if she'd be at all free in the day to come in an put in a weekend of work, paid overtime of course, "about time, but if it goes off right this could be huge Shads; I've never seen the store-front cops buzzing like they were last week about this one – Dari and Kiss are virtual celebrities now because of this".

"What was it again – I know it was a huge case the pair of them cracked but why the extra workload?"

"Because we're having to pass the information down to forces all across the surface world", Julie explained, recalling with perfect clarity wondering about some of the addresses she'd filled in on the computer files and if they were actually as exotic as they sounded, "no jokes here; in the dining room I heard a couple of the top boys, just a step off Remington himself, saying this could smash one of the world's biggest drug rings if they get all the contacts nailed down before they catch wind of it". Interest certainly piqued by this, the hedgehog leaned forwards, infected slightly by his normally stoic flatmate's evident excitement,

"What was the case – how'd they get hold of all this?" _Come on, no need for that after everything I've just said_; he kept his face carefully neutral as Julie wagged a finger, smirking slightly,

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you; top secret you know", his raised eyebrow was luckily enough, the echidna backing down before he had to break out the cheap shots, "but they both said they managed to collar some punk in one of the factories downtown, well, he came running out just as the warrant came through – there was a big briefcase full of stuff that we sent through the paper mill normally. The second Station Square and a couple of other places got hold of it they went mental; names on there they'd been after for years, locations and gangs all over the shop – we went into overdrive to get it out quick enough but because of that", a slight frown creased her face, remembering the ball of disappointment that had settled in her stomach even as she'd said yes to the sudden summons and planned how to get to work for the day, "I got a hole blown in my big-day schedule".

"And you were hoping to make it up this weekend, right before Saturday?"

"That's about the size of it".

"And you", Shadow smirked as Julie glowered; _you walked right into that one trooper – first rule of warfare, expect the other side to be as underhanded as you can be_; "but, regarding this problem, you feeling up to a slightly earlier shopping spree? Say, maybe tomorrow or Thursday night?"

"Tomorrow; no, need to hit the banks and get everything organised, but Thursday's sounding like a good idea; bit of a first from you that". _One-all I think_; and from Shadow's sardonic smile she reckoned she was right with that assumption; he held the expression for a second before clapping his hands,

"Then it's settled; now, if you'd be so kind as to start thinking about getting dinner sorted", he gestured insinuatingly to the lounge door before jerking a thumb over his shoulder, "I've got a couple of calls to make". To his pleasant surprise rather than making a comment Julie merely nodded; he turned and was just starting to reach for the vid-screen before her voice from the doorway made him pause,

"Hey", he looked over to see her stood with her hands on her hips, "when you talk to Sonic, ask him if he can point north will you?"

"Why?" Julie laughed for a second at a joke only she seemed able to see; _but_; the hedgehog braced himself;_ I'm sure I'll hear it in a minute_;

"Well he gave you directions didn't he? How good could those have been if he can't point north himself?"

"Better than any directions you've ever had", Shadow cut back quickly, seeking to steal away the initiative, "the only places you ever seem to go is either in circles, out in the cold and wet or up the wall". Julie opened her mouth, closed it again and thought for a minute; Shadow felt warm victory stoking up a crackling fire in his belly as she finally shook her head before leering at him evilly,

"Okay spiky, you win this round but I'll be back". She turned to retreat into the kitchen to lick her wounds when Shadow's voice called a halt to the fallback, the warmth starting to grow slightly uncomfortably, prickling both up and down his body to seize control of his tongue for a moment, adding onto the ground he'd already laid down and running over it before his natural caution could dare override it,

"Anyway even if he can't tell left from right, which he actually can't by the way, I've got reason to be grateful for Sonic telling me where to go; you might too, for that matter?"

"Why's that?" Shadow spoke without turning around, expression hidden and, in turn, granting her some privacy as he spoke the next words that sent chill and excitement in equal measure spearing deep through Julie's expectations and future plans,

"It led to finding you didn't it?"

XXX

Those words haunted her for days afterwards; even now as she stepped into the slinky evening dress and began pulling the material up and over her shoulders, she could hear the hedgehog's voice repeat that same, echoing phrase. Awkwardly enough it was her reaction to such a statement that she couldn't recall so well; _I just about got to the kitchen, I think I did something about dinner and that was it – mind pretty much blank after that. I should have said something_; it was only as she reached behind her to pull the zip upwards, parting the fabric on either side of the zipper to make sure it didn't jam up the mechanism, that she shook her head slightly as she dredged up the conclusion she'd come to that night, just before she'd fallen into slumber; _and I would have done, if only it hadn't been so damn true_. Therein lay the rub; what Shadow said had been exactly true and there was nothing she could do to say otherwise; if he hadn't come up to Angle Island, she'd never have bumped into him and…she shivered, not wanting to really consider too long the myriad possibilities that might have awaited her in such a circumstance – none of them could be regarded as being even the least bit optimistic. _Still, no point looking back_; she raised her head proudly and smoothed the material down around her flanks; _I'm here, Shadow's here and right now I'm keeping him waiting_; she reached for the curtain at the edge of the changing booth, hesitated for just a second as the malevolent possibility of coming out of here looking like a fool in front of the entire store ran over her like a ghostly hand, then shook off such apprehension and almost ripped the curtain aside, taking a couple of confident-looking strides into the lobby of the store and sweeping around to see where Shadow was.

A sudden hot spike of jealousy ripped up through her mind, barely stopping just short of her lips as she quickly recognised Shadow wasn't actually looking at the extraordinarily pretty gym-bunny that had slid out of a cubical about half a dozen up from hers, modelling some two-piece suit in a size so absurdly small even Rouge would probably have to hold her breath to squeeze inside it, he was looking slightly beyond her; _just as well he didn't see that_. Hastily recomposing herself, the ex-Legionnaire took a step forwards fighting hard not to blush as Shadow, obviously seeing her from the corner of his eye, stood up and walked towards her, hands open and in front of him as he attempted to decrease her evident abashment,

"Now be honest", he stopped short of her as she could only hope he'd not see through the false briskness in her voice, "if you're not the only time I'll know this isn't the one is in front of everyone else and I'll never forgive you".

"Point taken"; _keep your cool, she's just nervous_; though he was quite justified in feeling a twinge of annoyance at her orders, Shadow was intelligent enough to understand the rationale behind her snappiness, "now, let's see". He could virtually feel the tension radiating from his housemate as he slowly paced around her; completely alien to this sort of attention, it must have been a truly unsettling experience to go through – not for the first time, Shadow was grateful that the one smart suit he owned was versatile enough to cope with all occasions. He completed his stately observation, arriving back in front of Julie and, though tempted for a moment to string her along a bit, he couldn't really be that cruel and so, after a split-second of thinking how to phrase his observations right, the hedgehog began,

"Right, well first off I don't think it's the one", Julie's face fell but, to her credit even as he was scrabbling to say something heartening she stopped the rot with a visible effort, trying to view the entire exercise from a scientific perspective and pursing her lips as she did so,

"Okay", she leaned back to try and look over her shoulder, "what's wrong with it?"

"Nothing major; it's got a lot of good points this one – for a start", he gave an understanding smile that nevertheless conveyed a good deal of humour, Julie tapping her fingertips together in a gesture of expectant nonchalance as he did so, "there's no need for you to worry about what you're worried about; why, anyway", he said suddenly, catching the echidna off-guard and pressing forwards while he had the advantage, "you've got curves other women would kill for, don't be afraid of them".

For a second Julie didn't speak; she didn't trust herself to – she was desperately trying to absorb what Shadow had just brazenly admitted to her without either her mouth falling open or, even more unforgivably in a public venue like this, tearing up. She merely stood rooted to the spot for a moment, barely able to breathe through the veil of shock in her mind before reality reasserted itself with a torturous crunch; _I'll deal with what he said later – he said it, that's the main thing_.

"Right, I'll, er, I'll bear that in mind", she said faintly, though she was grateful to hear some strength starting to seep back into her voice as she continued, "so, that's not a problem; what is?" Shadow gave a laugh,

"Well for a start there's this", he flicked his hand towards her stomach; she tensed instinctively despite the puny impact of the tap, noticing as she did so the fabric ripple spreading outwards from the impact zone, "your stomach's flat as an ironing board, you've got to show that off more".

"So you think a two-piece would work?"

"No, not necessarily"; _why is she asking me for fashion advice?_; it would have been amusing had they not been taking their respective duties so seriously; _as if I look like I've got any sort of experience in this field_; "you'll easily get away with something like you've got, it's just got to fit you better, you know", he wrapped his arms around himself slightly as if to emphasise the point, "be a bit more snug in the right places, and come and have a look at this". He beckoned, suddenly excited at something and, stung by curiosity, Julie followed, noticing they were heading in the direction he'd been staring in earlier and wondering what had piqued his interest so well.

The answer came in the shape of a row of dresses, black, sleeveless evening gowns like she was trying out at the moment, or where they actually black? That was strange; Julie could have sworn for a second that the material had rippled as she'd approached, been ruffled by the air conditioning, only to realise she was feeling nothing on her skin even as the thought approached her mind; the air was completely still. What was going on?

"I saw these just as you were fitting yourself up last", the hedgehog explained as they reached the rack, pulling off one of the dresses there and holding it up before her, allowing her to lose the illusion that had dogged her previously, "what do you think?"

"Er, I'm not sure", the ex-Legionnaire said in complete honest, reaching forwards to brush the material with he forefinger, "I wonder how they got it to ripple like that; it looked like it changed colour".

"I'm not…ah, here we are; genuine chameleon skin – I'm joking", he said quickly at Julie's horrified expression, "believe me if it was we wouldn't be here; Espio's bad enough at the best of times; I'd hate to think what would happen if you turned up wearing one of his relatives". Julie shuddered,

"That is a disgusting thought, but whatever it is it's interesting", stepping forwards, she pulled one of the dresses in her size off the rack and held it against herself; seeing a few signs of encouragement, Shadow leant forwards to offer a couple more,

"I saw it and they reminded me of you a bit; your fur does something like this, your eyes do as well, in fact especially; I remembered the first time I actually saw you", he had as well, every detail and the confusion that had resulted from it, "I couldn't tell what colour you actually were, still can't as a matter of fact". Julie glanced up at him haughtily,

"I'm my colour; that's what mum always told me anyway. Right", double-checking the label at the neck of the dress to make sure it would fit, she draped it over one arm and jerked a thumb towards the changing booth, "let's see what this looks like".

"Go for it", Shadow said encouragingly, only letting his relief show when she had her back to him; _and while you're doing that, there's something I've got to go for…_

XXX

She smoothed it down, the material felt like velvet, wrapping around her like the world's softest bath towel in a caress that almost made her shiver; _this is warm, even in winter this'll be warm_. That had been one of her niggles about this whole celebration, the fact that she was going to have to wear whatever outfit she chose in near enough the middle of winter, but this material seemed easily able to keep out the bitterest of chills. Taking a look in the mirror, pirouetting once and then again to make sure she was seeing things right, Julie was suddenly unable to keep a smile from her face – Shadow had, just for once, hit the nail on the head. The material shimmered in the rippling light, rainbows dancing over the dress and confusing the eye slightly as to where her actual outline really was, keeping obscured the areas she still wasn't exactly comfortable with at the same time as highlighting one of her favourite assets; the unusual colour of her natural fur. Striking a pose in the mirror before grinning at the reflection, Julie glanced down at herself one last time to see the overall effect, nodded and finally pulled the curtain back; _huh, where'd he…?_

"Hey", a voice almost in her ear made her jump, "that looks awesome; I know you said you wanted honesty and that's it, straight from the hedgehog's mouth". Not quite turning around the ex-Legionnaire answered, catching a patch of darkness in her peripheral vision and speaking towards it,

"Yep, it fits like a glove, and it's warm as well, which I was quite surprised at; there is, however, one minor niggle with this ensemble", she turned to face the former ultimate life-form with her shoulders shrugging, "I don't have any shoes that'll go with…no", the warning in her voice was partly down to shock taking away her ability to see things rationally and partly down to outright refusal to part with any more cash than was necessary as she saw the box Shadow held casually in his hands, "you – how'd you know my shoe size?"

"Caught a look at you trainers; you left them by the door after all", Shadow nodded nonchalantly towards where Julie's aforementioned footwear was propped up by the changing cubicle entryway, "anyway, give them a whirl, what's wrong with them?" Julie shook her head, a little ashamed to be admitting what she had to say next but unable to wriggle out of it anyway,

"Look, this dress is just about breaking the bank as it is; I can't afford matching shoes as well".

"Who said you were paying?" _He would as well_; that was even more reason to say no; even if, she grudgingly admitted, what little of the shoes she could see through the crack under the box lid was sorely tempting, she couldn't accept so much charity,

"Shadow, forget it"; _aha, got him_; an idea flashed up in her mind and she seized it, moulding it into the ace she needed to win this hand with her verbal sparring partner, "I might not be the world's top fashion guru but even I know what's in that box is going to be weighing in at a lot more than a ten crest note".

"And you're probably right", Shadow agreed with her before the humour drained from his expression, only seriousness left in his face as he opened his wallet and spoke gravely, "but this isn't a present Julie; consider this as an IOU, for all the work you did on the ARK".

_Oh what_; once more, with his impeccable timing, Shadow slammed her right onto the spot and she gritted her teeth behind her lips; _why do you always put me in the tight corners pal – say no and I feel awful, say yes and I feel if anything worse – you just have to pick your moments Blackie_;

"But", she had to say something at the same time as raise her arms as though warding off his intentions, however noble and good they might have been, "come on, that, that wasn't work…"

"You spent a lot of time on it Jules"; _no, you are not pulling a Mighty on me_;

"I know but I wanted to", she said fiercely, frustrated at everyone pushing her on the defensive all the time and rallying to fight on the front foot for a change, "it meant a lot to you to get that ship finished, I knew that so I pitched in as I could, so did everyone else; what, you going to buy everyone who helped a nice pair of high heels?" The comment made Shadow chuckle as she managed to keep her guffaws in check, the image of Vector trying to totter forwards in a pair of stilettos not helping matters in that regard but she managed to stay in control overall,

"Well I'm not too sure what Knuckles would have to say on the matter if I turned up on the doorstep with a matching pair of his n' hers, but that's not the point", once more his face set, loosing all sense of humour, in fact all sense of anything save the need to get his point across, "you started it Julie; put it like this", he changed tack slightly as she raised an eyebrow, not sure at all what he'd meant by that last comment, "if you hadn't come in three weeks ago with a large box containing what would eventually become the ARK, I wouldn't be stood here now holding a slightly smaller box containing what will eventually be the finishing compliment to your evening this weekend. Sound about fair?"

"That makes so little sense it actually makes perfect sense", Julie replied after a second of trying to twist her head around that sort of a statement, "you've signed up to the Mighty school of thinking haven't you?" Shadow laughed and tapped the side of his head,

"Gotta love that armadillo logic, now come on", he suddenly shoved the box into her hand, "try them on and if they fit let's get out of here – I hate shopping at the best of times".

"All right"; _if I say no we'll just be here all night arguing_; Julie explained to herself as she retreated into the changing cubicle, lifting the box lid and indignantly refusing to acknowledge the part of her mind that gaped in awe at the sight awaiting her as she did so; _and they're good shoes – hmm, look a bit tight, but maybe they'll have them stocked in a wider arch. You never know, it could be my lucky night – or, in fact_; checking the curtain was securely drawn and she was alone with her thoughts, the echidna sank onto the little seat and gave a weary yet enlightened sigh, drawing up the right shoe of the pair and unconsciously admiring as it rotated by the strap she held allowing her to see all angles perfectly; _a night that just got luckier as it went on. Damn it Shadow_; she reached down and slid her foot down through the top of the shoe, giving a little squeak at the sudden coldness of the sole; _I argue with you, I swap gifts with you, I even bloody well half-break your nose a couple of times and you still don't get it. Mind you_; having finished tying the bow at the top and rising to her feet, the ex-Legionnaire gave another sight a she gingerly transferred more weight onto the foot encased by the pointed heel; _they way things are panning out, I guess I'm not sure of the picture any more either._

XXX

His hand shot out and stifled the alarm almost before it came on; as was his custom, he sank back in his bed for a couple of minutes before suddenly exploding upwards, throwing of the blanket as he did so and standing up on the bed itself, giving a fearsome stretch and yawn. _Right_; his brain clicked back into gear as he twisted his back suddenly, a couple of popping noises from his spine really putting the snap into his morning; _breakfast, work, from work straight to the landing ground, catch the Tornado, get to Station Square, walk into town quick as and get this ship completed._ The last part of the overall plan he left out, even now not a hundred percent sure if he wanted to go through with it; after standing motionless for a moment, he dashed the idea from his mind he had more important things to focus on right now, one of which, his stomach reminded him with an angry growl, was most definitely breakfast. Though not usually one for taking much on in the morning, Shadow knew that today he didn't have an option – the tightness of the time between the end of work and him rendezvousing with Tails, compounded by the fact that he didn't dare run with his precious cargo, meant he'd have to skip dinner. Rolling his neck around and hearing it crunch thickly, he gave one last yawn before shaking himself down and hopping lightly onto the floor, mind already occupied with visions of freshly grilled crumpets washed down with a thick mug of his favourite strawberry coffee.

About half an hour later, when he had finally managed to steer the carrying case containing the completed ARK around the kitchen door without causing too many bumps and scrapes, he was finally ready to go; in fact he was just reaching for the front door handle when a sudden voice from the other end of the hallway froze him in his tracks,

"So", numb with shock from both the sound and, as he traversed his body around, the sight of Julie in her nightdress standing in the bedroom doorway, leaning on one of the posts at the same time as smirk at his glassy expression, "that you off then?"

"Er, y,yeah"; she gave a huff and folded her arms, body language grimmer even if her smile never changed,

"Well, aren't you going to say goodbye?"

"I, er"; _you really need to get a grip on this_; it was all well and good saying that but it was trying to do it that was proving problematic – still gawping like a fish Shadow couldn't call on any of his natural witticism and was left with only the truth, "I didn't think you'd be up".

"The things I do for you", the echidna commented with a faintly mocking ring to her voice, the sudden reversion to the natural scheme of things helping to kick Shadow's brain out of its stupor and reach for an answer, "anyway, have a good time and give my regard to Amy; tell Sonic to stay out the corners". Seeing the humour in her eyes Shadow laughed,

"I'm sure even he should have leant by now"; _that was actually pretty good – why's she…hello…_; Shadow would have protested about the manner in which the echidna was approaching him down the hallway had his mind not fogged up again; instead of saying something all he was able to do was open his arms to accept Julie's embrace – suddenly she turned her face towards his…

…and then she kissed him.

Gently, on the lips.

"Go on then", Shadow blinked, the sound of Julie's voice a second after the event seeming to come from a long way away; it was only when she started pushing him towards the doorway that he managed to reconnect his brain to his body and stumble forwards, just stooping in time to scoop up his backpack and the ARK before he past his front door, pulled it shut behind him with one last dreamy wave to the echidna on the other side of it, then walked towards the stairs, the ground nearly falling away beneath his feet as he tried to take in what had just happened. Tried, but failed; in fact so huge was the shock that he carried on failing until it was near enough lunch time and he was halfway through one of his deliveries.

However, a minute after he took in what had happened, everyone within earshot of a public convenience at the edge of one of Echidnopolis's many central parks might well have been giving that particular booth a very wide berth indeed – with the amount of almost rabid hollering issuing forth from within it, they could all have to been forgiven for fearing there was a maniac inside.

XXX

Tails gave her the nudge just as she pushed the pencil back into the book spine and shook her head; _nah, still don't get it_; despite the fact that the fox had explained the rules over and over until they were continually lodged in her brain, the simple fact of the matter was that no matter how many configurations she tried to squeeze the numbers into, there was just no way she could get this Suduko cracked. Looking over as she slid the puzzle book into the glove compartment, Cream's face split into a smile as she beheld both who was approaching and the two large containers he was carrying as well. _Oh I hope I can see it now it's done_; she clasped her hands together as the fox in the co-pilot's seat hit the release for the cockpit – she'd begged her mother to let her leave school early, just this once, even if Vanilla had been very strict in demanding that her flight practise never interfered with her regular education and just this once even her mother's hardest heart had melted enough to give her permission for that one crucial hour off. That hour made all the difference; now she'd been able to fly to Angel Island again and, she had to smile as Shadow saw her take to the air and gaped at her, give the hedgehog a little extra surprise before he arrived back in Station Square. Of the pair of pilots Tails landed slightly the quicker, coming to the ground and standing tall in front of Shadow, the hedgehog still not quite taking his eyes off the rabbit just coming into land behind her instructor,

"Well now Shads, that you all ready?"

"Yeah", the former ultimate life-form gasped dreamily; it was only when he tremulously reached out to touch Cream's extended hand that he seemed to come back to earth with a bump and question, "but how'd you get here – no funny answers"; _aww_; her first smart comment had been primed on the tip of her tongue and she pouted as Shadow spoiled her verbal fun, "I mean shouldn't you be in school?" Cream laughed and pawed the air in front of her dismissively,

"No, that finished", she glanced at her watch, "all of eight minutes ago; mum wrote a note saying I had to skip French", she made a face of distaste, airing her tongue as though it were stinging, "as if you need a note to want to do that".

"You better not missy, not if I get word of it", Shadow warned her severely before hefting his bags and adopting a lighter tone, "but as this was a break given permission for, I'm glad you're here and, I might ad, carrying on with your training".

"Of course", the rabbit assured him as Tails, having nodded his greeting, took off again and hit the button to make the Tornado's boarding ramp lower, "it was just nerves got to me; actually it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be once I was actually doing it, I'd just cocked up before I could get into my stride. But I've got a better idea what to do next time – with a bit of luck I'll pass".

"And without any luck at all you'll pass with flying colours", Tails shouted down to the pair of them, the ramp of his mechanised vehicle touching down onto Angel Island with a slight tap, "by the time I'm through training you at least. Anyway, all aboard", he beckoned imperiously; Shadow and Cream said a brief goodbye before they went their separate ways. As he fastened the box containing his prized position into the seat opposite him, Shadow swept his eyes around the Tornado and, noticing the speakers that connected to the cockpit were still present, he spoke loudly in their general direction,

"Thanks for the lift again you two; when we get downstairs I'll open the box, I promise".

"You better", Tails called back over the whine of the engines increasing in pitch as they gathered momentum for take-off, "were you allowed to store it at work in the end, or did you have to nip home?"

"Nah, managed to sandwich all my gear under Honey's desk", Shadow as able to reply with a smile as he buckled himself in, "she didn't mind; actually liked it all being there, said it kept her feet warm. She's seen it too, that was the rent I had to pay you see?"

"What did she say?" _Nothing, and I was glad about that_; with but an instants' reflection the hedgehog could clearly picture his favourite workmate's transfixed expression, jaw hanging almost slack as she beheld the miniature vessel as it lay protected within its carry case,

"Hopefully", the hedgehog replied after a second's careful thought, "she said the same things you will". There was a sudden burst of giggling from the cockpit before Cream, voice shaking with laughter, managed to choke her response of,

"Amen to that", back into the passenger compartment before there was a sudden flat-line buzz emitted from the speaker array. Recognising from the noise that he had some privacy from the well-mannered pilots, Shadow clasped his hands in his lap, closed his eyes momentarily and began mentally reciting his carefully thought out plan, ironing out any last minute flaws and, occasionally, reaching over to touch the handle of the ARK's carry case, reassuring himself that what was to happen next really would mean the atonement for his unfulfilled promise in the past.

XXX

The presence of Cream at the pick-up point had been a surprise; the sudden vision from the Tornado window of two other intimately familiar Mobians present on the sides of the runway at the Mystic Ruins really hit him like a bolt from the blue – even before he was fully unbuckled and stood up it seemed that Sonic was in the Tornado with him, the blue blur shaking his hand, jade eyes alight with concern and happiness equally,

"Shads, how's it been up there?"

"Umm…"

"I mean, I'll not deny I was worried when we had to leave you last time", his azure opposite number carried on without leaving Shadow with the opportunity to slide a word in edgeways, "I knew we were leaving you in good hands and all that but, man", Sonic shook his head, tone gaining weight and purpose as he looked up, meeting the former ultimate life-form square in the face, "we always knew remembering her would be the biggest step you could make", suddenly those effervescent eyes were dim with mourning and sorrow, "I'm only sorry it had to be so painful".

The words touched him, deeply; Shadow could but hope that Sonic's looking down at the point where he blinked the wetness in his eyes away was a rare flash of insight from the cobalt hedgehog's normal take on emotional privacy. After what seemed like an age of trying to pick up his tongue and shrink it back to a size where it would conveniently fit back into his mouth, the ebon hedgehog was able to give a stunned, hesitant reply,

"It, couldn't be helped", he murmured before the words spawned a next sentence, a new clarity of the trials he'd gone through being justified by the rewards he'd reaped in the end, "and, after all, I'm not going to have to remember her, or in fact anything about the ARK, ever again; it's all here now", he tapped the side of his head as Sonic looked on, seemingly encouraged by his pragmatic approach to the subject, "and it's never getting out again".

_Great – Tails you really were telling the truth_; not that he'd ever thought his adopted sibling dishonest, but no matter how many promises both Tails and Cream had made when they'd sworn they were telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth about how Shadow was faring away from them all in the aftermath of his old memories reawakening, Sonic still had never been able to shake the nagging feeling that they might have been being a little less than completely salubrious with the situation in the sky; _and praise the lord for that – after everything you've been forced through, you of all people deserve a little peace of mind_;

"You make sure of that", Sonic replied, lightly punching his duplicate on the shoulder before Shadow gave a wave and he turned to see Amy appear in the doorway, her pretty face beaming as she moved over to them and he hopped lightly over one of the seats to give her room for a proper greeting with one of her closest friends,

"Hello Shadow", she said softly as his arm slid gently around her neck, his face nuzzling into the top of her head quills in welcome as she embraced him with a vigour that betrayed her preferred slight detachment from a potential client; _then again_; she decided as Shadow let her go and asked politely if she'd mind picking his bag up from behind her; _as if I could ever be detached from this one_;

"So", he enquired brightly as he took the rucksack from her hand and slung it casually over one shoulder, "how's the course?"

"Fine; I can breeze through the practicals, it's just trying to remember who wrote what bloody theory, most of which have been subsequently discredited by the way, that's driving me up the wall", Amy shrugged bad-temperedly, remembering the pile of reading that was still waiting for her when she got home and reassuring herself that yes, it was there but right now she could afford to take a night off from studying – after all, she'd certainly earned it. Shadow chuckled before taking the lead towards where the boarding ramp had once again descended,

"Tell me about it; just like my job – I can do all the running in the world, it's the paperwork that's killing me".

"How true, how very, very true", Amy commiserated with him before a slight cough from Sonic broke in on them, her boyfriend giving a theatrical sigh,

"Oh and, you know, my exams are getting trickier too by the way, and, well, my C in System Design's nothing to get too het up about I suppose?" This time it was Shadow's turn to sigh as he glanced down to Amy with a long-suffering expression,

"I'm going to have to ask aren't I?" Her roll of the eyes told a thousand stories as she wafted a vague hand in Sonic's general direction,

"Go on, he'll be unbearable all night if you don't".

"Okay; Sonic how are your exams going?" The blue hedgehog said nothing for a second; in fact it was just as the notion that there wasn't that much distance between the nearest seatbelt and his best friend's neck popped up in Shadow's mind that he gave a large, false start of surprise,

"Oh those; well they're getting trickier, and a C in Design Systems is nothing to get too het up about – have to be a resit there I'm afraid", he remarked with an air of heavy foreboding before his eyes fell on the case dangling from Shadow's left hand and he brightened back up, "though, while we're on the subject of outside work experiences, how have your woodworking classes been coming along?" Shadow laughed and both other hedgehogs felt their spirits raised by the noise; it had seemed to the pair of them that not so long back, this would have been a sound they'd never hear again,

"Well", he said after the initial mirth subsided, "I know for a fact the pilots are probably bursting to know, so I tell you what; when we're all indoors with a cup of something hot this", he hefted the crate up with an effort, holding it for his peers to see, "gets the lid popped off it". _And soon after that_; seeing the couple in front of him nod their heads in unison to that idea, Shadow kept his face neutral as he realised that because of their fortuitous presence here his plans could be fast-forwarded a little; _what's inside the box gets the last bit of attention it'll ever need_.

XXX

He'd always expected that, when he'd finally be able to reveal the vessel that had been worked on so hard and so diligently for the past month or so, it would be a sombre and solemn proceeding but now, now that he was here and the ARK was ready, set up and resting in the case he'd carried it here in, a sudden urge to be impulsive seized him and he span to the side like a magician pulling off a cape with a flourish. Beaming, Shadow found the looks of incredulous surprise, especially from Sonic who, he had to remind himself, had never been able to have a hand in the construction process of this new model ship.

"Wow", the first murmur arose from the awestruck foursome, Cream's jaw just about working to produce the sound; as if the spell had been suddenly broken, the other three Mobians suddenly rediscovered their tongues and looked around at him,

"You, how on Earth did you manage to build that", Amy demanded, spiking her finger at the ARK before traversing her digit over to point directly at him, "so quickly?" Shadow gave a gruff chuckle as he patted the top of the ship's tallest mast gently, recalling the many answers to that question even as they flashed before his eyes,

"With help, a lot of help", he said, seeing in pieces the different contributions that had been made, "everyone pitched in and did a bit, in fact Julie probably did more of this than I did. The Chaotix all helped out too, especially Charmy, and anyway, you both shouldn't be surprised at this", he said suddenly to Sonic and Amy before casting a glance at the two younger Mobians in the room with them, "you could have asked this pair for progress reports; after all we needed someone who was a dab hand with a paint brush to get the glue into all those fiddly bits we couldn't reach".

"Well it's a difference from seeing it in pieces like it was to seeing it like it is now dude", Tails retorted before stepping forwards, eyeing up the lines and design of the nautical vessel with a professional eye, "this is a real beauty Shads, you, in fact everyone aught to be proud of this".

"Too right they all should be; look at this", he pointed to the rigging, everyone craning their necks to see the intricate detail of the coiled rope work, "the gear we got in the kit wasn't strong enough to hold, kept snapping and twanging like a catapult spring; Knuckles pulled us out of that one, braided us some rope from a couple of creepers he knew, same ones he uses to keep the stonework he looks after in fine nick. And this", he drew their attention to the cupolas this time, each of them still glued down in defiance of the springs that demanded they should pop open to reveal cannons that were no longer in place, "Vec managed to get them glued down, Jules and I were just about pulling our hair out over that. But there's still a bit missing"; _crunch time_; by dint of some careful sleight of hand he'd managed to pull up the missing piece before anyone noticed its presence and now he turned to them all, face slightly downcast before brightening up, "so that's where you come in".

For the first time in his life Shadow had the satisfaction of seeing his words completely and utterly stun his closest friend; Sonic simply goggled at him as the words seemed to echo throughout Tails' kitchen, the blue hedgehog's hand slowly rising up to point at himself mutely as if mimicking where Shadow was indicating with his finger. Before Sonic could recover his poise and even try to argue this, the former ultimate life-form picked up where he'd left off and carried on, overriding the potential for a typically snappy Sonic comeback,

"After all, Amy came up with the most important part of the whole process, the actual idea itself", he took a second to smile at the rose hedgehog as she furrowed her brow trying to work out what she could have done, "you've not been able to be part of this and I'd be willing to bet my bottom crest that you'd have wanted to, so this last bit is for you".

"M,me?"

"Yeah", Shadow said with a bite of exasperation in his tone now, holding out his hand and dropping the figurehead into Sonic's numb paw, "I told Jules something similar to this; after the Overlord, I didn't have any directions to follow, didn't know which way to go – you, everyone else helped, but primarily you, pointed me the right way. Now", he swept his back foot back to give the blue hedgehog a clear run at the ARK, "I'd like you to do the same thing for this". For another long minute Sonic didn't move, then he seemed to shake his head and recover his sight somehow, his fist curling around the wooden figure in his hand so tightly that for a second Shadow feared it would splinter. Taking a breath, the hedgehog turned to his younger brother and said quietly,

"Tails, you have any wood glue for this?"

"No need, there's some in the carry case", Shadow said before the fox started out towards the garage; hearing this, Sonic nodded and stepped forwards, sizing up the task before him and asking after a second,

"It goes on the spike on the front right?" As Shadow nodded, Sonic picked up the wood glue, eased the top off gently and slathered a generous amount on both the spike and the bottom of the base of the figurine before, with the same care and attention as a neurosurgeon threading a needle through the brain of a beloved friend, he carefully placed the figurehead on the thin metal spike and slowly slid it down until it rested proudly at the prow of the ship. He checked for a second to make sure the wood wasn't going to move at all, then stepped back and nodded.

_So it's done_; at the realisation, Shadow felt a sudden uplifting, his spirit suddenly flying higher, more freely than it had before, as though it had shed a weight it hadn't really been able to feel before that point; _and that's half the battle won. For now though_; he stepped forwards, gently touching Sonic's shoulder with his hand in gratitude as the blue hedgehog put the top back on the glue,

"Thanks".

"My pleasure, in fact more than that", his friend said sombrely as he turned to face his ebon counterpart, "my duty; now you've got something worth a lot more than a diary, no matter how well written".

"True enough pal, true enough. But anyway", with what seemed like a great effort Shadow stepped past Sonic and slowly clipped the case shut around the ARK, being careful not to disturb the still-setting glue around and under the figurehead. Having completed that, he lifted the case up and turned back to face everyone else, face holding a smile that, if not exactly radiant with joy, was at least a lot more comforting that many of them would have dared hope it would be,

"What's the plan from here?"

"Well", Amy replied after a couple of second and, rather more disconcertingly, a sneaky glance at Cream that set the rabbit girl grinning, "funny you should mention that; how's this for an idea…?"

XXX

_Half an hour, yeah, that should be long enough – if Sonic's anything like I remember him, his face touches the pillow and that's it, he's long gone_; smiling in the darkness for a moment as he recalled that fact, Shadow quickly cemented it with another piece of information dredged up from his memory banks; _and anyway, it's his lazy Saturday tomorrow, so he's out of the picture 'til at least ten o'clock. Just take it steady and don't wake Amy_; with this plan in his mind, Shadow very quietly unzipped his sleeping bag from around him and noiselessly stood up, feeling the floor around him with his feet in a quest to locate his shoes without sound. Ah, there they were; quickly and quietly forcing his feet inside them he stood up and stuffed the pillow so it lay half-in, half-out of the sleeping bag as he did it back up – just on the off-chance that one of his flatmates for the night took a night-time stroll, even that feeble disguise should pass muster for a quick glance in as they walked past. As he stretched off, strangely awake despite, or perhaps even because of, the lateness of the hour, Shadow paused only long enough to take two more things from his temporary sleeping quarters; the first was a pair of old towels he'd brought with him in his rucksack, the second was the carry case of the ARK.

Padding softly towards the door, he paused for just a second to listen; _yeah, they're both away – heh, I never knew Amy snored_; but there was no denying there were a pair of snuffling noises being generated from the bedrooms leading off the hallway. He was tempted to pass that off as Tails, after all the foxboy was present in the spare bedroom as he needed to make a fast getaway in the morning both to pick up his rented suit and get the Tornado refuelled for tomorrow night, but no, it was definitely a pair of hedgehogs snoozing away merrily. Still, as the black hedgehog slid towards the front door as quietly as he was able to, he knew that wasn't really a problem; he knew Tails well enough to know that he slept like a log all night, it was just sunlight that would wake him up. He glanced into the kitchen and noticed with a pang of mirth the deck of cards was still on the table, seeing again Cream's triumphant grin as she displayed her winning combination of aces in the last hand of the night before she'd had to call an end to the proceedings, stating she needed to get home. _That was a good call actually_; Shadow gave himself a mental pat on the back as he recalled his declaration to run the rabbit home; _let me say sorry and thanks to Vanilla – I am so lucky she's got Cream temper and vice-versa_. But that was in the past now; he'd apologised to the elder rabbit for hurting her daughter when he'd not been thinking right, she had accepted the apology on the proviso it would never happen again, one he was all to keen to make for her, and they'd both drawn a line under the matter. For that Shadow was grateful; as he unlocked the front door with a gentle click, opened it and shut it again before relocking it from the outside, he was glad to be rid of another millstone from around his neck; _and now_; he hefted the case of the ARK in his other hand as he finished his thought, looking at it meaningfully; _it's time to put you away as well, for now at least._

XXX

His breath smoked as he hustled down the street at the pace of a brisk walk; it was cold out tonight, not surprising since it was two weeks into December, but he could cope with the cold, in fact he actually welcomed it since it made the night darker and less people were on the street. That wasn't to say Station Square was deserted by any means; more than once he had to cross the street to avoid a couple of people and the doubtless awkward questions they'd ask about the briefcase-like case he carried in one hand the towels he had draped over his other arm. He was making good progress though; he knew the route like the back of his hand even after so long and even on a night like this; soon he'd be where he needed to be.

A mere few minutes later, as his feet crunched through the permafrost that had already solidified on the park grass Shadow felt his throat constrict; the pond lay before him, utterly still in the moonlight – the place where he'd so often come to earn a little private time to think and recollect his bearings in younger days still had an air of tranquillity about it that he could react to and feel at ease with. _Just like before, but this time_; he approached ever closer, setting the case down for a moment before taking a long, shaky breath, steadying himself; _I'm not on my own_. Slowly and with elaborate care he pulled off first one, then the other of his shoes, arranging them neatly before the case and wincing at the chill of the earth beneath his toes as he did so. With equal solemnity, he unclipped the catches at the top of the case and slowly lowered one side of it, reaching in and carefully, ever so carefully, prising the ARK out of its confinements, the weight bearable in his hands as he stood up again and turned back around. _This is it, tonight I get peace back_; as he stepped forwards again, he glanced down at the ship he held in both hands across his body, a talisman to ward off both the coolness of the night and the doubts that had crept in his wake like malevolent maggots; _for both of us_.

It was as he entered the water and icicle daggers of coldness speared his feet that he hesitated for a second before new strength flowed into his body, his force of will and sense to see this act through conspiring to drive him forwards into the icy water, the lake rippling as he waded out into it. He could feel the warmth leeched from his body as he went in up to his waist as well as the slimy pond weed and silty mud at the bottom of the lake squeeze and writhe around his feet; neither was a pleasant sensation but overall neither of them mattered. Slowly, blocking out everything else from his mind, Shadow lowered the ship, a ship that had been created by the hands of everyone he held dear and for no other reason that they cared enough for him to do this work to safeguard his past, into the chill water of his favourite memory place. The backs of his knuckles touched the water suddenly and he let go of the ARK; for a heart-stopping second he feared it would sink before he caught his breath in relief; rather than going to the bottom without trace, the replica vessel bobbed in the water, riding the waves generated by his unconscious shivering. Observing this for a few moments and even going so far as to give the stern of the ARK a gentle nudge to send it on its way, Shadow knew what was welling up within him and sought to give voice to it, the words not important as he spoke them without thinking about them,

"Well Maria, I know it's not the ocean we dreamed about but it's still the dream we had", the pond rippled again, this time not caused by shivering as the ebon hedgehog brought a hand to his face, the last half of his sentence broken and contrite as he ended it,

"I'm so sorry I couldn't save you".

Once more the memories of the willowy, thin girl with the piercing blue eyes and heart of gold filled Shadow's mind and for this last time, he wept at the sight of them, yet even as the lake rippled again under the impact of his falling tears, beneath his streaming eyes the smile that told of his relief could not be washed away; on this chill and bitter night, he had kept his promise and that knowledge fortified him with cheer even as he mourned once more the lost light of his former life.

A/N: I originally wanted to split this into two separate chapters but for the life of me couldn't see where to do so – sorry it's a mite long. The next chapter will be two things; shorter than this one, and the last one in this story.


	31. Chapter 31 Closer than Friends

Chapter 31 – Closer than Friends.

A/N: Okay, this is it, the big one – this chapter will bring to a close the longest story in my story arc so far. As always I'm grateful and much obliged to everyone who's taken an interest in any of my work and it's good to see so many new reviewers – if anyone's actually read the whole lot I'd be interested to hear about how you think the series is progressing; is the character introduction rate smooth enough? Is there anyone you'd like to hear more about etc? That aside, just got a recent reviewer to mention:

BC – Yeah, don't worry – lots of stories in this arc yet I can tell you! Thanks for all you reviews so far, and hope to see you again when I start the next in the series!

Only the realisation that he could no longer feel anything below his waist made him come back to reality, blink and look up from where he'd been following the slow, stately progress of the ARK, the miniature frigate catching the gentle night breeze in its sails and edging through the waters of the pond under its own steam as Shadow suddenly made to go after it, forcing his legs to work again despite the pins and needles threatening to set his thighs aflame as he sloshed his way through the water. _Ahhh, wow – too cold, too bloody cold_; it was true, he was shivering and soaked but despite that and the risk of hypothermia setting in Shadow felt strangely detached from his suffering; instead all that was left was relief as he carefully laid his hands around the ARK and carefully prized it from the water after arresting its forwards progress. Pond water cascaded down his arms from the bottom of the vessel, soaking those as well and making him grimace at the smell; _and if that was bad I'm hardly going to come out of this smelling like roses am I?_

Now that was a flaw in his plan; he was forced to do some thinking as he waded back to the shore of the pond, the chill around his middle suddenly increasing with the exposure to the atmosphere – how was he supposed to get back to Sonic's now, go to sleep and then have to explain the awful whiff in the morning? _Oh forget it_; a couple of second's brainwork made his shake his head as he very delicately set the ARK down on the ground, reaching for one of the towels he'd brought with him and left on the bank; _I'll figure that out later – right now, this needs doing_. And it was true; the varnish might have been enough to let the ship float on its own, but there was no guarantee it would protect against the possible onset of rot in the near future. With this in mind Shadow carefully took one of the towels and meticulously dried the bottom of his pride and joy, making sure every last drop of water had been soaked up by the material in his hand before working his way up both sides of the vessel separately; only when he was completely satisfied that the ARK was dry did he turn his attentions to himself. _Just as well these were old towels_; the hedgehog thought to himself as he finished with one of them and brought it up to eye level, regarding the mud it had taken off his feet with extreme distaste; _no matter how may washes they went through I'm pretty sure I'd never want to use them again_. Still, at the end of it all he was able to shrug, rubbing off all the pond water, weed and mud and then chafing the material against his legs to generate heat; slipping on his shoes, he ignited them gently and sighed as a little of the warmth crept in around his toes even through the insulation on the soles of his boots. With this accomplished, he was able to quickly parcel the ARK back up securely in its carry case, make sure the case was secured tightly, take one final look at the small lake he had emerged from and bow his head at the rippling, recently disturbed waters before finally turning his back and walking away from the park he'd spent so many pleasant days simply wandering within. _Good memories I had here_; with a pang he rubbed a couple of spots on his chest, phantom Akita paws slamming into him as one of the friends he'd made here echoed a bark up through his mnemonic pathways; _and plenty more to come I'm sure_; he was sure, putting a little more a spring in his step as a smile unfurled on his face; _despite the adventuring tonight, there's still a lot of this world to see yet!_

XXX

The key jangled suddenly in the lock and Shadow hissed under his breath; he'd come up the stairs as quiet as a church mouse, now was not the time to be generally incompetent in the field of moving silently. Slowly he let himself into what had once been his house and slipped inside, then turned around soundlessly in the darkness of the hallway to lock the door again until morning, a relieved sigh escaping his lips as he did so. _Right, that's the easy bit done_; a slight hint of melancholy wryness tugged at him as he realised such a thought was true and looked down at his legs, wracking his brains about what he was going to do in that respect; _maybe I could…nah, the shower would be too noisy, unless I just washed them down with a flannel of hot water_; that idea made a lot of sense and Shadow was just about to act on it, in fact he'd just taken his first step down the hallway towards both the bathroom and his bed when it suddenly occurred to him what was out of place with this whole picture. Mouth as dry as a desert and an unaccounted for tremor in his hands, the former ultimate life-form beheld the light streaming out from the cracks between the kitchen door and the doorframe and knew in that instant that there was no way such a light could have been left on accidentally.

Panic welled up within him but was just as quickly beaten down; so he hadn't been as quiet as he could have been and someone had heard him move off earlier – oh well, there was nothing he could do about it now; in fact it might have made his life easier, he could get a wash now without having to be quite as careful as he'd originally planned. _I can always say sorry for waking them up, and they didn't really have to stay up anyway – I wouldn't have been that long, though I guess they weren't to know that_; with a shrug, Shadow approached the kitchen quietly, taking into consideration the snoring he could still hear meant that at least one occupant of this flat was still merrily away in the land of Nod, and pushed down on the handle, poking his head around the door. _Now somehow_; it was almost with a resigned inevitability that his red eyes were met with green ones; _I just knew it'd be you_;

"Hey Shads", Sonic raised a hand in greeting despite the fatigue of his stay-up slurring his speech a little, "have a good night?"

"Yeah, got a lot of things done I needed to do", the black hedgehog replied in the same matter-of-fact tone, stepping into the kitchen and pulling out a chair for himself; he paused, however, as Sonic's next words reached him and showed a keenness of insight that caught him unawares,

"You been down to that park you used to visit? In the lake, if I'm any guess?" _You've had a guess, that's true_; Shadow's train of thought concluded, amazed; _and a damn good one at that_;

"How'd you guess that – you're right, by the way", he added belatedly, though for his part Sonic simply nodded at the case Shadow only now set down at the foot of the table,

"I had a suspicion you were up to something just after I saw the ARK you built; the figurehead stayed on all right didn't it?" At his friend's nod, the blue hedgehog gave a brief glance upwards in thankfulness and continued, "just the way you packed it up, you were miles away. And earlier, you hardly said two words all night; even I can join dots as obvious as that Shads, and when I heard the front door open about twenty minutes after we all bunked down", he shook his head, "I decided to wait up".

"Thanks", Shadow remarked from his now-seated position, chuckling as Sonic wrinkled his nose, "heh, sorry about that; somehow I don't think eau d'Lake Bottom will ever be a big seller".

"You went in?"

"It wasn't all that cold", the ebon hedgehog reassured him before glancing down at his ships' carry case, "but I had to; after all we did say that both of us would explore together – I couldn't just send her off on her own". Sonic cocked his head – Shadow had the distinct impression that despite a sterling effort on his part the blue hedgehog couldn't quite grasp the full implications behind his nightly sojourn but, thankfully, decided to leave the matter where it was rather than ask for awkward explanations,

"Fair enough, just as long as you two are sorted out. Or"; _hello_; Shadow raised his mental shields as a subtle thread of surreptitious humour wormed its way into his friends speech, "should I be saying you three now? Not every day you get an invite to a serious couple's do like this, and unless I seriously got this whole thing wrong it's not one of these things you take just anyone to". Shadow raised an eyebrow,

"I take it Tails got the same routine I'm getting now?"

"Oh yeah", Sonic joked with a snort of laughter before turning slightly more serious, "but you're not…"

"I never said I was", Shadow slid in smoothly, disrupting the incoming attack before launching a swift pre-emptive strike, "but it is just us two Sonic; remember what Amy said", he clarified his point as Sonic's eyes started to lose a little focus, the blue hedgehog trying to work out what he'd meant by his last line, "Maria's a memory now, a memory I can choose to see as and when I want to, and that's one of the best comfort blankets I've got and will probably ever have. But Julie"; _ah, now we're getting somewhere_; try as he might to keep his face impassive, Sonic knew he'd never be able to completely stuff his heart up his sleeve and a corner of his lip twitched upwards at the somewhat dreamy look on the other hedgehog's face, "she's flesh and blood, well, with a couple of chunks of metal thrown in just for good measure, so I'm just trying to play it by ear – not like I've got a lot of choice mind; even if I did have my memory bank fully online I'd bet I wouldn't have any experiences like this to work with". Sonic smiled before replying in a tone that suggested he knew exactly what his midnight counterpart was trying to say,

"Believe me pal it's the same for us all, even the girls; they're just better at fooling us guys into thinking they know what's going on".

"Speaking of going's on", a reminder of what had been said last time he'd been back to Station Square chimed neatly in Shadow mind and he leant slightly across the table to give the hint of a leer to the blue blur opposite him, "how are you and Amy sticking to that 'marriage, kids, the whole nine yards' plan you mentioned last time I was here?"

_Cruel maybe_; even as Sonic had to look down, not quite able to meet Shadow's gaze, the black hedgehog remonstrated with himself over his last comment; _but I never said he had to answer_. However, as he cleared his throat and glanced up again, tongue tip whipping over his suddenly dry lips, it appeared Sonic was going to answer, a little to Shadow's surprise,

"Ah, that, well, it's going okay".

"Just okay?" Shadow needled teasingly, not quite able to stop himself extracting the proverbial Michael as just this once he had one of his closest friends over a barrel, "sure there's not been any, you know, slip-ups in that great plan? Little hiccups in the design that might have, possibly, skipped straight from phase one, marriage, to phase two, ki…?"

"No", Sonic said heavily, hoping against hope that his blush wasn't too pronounced at the same time Shadow was cracking ribs not to laugh at the intensity of the blaze, "believe me we just haven't got the time between us".

At that comment there was just no hope of holding it in; Shadow slumped over the table, quivering at the effort of trying to stave off complete disintegration into utter mirth for fear of appearing rude and waking up the other two occupants of the apartment he was in as Sonic smouldered ominously from his end of the table,

"Thazz, that's brilliant", Shadow managed to choke as he hugged his protesting stomach, almost having to physically squeeze himself to chain his hysteria down, "you, you of all Mobians not being quick enough; let me guess, this is the _other_ thing you really want to take your time over, get right and enjoy?"

"You know", Sonic managed to reply thickly a couple of seconds later, a chilling grimace fixed on his features that even Shadow as he was now couldn't help but react to, "I reckon you might be going back to that pond tonight if you keep this up, with a couple of bricks wrapped round your ankles; you see where I'm coming from?"

"I see , I see", the black hedgehog managed to sit upright and stop chortling at his friend's obvious discomfiture, though there was no way he was going to be able to wipe the massive grin of his face this side of midnight, "pressures of work and all that?"

"Amongst other things; she's at Uni all week, I'm at work all week and come the weekend we've both got other stuff that needs doing, and besides, I'm not going to run the risk of messing it up now, not when we've got it all ticking over nicely. What was it Knuckles said; yeah, remember when we all met Spectre and his crew for the first time?" _Must have seen my start_; Shadow rationalised quickly even as he tried to make sure he'd heard that right; _what could…unless it was just after, or even just before Rouge went down on bended knee_; "he said something that I didn't understand then, but I think I can now – what was it? Oh, yeah, that was it", Shadow craned his neck to listen in as his cobalt doppelganger recited the line, "'I love her too much to ask for something she might give me just because I asked for it'; that was just after he admitted he and Rouge had a double bed in Haven. I suppose I feel the same way about Amy; I guess I could, er…" Seeing his friend's discomfiture Shadow merely nodded,

"Yeah, I get the picture"; _thanks pal_; duly relieved, Sonic carried on,

"…but I don't need to, or want to really – good ol' irony sticks the boot in again", as Sonic began to chuckle a little himself Shadow leant forwards again, trying to see where the punch line was this time, "you go all through the raging hormones with everyone saying sex is the best, it's the be-all and end-all but when you really, finally manage it, when you find the one", he shrugged, sighing at one of the follies of his, or what Shadow assumed was his, youthful fantasies, "it just doesn't matter, it's not important any more".

Shadow sat back, contemplating this line of thinking with one half of his brain at the same time as trying to slam the anchors on the lurid plotting of the other half; _think what Julie would do if she found out, apart from laugh - she'd, well she'd…she'd just laugh wouldn't she?_ Realising Sonic was waiting for a reply and he was being tardy in responding, the former ultimate life-form nodded and stretched, hoping against hope that his face was staying neutral this time,

"You might well be right mate; believe me"; _reel him in, come on, right onto the punch line_; he gave a chuckle at the same time as keep Sonic fixed in the corner of his eye, making his last line sound like a throwaway comment, "last time I woke up next to Julie sex was the very last thing on my mind".

"Just one of tho…", Shadow didn't bother to mask his smile as Sonic choked off mid-sentence; he fancied he could almost see the other hedgehog running those words back through his mind and wondering if he hadn't been hearing things for a second, "…hang on, you, you and her", Shadow gave a nod – Sonic's eyes swelled in their sockets as his voice ended in a hoarse whisper, his mouth working virtually silently, "you slept together?"

"Nothing happened", tempting as it was to string his friend along Shadow didn't have the energy or the inclination to be that cruel at this late hour, merely holding up a hand with a rueful smile, "happened the night I got Maria back, I don't remember what I was saying or doing exactly but Jules stayed with me all night. Good thing too", Shadow had reached that conclusion with the benefit of hindsight, though he couldn't let the echidna get away completely scot-free from giving him the shock of a lifetime upon his waking up the following morning, "even if I nearly had a heart attack first thing on Saturday; that was not a good start to the morning I can tell you".

"Tell me all you like but I'm not believing it", finally picking himself up after the stumbling block Shadow had thrown in front of him, Sonic was able to pick up the subtler threads in the story he'd just heard, "I knew there was something there between the two of you, but don't knock what she did then", he said suddenly, stern in his manner as Shadow felt quickly abashed, "took a lot of bottle, especially on her part, to try something like that; as far as she knew you were a danger to yourself and possibly her as well".

"I'd never hurt her Sonic". _I was hoping you'd say that_;

"Good; I guess that makes it official then", Shadow grimaced for a second as he realised too late the trap he'd just blundered into and Sonic gave a soft clap with his hands, "we have a new couple in our little group, and what a pretty couple you and Julie make I must say".

"I…", Shadow scrabbled for a comeback, only just able to reach one in time as Sonic was about to press forwards and stoke the fires of embarrassment on his cheeks to an inferno pitch, "I wouldn't say too much more if I were you Bluie, not unless you want your eyes to suddenly go my sort of colour". Suitably chastised, or at least Shadow could only hope he was suitably chastised, Sonic raised a hand to ward him off before standing up and stretching off,

"I get it, I get it; you two are still a great match though. Anyway", he blocked off the sight of his yawn with the back of a hand, blinking blearily before passing his still seated companion, "I'm hitting the hay for the night; see you in the morning Shads".

"The time you get up; not likely", the black hedgehog joked it turn, though as he felt a light pressure on his shoulder he took the time to slowly place his hand atop Sonic's grateful for the fact the blue hedgehog gave a damn for his memories and future plans, "I'll wash my legs down then I'm turning in as well".

"Later pal".

"Right back at you Sonic. Thanks", as the blue hedgehog walked past, Shadow placed a hand atop his friends', gripping softly even if he didn't glance up as Sonic slowed his pace to listen to his last words, "for everything".

XXX

_Now this I was looking forwards to_; as Shadow returned the wave from a figure he could see at least four hundred yards from Tail's driveway, he realise how true that thought was – despite being so different they could have quite easily come from separate planets, there was no doubt that he had been looking forwards to seeing Big again. Picking up the pace slightly, though nowhere near enough to even come close to disturbing the ARK inside its padded case, the hedgehog quickly came into the shadow of the foxboy's home in time to bump his knuckles with the huge cat's pro-offered finger,

"Hey Big guy; how's thing's going?" After flicking one of his huge ears and taking his time to look Shadow up and down Big, as always, replied in his own time in his booming yet somehow gentle voice,

"Oh they're…", he paused for a second as though contradicting himself mentally but before Shadow could comment he'd smiled and held up a finger, correcting himself for a reason Shadow couldn't fathom, "…well I was going to say they're just the same as always but that's a load of tommy-rot; they're going an awful lot better than they ever did before".

"How so?", Shadow asked, interest definitely piqued by this, for Big, rapid about-face in his normal routine; the cat's smile grew even wider and he leaned backwards against the side of Tail's airplane hanger; _man, is it holding him up or the other way around_; Shadow had to sudden fake a coughing fit as that madcap thought skittered across his mind and the cat began his explanations,

"Well, it was actually a bit of luck, in fact it was a lot of luck, that got the ball rolling; you know Trenton's Frames and Arts by any chance?"

"Vaguely", Shadow drawled uncertainly after a minute of wracking his brains, "nothing specific like – you must know a lot more about it than I do I'm guessing?"

"I hope so, it's where I've done all my paintings so far but that's not really important now; I was there a couple of months ago and"; _what's wrong?_; Shadow took a step forwards with concern on his face as he saw the sadness flash across Big's eyes for a second, "Mr Trenton, the owner, he was the man who taught me how to paint and looked after me when I went through the, er, rougher patches at school. I saw his hands, his fingers, they looked swollen and sore; he tried to make out it was nothing but I knew, of course I knew", he half-spat in bitterness, Shadow wisely staying quiet as he recognised the cat cursing the downside of his perfect memory, its unique ability rendering him powerless to prevent the past he could see so clearly, "and I pressed him a bit about it; he's a stubborn old get when he digs his heels in I can tell you, but eventually…well, he told me it's arthritis, just starting to develop". The black hedgehog winced even if he didn't know the specifics of what that particular condition entailed; _have to make a note to ask Lara next chance I get_;

"So he can't, er, he can't work as an artist any more – that's, I don't know what to say that is". Big sighed and nodded,

"Neither did I, not at the time; I just gave him a pat on the shoulder and went home, thinking if there was anything I could do. I couldn't quite get it right, but Mighty helped me out", luckily Big never noticed Shadow's eyebrow rise as his face brightened and the hedgehog avoided some awkward questions about what was going through his mind at the time, "she worked it out; I could do it. Mr Trenton frames pictures mostly, not much of an artist by his own admission and I've never done that, but I reckon I could learn, or at least Mighty reckoned I could. So back I went and proposed my idea to the man behind the counter and now we're just waiting for confirmation of the apprenticeship to come through and make it all official; I've already started training like; as always, just waiting for the paperwork to catch up". Shadow snorted at the affront to his line of work and folded his arms,

"Now if you came to Angel Island I can guarantee that wouldn't be a problem; it's just the system down here's so inefficient. But anyway, no griping about this, way to go you", he swatted as high up Big's massive bicep as he could comfortably reach, "going to learn a trade from the master, not going to get much better than that". _What did I say?_; as Big raised and started to wag a finger, the hedgehog wasn't so much irritated by the sudden contradiction as perplexed as to where he could have gone wrong with that statement,

"Normally I'd agree with that but this time I'm afraid you're wrong", Big stated cunningly, pushing himself upright with an effort that Shadow swore sent a ripple through the sheet metal atop the Tornado's hanger roof, "it's going to be a lot better than that tonight; a good night out and food that'll only be bettered by the company; speaking of which, I'm looking forwards to finally meeting Julie-Su, Mighty's told me so much about her", he suddenly choked himself off and whipped his head down towards Shadow as if alarmed, his voice laced with imminent concern, "she is coming tonight isn't she?"

_Believe me Big, wild horses and all the echidnas in the Legion combined wouldn't drag her away tonight – me either for that matter_; nodding to assuage his friend's surge of panic Shadow tried to convey that conviction through his next well chosen words,

"Yeah, don't you worry about that", he said with a hearty chuckle, "we've both been looking forwards to this for weeks; Julie's as likely to miss this dinner as Lara is. Just out of interest though", he leaned forwards now, his turn to be curious about something, "do you actually know why Lara and Wyn are throwing this do; is it a celebration of some kind, something like that?" Big opened his mouth to reply before pausing for a second and then closing it, settling his weight onto his back foot and sinking his chin into his palm for a second, pondering backwards through his memory banks before being forced to declare himself bankrupt on that count,

"No, in fact now that I think about it, it never crossed my mind", with a shrug he looked down at Shadow again casually, "probably never asked Mighty, but if anyone actually knows I bet it'll be one of these two". Following the direction of the cat's extended arm, Shadow squinted against the horizon; for a second he could see nothing, but eventually he managed to discern a small blot heading there way combined with a keening noise on the air, so faint he almost never thought he could hear it, but it was strengthening as the blot came closer and he deduced simultaneously who was approaching and that, not for the first time, Big's words had proved to be true when he'd thought about them.

Not ten minutes later the Tornado's jeep mode pulled to a stop and Big extended a single brawny arm that Cream duly crashed into, the rabbit as always over the moon to see her former team mate and making such feelings emphatically known,

"Good to see you Big", she grated through the shoulder she'd buried her head in, the cat's thick winter coat muffling her speech as the purple cat's massive free hand patted her on the back as gently as a branch swaying in the breeze, "I haven't seen you for ages".

"I know, it's been a while too long; anyway", the cat rumbled, standing stock still for a minute before carefully prizing Cream off his arm, the rabbit helping to disentangle herself at the same time as her chauffeur exchanged a brief hello with Shadow, "let's get you back on your feet before I shed all over you and you crease your dress up something chronic".

"What, this?" Cream casually wafted both her hands down her front, dislodging most of the purple hairs that had caught on her skirt with a laugh, "this doesn't matter; it's certainly not what I'm wearing tonight if that's what you're worried about".

"I should hope not", a new voice cut in and both members of Team Rose looked around to see Tails pointing out his partner for the evening, "I invited you to this so the least you should do in gratitude is make a bit more of an effort than that". Nettled, Cream scowled at the impudent fox, not noticing Big and Shadow exchange a glance from over her shoulder,

"And if you hadn't invited me you'd have looked a bit of a drip turning up on your own in the middle of everyone else being paired up; if anything you should be grateful for me sparing your blushes and anyway", she folded her arms, giving the smile usually reserved for gamblers with four aces in their hand and at least another couple held in reserve up their sleeves, "I don't see _you_ making any effort at all up to now, so don't stand there and lecture me thank you very much". Big gave a chuckle as he saw his smaller team mate nod in triumph and Tails shrank back slightly from the verbal lashing she'd just administered,

"Ow, harsh; that is what is known in the trade as getting your tail ripped off and handed to you"; getting in on the act, Shadow did a quick side-shimmy to get within range and give Tails a dig in the ribs,

"And in this instance, it's just your luck you had more to lose than the rest of us"; _leave it at that, he doesn't need any more misery right now – although_; Shadow had to recalculate his previous thought as out the corner of his eye he saw Tails recollect himself and, somehow, the fox was mirroring Cream's smile with, if anything, even more confidence than the rabbit; _what's he got up his sleeve – must be…_;

"Ah", the fox said superiorly before Shadow could finish his thought, "I'm not making an effort now, but at least I'll be able to when we're actually at Lara's", now it was Cream's turn to look more than a littler concerned as her training pilot leaned forwards and beamed smugly, "my suit's packed and ready to go; where's yours?"

Shadow flinched in sympathy at the sight of the blood draining from Cream's face, the voice that issued from her mouth suddenly as pallid and dead as her whitened cheeks as she was forced to answer,

"My dress", a shuddering breath rattled through her teeth just before the rest of her speech was extracted from her unwillingly, a dry, dreadful thing to have to say now, now of all times when her memory had failed her, "is currently draped over the left arm of the settee in the lounge and the necklace I was going to wear is in a little coin bag by the side of it; we're going to have to go back", as everyone present digested this bombshell news the rabbit exploded into life, tearing towards Tails and virtually bellowed in his face, "we've got to go back, I can't go up there in just this…"

"Cream…";_ huh?_; just for a second Tails could have sworn he hadn't been the only one to speak; it was only when he half-turned around and a heavy box was thrust into his arms that he realised he had been right. As he struggled under the sudden weight Shadow finished his sentence, placing one hand on the rabbits' shoulder to calm her as he quickly made up his mind to resolve this situation, "…leave it to me; I'll be there and back again before you can blink and we'll get underway when I'm back".

"Oh thank you", there were very nearly tears in Cream's eyes and Shadow felt his resolve harden accordingly, "mum should be in, she'll pass it to you. I'll ring her"; it was as her hand was diving into her pocket that Tails finally managed to catch up with events again and his hastened shout was all that prevented this sudden plan from taking off,

"Hold it! You don't need to go anywhere", he hollered, all three other Mobians snapped around to fix him in their hard gazes and glares, "your dress is packed along with mine; I put it in the boot when you were saying goodbye to your mum".

_Thank heaven for that_; crisis averted, Tails permitted himself a low sigh of relief as both Shadow and Cream seemed to collapse in on themselves, the manic energy that had possessed them a second ago dwindling away he'd prevented the need for it being actually called into play. Gasping as she recovered from the massive shock, Cream stared at the fox blankly; despite his words, she still had to seek reassurance to make sure this matter was irrefutably true at the same time the fox calmly offered the ARK's container to Shadow, the black hedgehog taking it after a second of stupefied blinking,

"So, so it's packed?"

"Yep, all ready to go".

"I didn't forget it?"

"Well, technically you did", Tails drawled slowly before he caught a look of Big's suddenly stern visage and swiftly changed his tune, "but the point is it's okay; I got your dress and necklace, oh and Vanilla gave me a little ring-bracelet thing too, said it matched the necklace; that's in the coin bag as well". At that Cream's knees virtually buckled; Big had his hand ready to support her before she managed to catch herself and stand up again, voice still a little faint but thankfully regaining strength as she spoke again,

"Right, so we're actually ready to set off; Tails you're a life-saver". _Of course_; knowing he was in the right Tails allowed his mind to indulge in a little mental preening; _as if I'd be cruel enough to prolong your torment – well, not too much anyw-ouch!_ He stumbled back a pace, happy daydream shattered to pieces as one hand flew to his now throbbing cheek, eyes massive as shock rendered him speechless save for the most basic, child-like of questions,

"What was that for?" Cream stepped past him haughtily, speaking over her shoulder as she popped open one of the Tornado's doors and pulled the boot release,

"You might be a life-saver but you're also a git for scaring me like that".

"Can't really argue with that", Shadow slid in from the sidelines as he could just see the affronted fox trying to use all 300 points of his IQ to come up with a scathing rejoinder and knowing from long experience that doing so would just be more trouble than it was worth for all concerned, "oh come on, you didn't need to string her along; a quick 'it's in the back' would have been fine".

"Yeah, fine maybe, but you lot all make jokes like th…, ah, I suppose you're right", Tails monotoned with a resigned sigh as he realised the difference between the pranks he so often saw Amy and Sonic, to say nothing of the Chaotix, pull on each other and the one that had so nearly backfired back then, "so, you're ready to go then?" Cream's shoulders dipped as she pulled the boot up and saw, just as he'd promised, the dress she liked to call her 'grown-up' dress, the one reserved for the special, adult occasions such as this one, laid out neatly in the compacted space, still wrapped in the protective wrap from the last time she'd had it dry-cleaned. Slamming the boot down, the rabbit turned to the all, the sparkle definitely back in her eye as she gave a thumbs-up,

"Okay, let's get this show on the road; if we've timed this right, we'll be on Angel Island by about half-two, party or whatever you want to call it starts at seven, plenty of time to get ready, sound like good logic?"

"Sounds fine Cream", Big rumbled as he took a couple of paces forwards before stopping, a blank look on his face for a moment as he recalled something before speaking again, "but before we get going, I've got two, no sorry, I've got three things I need to ask. First off, this is to everyone by the way", he added almost as an afterthought; Shadow and Tails leaning in to take a closer interest as a sheepish grin crept over the cat's face as he indicate himself, "do you reckon anyone will mind if I show up, well, I don't have any good clothes, I can't keep them safe in a swamp, they'd get filthy within a week…" The cat was cut off by a laugh, not a malicious, snide chuckle but a wholesome, accepting giggle as Tails walked forwards a step and waved a hand at him,

"Big come on; when has anyone ever minded you as you are? I'm sure, in fact I know for a fact Mighty's told Lara all about you and anyway, you've already met Lara when at her son's wedding reception", the fox recalled with alacrity, his own memory coming to his aid and helping to set the cat's mind at ease, "did she say anything to you then?" Big already knew the answer almost before Tails had finished the question and shook his head,

"Well, no but I thought I'd just check".

"You'll be fine Big", Shadow said sincerely, backing up the fox's assessment, "you'll have Mighty with you, everyone's just there to have a good time; it might be in posher surroundings than any of us are used to but it's still us after all, and you know us", the hedgehog gave a laugh as he held up his own glove, the fabric not quite as white as it used to be after three days hard wearing, "good yeoman's stock through and through".

"I guess", Big replied a second later, a smile back on his face that was a lot more welcome than his previous doubting, worrying looks, "it's just that Mighty mentioned even Vector was getting dolled up for this and I realised wow, must be a big thing if he's making an effort to look presentable. But anyway, second thing, you two", he indicated the pair of pilots before jerking a thick thumb over at Shadow, "we were discussing this earlier; do either of you know what this whole thing is in aid of?"

_Right you were Big guy_; Shadow had to once more concede a lot of respect to both the cat's memory and his powers of deduction; _if anyone'll know it's these two – come on guys, what have you got for us?_ To his surprise and disappointment, the answer appeared to be not an awful lot; after a long minute of pondering, Tails glanced over to his co-pilot and, noticing his scrutiny, she merely shrugged – taking this as answer, he merely held up his hands,

"Sorry, all I know is that they were planning to make a couple of announcements, I don't know any more than that".

"Really? Okay then, we'll have to find out when we get there", mollified with that eventuality, Big gestured towards the Tornado before giving a sudden start, "ah, just one last thing Tails; I know it's personal preference and all that, but I wouldn't recommend you wearing a dress to this function, I don't think you've got the figure for one". _What?!_;

"Big", the fox stammered, wondering what had possessed the cat into dreaming up that absurd idea and also uncomfortably aware of Shadow taking an unprecedented interest into the proceedings, "what are you on? I am not wearing a frock to this sort of function; where'd you…?" _Okay, now!_; his predatory instincts kicked in; just when his prey was at its most vulnerable, Big darted in for the kill,

"Oh really; I could have sworn you said you'd packed Cream's dress next to yours. Sorry but I did wonder"; _you sod_; cheeks a blazing crimson and acutely aware of Shadow's interest devolving into a sniggering fit, Tails looked back into the very recent past and saw that yes, he had said exactly those words; _right, well time to put this one away for good_; sliding his hand down his face, the fox glared up at the massive cat and did his level best to look imposing to someone who outweighed him by at least a factor of ten,

"You knew very well what I meant Big".

"I did", the cat assured him genially before winking over his shoulder, "but you mess with one of Team Rose you mess with all of us – don't forget that. I won't tell Amy though", he offered as a truce that Tails, much as he would have loved to do otherwise, had no choice but to accept. Throwing his hands up at all his passengers, the fox declared the matter over,

"Fine, fine; right, get your stuff packed then get on board – we're almost behind schedule as it is". Everyone scuttled back a little as the fox opened the driver's door of his machine and hit a button, scooting backwards as a second later the Tornado began to grind and groan, morphing itself into its plane mode with its boarding gear already down. As he'd instructed, everyone filed on board but, just as he followed Big up the ramp Shadow could have sworn that out of the very corner of his eye he just saw Cream reach up and give Tails' shoulder an affectionate and thankful rub as they both headed for the cockpit; before even he could snap his head around to get a look though, the two had taken off and he was left to rue an opportunity missed. _Oh well_; even as such regret crossed his mind, he shrugged and let a secret smile out to play over his face; _the rate those two are going, plenty more where that one came from_.

XXX

With a slight clink Shadow let himself into his own home and took a deep breath, grateful that once more he was home and he'd removed a very heavy weight from around his neck; moving into the lounge quickly, Shadow shucked off his backpack and dropped to one knee, deftly flicking the catches off the front of the ARK's carry-case as the front door banged shut behind him. _Okay, now out you come_; leaning the ship up against his thigh, the hedgehog kept one eye on it at the same time as begin to flip the case itself around, carefully folding sections of the wood and metal partitions around into a new configuration; _and up you go_. Just as he had the case half-disassembled however, as the platform the ship would rest on was just about half completed, a voice rang out that nearly made his jump up and overbalance the ARK,

"Shadow?" _Whoa, cool it_; swiftly he reasserted control of himself, one of his hands whipping down to steady the rocking boat – he would not have it damaged now after everything that had been done to make it this far, "is that you?"

"Julie, I thought you were out", he called back in answer, glancing over his shoulder and a little disorientated when he found the doorway empty, "where are you?"

"Bedroom". The hedgehog gaped; he of all people knew Julie had issues getting up every day but this was taking the biscuit surely?

"At this time of day?" There might have been a laugh before she answered, he couldn't be exactly sure,

"I keep telling you I'm not a morning person". This time it was his turn to laugh,

"Lucky morning", not wanting to give her the chance to launch a counterpunch, Shadow devoted a little more effort to his labours as he finished, "listen, just let me finish what I'm doing here and I'll come through".

"Good, I'm not going anywhere right now"; _typical – how come I'm always running around after her all the time?_; "it's too warm and comfortable to get up".

"I'll bet", Shadow muttered as he shook his head, silently marvelling at his flatmate's ability to defy the conventional social norms such as rising in the morning with such apparent ease at the same time as speed up constructing the final resting place of the ARK at his feet.

XXX

As she heard the door behind her open Julie did two things simultaneously; she whipped out a hand to snag the bookmark from the table nearby to mark her place in her novel and wiped all emotions from her face save a warm and welcoming smile, rolling over under her blanket to see Shadow gazing down at her, a quirky, faintly patronising snigger flitting across his lips as he took in the scene before him; _what do I look like anyway? Oh well, at least I've been able to do something about the bedtime frizz_;

"Have you only just woken up? You lazy little…?"

"In answer to your question", Julie overrode him swiftly, a finger emerging from beneath the blanket to cut him off with a wagging motion, "no, I have not only just woken up as you so indelicately put it; this is a deliberate ploy on my part to stave off the inevitable big night nerves".

"What, don't bother getting up until it's go-time?" At the echidna's nod Shadow steepled his fingers in front of his face and gently let his forehead drop, bouncing it off the tips of his fingers, "and there I was thinking it was just Mighty and Athair who went in for the elliptical thinking".

"Mighty and who?"

"Oh, just someone I know from my club", Shadow said breezily, making up his mind on the spot that though he'd have bet his life and everything that it entailed that Julie would never have told a soul about the existence of the Brotherhood of Guardians, he wasn't too sure she was ready to come face to face with Knuckles' at least half-insane great-grandfather, "nice enough, just not all the buttons going through the right holes if you know what I mean?"

"Oh I know all about that sort of thing; believe me", Julie glanced up with a slight chuckle as she levered her upper torso into a sitting position, "I probably know that better than you do, some of the motley crew I used to run with. Anyway", drawing her knees up the ex-Legionnaire nodded at the foot of the bed and, taking the pro-offered cue, Shadow sauntered over before taking a seat, a soft groan escaping his lips as he stretched out over the bottom of the bed, working out the kinks in his back muscles brought about by being prevented from running in his normal posture, the extra weight and delicacy of the ARK making such a movement in his jet skates at best uncomfortable, at worst acutely dangerous. _Ah, that's better_; as the hedgehog yawned and finished his mammoth stretch he suddenly flipped to the side as something poked him in the ribs; a half-playful growl slipping out as he saw Julie's toe quickly dive for cover under the blanket again – the echidna answered his pseudo-threat with a smile before finishing her previous sentence,

"What did you get up to last night? Anything much happen?" Shadow thought for a second before sitting up and spinning his legs onto the bed, facing Julie cross-legged as he considered his answer for a moment; it was just as Julie was about to give another prompt that he spoke again,

"Well, I'm not sure; bottom line is I did what had to be done with the ARK – sent it on its maiden voyage", he explained with a sad smile as Julie knitted her brows at that comment, "I promised her we'd go sailing and now we have; not exactly the ocean we had in mind but", he gave a shrug as Julie understood and inclined her head, not wanting him to see her have to choke down a lump in her throat that felt the size of a cricket ball, "I'm sure Maria's not the type to complain".

_Too right she wasn't_; Julie knew that without being told it was true – everything she'd ever heard about the slim, fragile girl with a core of steel that had saved the life of the Mobian before her just as he had saved hers over many years made that fact as plain as the daylight trickling through the curtains just over her bed. Not quite trusting herself to speak right now, the echidna rocked forwards enough to brush her hand against Shadow's closest forearm. He jerked up at the contact, seeing into her face and, after a second, reciprocating her wan but understanding smile; she would have said something had a more meaningful look not suddenly flashed in his eyes; before she could recoil Julie felt his grip suddenly wrap around one of her wrists and the next second she was face-first on top of the blanket as the hedgehog dragged her forwards, laughing as she squawked and flailed to try and maintain both balance and dignity,

"Come on Jules", Shadow crowed triumphantly as she finally managed to stop her forwards momentum at the cost of most of her pride; throwing herself backwards she was forced to pull the hedgehog with her, "up and at 'em. Ah", as he impacted on his flatmates' front he smiled up sweetly as she glared up at him murderously, "good to see you up and about at last".

"Damn it, and damn you just for good measure Shadow", pushing him backwards and knowing it would be fruitless to try and get comfortable again, she threw herself upright and smoothing down the front of her nightgown, quickly beginning to pace the floor around the bed, unknowing not quite as concerned as she once might have been that Shadow was where he was and observing her in the state of clothing she was currently in, "now I'm just going to worry like mad for a couple of hours before I start getting ready".

"Why?" _Ah, in his ignorance the boy questions what he can't understand_; though sorely tempted Julie couldn't quite go along with her typically sarcastic assessment of the situation as Shadow looked at her benignly from his now-recovered seating position, "you know what you're going to wear; heck, I know what you're going to wear because I was there when you brought it and I also know you're going to look fine when you've got it on, so why get so worried about it?"

"Because…just because", Julie said after trying to think about what it was that was actually making her so nervous in spite of her normally cool temper, "it's a woman thing; something big is going to happen and I just keep seeing it going quite horribly wrong – I know it probably won't", she announced quickly, seeing the tell-tale signs of consternation brewing on Shadow's brow and quashing them before they could take effect, "but that's not going to stop me thinking that it might and I'll make a complete idiot of myself. After all, I've never been to anything like this; at least you've got some experience in that respect".

_Gotta give her that_; Julie's astute statement chimed up true as deep within him as Shadow could think of at least two or three examples when Amy had been a bundle of nerves prior to a date with Sonic that had left the blue hedgehog totally unfazed; _why is that? Well, I guess it doesn't matter really – what does matter is that she's concerned about it and I_; quickly making up something like a solution to the current dilemma facing him, Shadow quickly decided against meeting this issue head on and instead went for a misdirection attack; _have got just the thing to stop her worrying_;

"Maybe I have, but look on the bright side", the echidna slowed but didn't quite stop her pacing as she looked over at the hedgehog and paid attention to his words, hungry for a crumb of good news in these barren circumstances, "no matter how nervy you're feeling, I know someone who's going to be feeling a heck of a lot worse than you are, and not just because the tailors in Station Square don't make clothes in his size". _That got her_; it was all Shadow could do to keep a cool expression on his face as he succeeded in his goal and the former Dark Legionnaire in front of him ground to a halt in her parade-ground drill,

"Who's this?"

"Someone you'll be meeting tonight", Shadow informed her brightly before giving a chuckle, "as long as Mighty can convince him to keep his bottle that is". Julie seemed stumped for a second and he was afraid he'd have to spell it out for her before her mouth fell open into a perfect circle and she was able to stammer an answer,

"Her, her boyfriend; what's his name?" She snapped her fingers desperately, the name to the very tip of her tongue but she was thwarted right at the very last, "B, B-something, Big, that's it; he'll be there?" Shadow nodded and stood up, stretching again before looking at her easily,

"Yep, he'll be there, but Cream very nearly wasn't bless her – that was a nasty trick Tails tried on her. Nearly worked too, amazing but true".

"What did? Okay, Shadow", _I know where you're going with this_; it was so obvious now she'd seen it – he was trying to calm her nerves by diverting her attention down other topics; _damn fine strategy sir, bet it works_, and grateful for the relief of her jangling nerves, Julie was only too happy to play along, "start making sense – I know it'll be hard for you but just try, for me". Her suddenly pleading look, while ridiculously over the top and completely at odds with the Julie-Su he was so familiar with; _since when has her bottom lip ever quivered in all the time I've known her?_; was nevertheless effective and Shadow felt himself sober up almost immediately. Standing up and straightening out the rumpled bed sheets, he spoke over his shoulder and therefore never saw the doom creeping up behind him,

"Fair enough; tell you what – you get the kettle on and let me unpahhhh…!!" As the hedgehog collapsed underneath her it was Julies' turn to cackle triumphantly, following the route of his fall and not relinquishing the pressure on the twin sensitive spots just under his ribs, hitting them with the tips of her fingers, each impact sending a judder through Shadow's slender frame and culminating in a bark of harsh, unwilling laughter at the sudden torment.

"You'll get your drink when I'm done with you", she broke off to administer some more well-deserved punishment, Shadow writhing beneath her torturing fingers, desperate to get away even as his face was contorted in reluctant laughter, "so help me I will teach you that dragging me out of bed, especially at the weekend, is one of the worst mistakes you can ever make!"

XXX

Hours later Shadow was still rubbing the spots Julie had attacked unmercifully earlier, wincing slightly as it seemed like the echidna had temporarily forgotten her vastly superior strength in her urge to 'educate' him; _that'll be a fine pair of bruises there then – bloody echidnas are all alike_; he broke off admiring where the ARK now sat proudly on the shelf over the television to direct a venomous glare through the lounge wall towards the bathroom, where he could still hear the shower running quite happily; _all honour and pride on the outside but the second you turn your back on them – pow!_ Still, there was no denying he'd deserved it but at the same time he'd been so, so…relieved, was that the right word or was 'overjoyed' perhaps more suitable for how he'd felt at seeing Julie again? After a second's pondering he shrugged; it didn't matter really, he knew that had he the chance to relive that scene over he'd have done the exact same thing and he had a sneaking suspicion that, had she been able to do likewise, the echidna would probably expect something like that – it just wouldn't have been right not to take such an offered chance; had their positions been reversed he was sure he'd have expected a trick. His eyes darted from the ship prominently displayed on what counted as his flat's mantelpiece to the clock beside it, the timepiece overshadowed by the majesty of its more illustrious neighbour but its message still important; _fifty minutes – man, at one time I'd have thought that was loads of time_.

It was an empty thought now; every second was looking priceless now and they were all draining away with alarming regularity, each minute that passed eroding his chance of being completely ready by the time Tails had promised to be there and whisk both himself and his escort for the night away to the celebrations. Why was Julie taking so long? – half of him knew the logical reason was that she wanted to make sure she looked an absolute knock-out on this big night and wished her all the luck in the world that she was able to meet and even exceed the standard she'd set herself, but at the same time the other half of him just wished she'd hurry up and give him the time he needed to make his own preparations. _Did I really laugh when I said it was a woman's thing to get nervous before the main event?_; now as he sat in his chair nibbling his bottom lip in antagonised frustration Shadow knew how much of an illusion that unenlightened thought had truly been – truly Sonic must have had nerves of utter steel to always appear as cool as he had before he'd gone out to pick Amy up from when they'd been sharing a flat together. _How did he do it – well, this is a fact_; willing to do almost anything to stop the awful churning in his guts the black hedgehog quickly made that solemn promise; _the second tonight's over I'm going to call him and demand he gives me that answer, tells me the secret to not feeling nerves this bad!_

He was so tense and ready for it to happen that when it finally came about, when Julie actually did appear in the doorway he didn't even notice; it was only her slight cough that brought his attention snapping around onto her and, after a second of stupefaction that she thankfully didn't see, being too pre-occupied with looking down and smoothing out virtually-non-existent wrinkles in the material encasing her body, Shadow quickly realised his former nerves had vanished and from beneath them a cool, calm and untarnished core of certainty was rising to the surface, picking his words for him as effectively as if he were reading them from an autocue.

"Now this is a sight I could see over and over", Julie glanced up and gave a nervous giggle, nothing from her Dark Legion life preparing her for this sort of attention and test of will and therefore grateful for any source of succour, "Jules, you've really pulled out all the stops here"; _oh spirits above, he's coming closer – I don't want him, I do, I need him, can he really come as close as that?_; she wanted to take a pace back and a step forwards at the same time and therefore remained exactly where she was, shackled to the floor with boots of lead as Shadow approached slowly, barely half a step at a time. There was a thrill that ran right through her body as he placed both his hands on her shoulders, his palms warm even through his gloves and the straps that kept her dress on her shoulders and she raised her eyes gradually, aware of a strange prickling sensation on her face but certain she couldn't be blushing; all the blood in her body had drained away in a bundle of nerves. Somehow Shadow's face swam up before her and she swallowed, trying to say something but the words were stuck in her desiccated throat; his smile was the answer to all her prayers, the voice that tolled out next and the words it spoke for her as clear, crisp and welcome as the peal of Heaven's trumpet echoing from on high,

"You look great, in fact you look a lot, lot better than that – you've done yourself, and me I suppose, more than proud".

_Thank the spirits for that!_; the impact of the relief was so great it nearly buckled her knees; it was only his hands suddenly tightening their grip on her shoulders that brought back to Earth and made her pull herself back together. Slowly, taking several steadying breaths, Julie brought her hands up to cover his own for a second, seeing the effect of the contact almost painfully clearly in his eyes before gently peeling his palms aside and offering them back to him,

"Go on", her voice was no more than the faintest whisper; she cleared her throat and tried again, "go ahead; you need to get ready".

"I've got lots of time", Shadow assured her, not moving, "and I'm more than happy where I am, seeing what I'm seeing".

"Stop it, please", Julie moaned almost petulantly, the depth of his obvious affections almost as embarrassing as they were touching, "go on, if nothing else I need some peace and quiet to get ready for what's coming next; you I can just about handle, it's everyone else I'm worried about". Shadow nodded and she stepped aside, watching him from the corner of her eye as he stepped past, never taking his eyes off her until he was flush in the hallway; it was only when he had disappeared into the bedroom for a moment and she was able to think lucidly for a while that she was able to duck her head back into the hallway and call out,

"Oh, and Shadow", she had to wait a fraction before a very familiar ebony-spined head mirrored her own from the opposite end of the hallway, "you better be quick; before we head off, there's the 'you-know-what' to deal with first".

_The what?_; for a second the hedgehog was utterly perplexed; it was only when he saw a chameleonic eyebrow rise an inch that he finally twigged and, having ensured himself that all was as it should be in that department, allowed himself a sly grin,

"Oh yeah, that", he drawled dryly before tapping the side of his nose, "not a problem I can assure you; I hope you're as well prepared?" _If only you knew…_;

"You bet I am".

"Good", the hedgehog echoed her challenge-accepting smile and stepped out into the hallway with his suit ready and hung up for him to put on, "well babe, see you on the other side".

"I'll be waiting"; _gotcha!_;

"Now that's a pleasant change I can tell you…"

"Just get a move on!" The parade-ground snap in her voice jerked him back to reality with a violent jolt and he unhesitatingly obeyed; with a final,

"Gone", he was away into the bathroom and Julie was left with the peace she so desperately desired, for a second at least. _Time enough_; waiting until she heard the shower start up to make sure he wasn't shamming, the echidna moved quickly into the bedroom and headed straight for the wardrobe, carefully going into a press-up position to make sure she didn't get dirt on her dress at this late stage as she went fishing for the present she'd squirreled away so well; _to get ready to give you the next shock in your life Shadow, and this time I promise it'll be a pleasant one._

XXX

Each eyed up the other like a boxer sat in his corner just before the first bell went; neither said anything for a second, not wanting to give up a potential advantage before their erstwhile opponent made such a slip for them to latch onto. Tension began to crackle around the pair of them, virtually sparking off against the metal in the room as Shadow took a step forwards, both hands behind his back a magnet for Julie's attention just as her similarly-clasped and hidden burden was the focus of his attention. Time stood still for a second before the peace was shattered with a tinkling crash; Shadow's face darted upwards, taking in the echidna's confident smirk and trying to deduce what it could possibly mean in the split-second before it was replaced by the movements of her speaking; _I don't like her tone – either she's really outdone herself this time or even she's worked her bluffing skill on overtime recently_;

"Well then", it was a purr silkier than the sheen glistening on her dress, the colour rippling over her body's contours with the barest movement, "you first". Only pausing for a second to wordlessly pray that his smile looked as confident as he felt nervous, Shadow slid forwards another pace and cocked his head insinuatingly,

"Ah, but surely as the lady, and try as you might to deny it you do look every inch the lady this evening"; _gotta give him that – smooth as you like_; Julie had to beat away the encroaching smile with everything she had, her resolve tested to the absolute limit as Shadow sensed his split-second advantage and pressed it as far as it could possibly go, "it is your place to go first". Not even she could completely control herself; the very corners of her lips floated upwards minutely and she fought for mastery of herself; she was so tempted, burning with the desire to whip her hands forwards with a flourish but she couldn't, not after all the hard work she'd done; _I am not going to ruin this surprise now – you hear me soldier, you are going to stick to the plan to the letter, got that!_;

"But equally surely, as the lady it is my prerogative to decide the order we reveal our gifts", she replied in a tone that matched his in suaveness and persuasive qualities, "and I'm asking you to go first Shadow; you wouldn't want to disappoint a lady like me now would you?" Her sudden question complete with the coy pose she adopted for its delivery caught him off-guard and there was no way he could come back from it; he tried mightily to stem the flow but little by little his mask slipped away, the fall gaining momentum until his head dropped, sniggering slightly in his painless defeat before stepping forwards, bringing his hand forwards, Julie's eyes widening as she beheld the small, thin box he presented to her,

"I'm sorry", he said with a small, shy smile as her trembling hand extended towards him, feathering a gentle touch on the box and slowly drawing it from him, the hedgehog finishing as she dared to flip the lid and draw out what lay within, "I couldn't stretch to make it a real piece, but…well, I thought it would go really nicely with your dress".

Julie didn't speak for a moment; she didn't dare herself to as she beheld the tiny, intricate links of the chain in her hand, the light overhead glinting and flashing from the small, stylised 'J' that winked at her from the bottom of the necklace. It was only when she glanced up and saw a very slight cloud of concern on her partner's brow that she quickly came back to herself and blinked, standing straight and holding the small piece of jewellery at half-arms length between them, admiring it again before looking over at Shadow, all pretences of faking surprise and excess affection gone and replaced with only heartfelt, homely words she instinctively knew he'd much rather hear from her.

"Shadow, this is beautiful; I've never had any jewellery before now and this…", she lowered the J of her pendent into the palm of her hand, scrutinising the soft sheen of the metal in her hand before caressing it softly with the tip of her finger; _he said he was sorry he had to get it fake – so what? I don't care, this looks an absolute diamond and…_; she suddenly made her mind up in a flash – Shadow almost jumped backwards as she snapped her fist closed and suddenly brandished it at him, the chain draping over the top of her hand as she offered her new piece back to him, a sparkle in her eye to match the glistening of the metal as she rethought her original words, "…this is waiting for you to do the honours".

_Huh?_; Shadow didn't understand, what was he supposed to do, what was she asking of him? He pondered for a second, trying desperately to see his way through this murk before movement to the front of him offered a blessed explanation; _aha, now I get you_. With a nod and smile, the hedgehog let the echidna drop the necklace he'd given her into his open palm before circling quickly around behind her, his fingers trying to gently prise the catch at the back of the chain open at the same time her now-unburdened hand joined its twin in both holding up her voluminous dreadlocks and cunningly concealing her still-unrevealed present beneath her recently washed hair. _Come on you, now is not the time to be awkward_; Shadow mentally thought the clasp open as the fiddly pieces of metal eluded his fumbling fingers for a moment – luckily his thumbnail was able to snag onto the miniscule protrusion of metal in the slightly larger of the two rings and slowly peel it apart, the chain sundered at one point as he finally managed to unbuckle it. Taking a breath, the hedgehog slowly extended both hands through the gaps in Julie's upraised arms, his unoccupied hand quickly taking hold of one end of the chain and then slowly retracting, drawing the small circle back to completion around her neck. A swift second of fingertip work later and he stepped back,

"Finished", and galvanised by his words Julie slowly revolved on her toes, trying to roll her eyes down and see the effect of the new necklace as Shadow admired his handiwork, the metal shining on her breastbone and giving a new lustre to her – he looked away quickly, that same lustre combining with her natural attractiveness to make continued viewing of his flatmate almost painful for him for a second. Thankfully he was quickly able to control himself, fighting down the sudden spike of ardour before pulling himself together and facing Julie again, the echidna's expression radiating contentment with the effect of her new trinket before a sudden reminder came to her, burning in her eyes as she let her hair fall again and slid her arms up in front of her – almost before he knew where he was Shadow found himself confronted with a box similar to his and gaped just like she had as he beheld the tiny gilded letters embossed in the matt black material; _I know that name – how did she…?_;

"Julie", a hoarse whisper was all he was able to conjure from his disbelief, "that's not…this isn't for me, surely?" The echidna heaved a sigh before pointedly looking over his shoulder,

"I don't see anyone else around", she returned her attention to him, jiggling the box at him, encouraging the hedgehog to reach out and take what she was offering; when he still appeared unable to move, mesmerised by what he could read and completely unable to compute how she'd managed to get hold of one of these at the threshold they'd set for each other, she knew it was time to come clean, "I know what you're thinking and you're right", his eyes erupted into flaming pits, the searing heat of betrayal almost scalded her off her track before she stuttered her way to the end of what she'd meant to say, "I, I didn't just use the ten we agreed on…"

"Why?" His demand was loud but not exactly angry; if anything he sounded a little contrite, perhaps guilty that he too should have broken the mould to get something more than he had – a point Julie was more than happy to set him straight on. The risk of creasing his suit seemed a fair one to take; she snickered and pushed his shoulder slightly, explaining in the sly tone she always adopted when pointing out in great detail how she'd managed to sneak a trick in under his radar,

"Because, my dear hedgehog, that beautiful ship over there", Shadow followed her finger to see the ARK sitting in pride of place where, if he had his way, it would remain as long as he possibly would, "was only forty crests; I still owed you forty"; _oh I don't believe you_; his indignancy only seemed to spur her on as she rounded off her thinking with a cheerful wink, "that combined with the ten, well let's just say that calls us quits". With a disgruntled, if still accepting, sigh, the hedgehog flipped the lid of his box and after only the barest hint of what lay within nodded his compliance at her deal,

"Okay, this", he carefully dragged the new watch up by its strap, taking in the face of the timepiece with an appraising glance, "sets the record straight between us; neither of us ever mentions that first week or so ever again, fair?"

"You bet"; _good_; as he unclipped his battered and work-scarred old timepiece from around his right wrist Shadow felt a moment of sweet relief flow through him; _that's that over, and with a minimum of fuss – just as well I went first really, that way I knew to keep my mouth shut_; swiftly drawing the watch strap tight but comfortable, the former ultimate life-form lowered his hand and gazed into the face of his new watch, the gilded numerals glowing back up at him from behind their glass screen as the lovingly-crafted hands ticked onwards with a gloriously soothing monotone rhythm, "now that really looks the business; what do you think?"

"Looks better than it ever did in the shops, but", Julie pointed out after a second of the hedgehog extending his arm to let her see the effect of her purchase on his skin, just as she had his, "it's also saying that we've got about five minutes left to go; reckon we can wait that out in the lobby?" Shadow nodded and jangled the keys in his pockets,

"Sounds like a plan; well then", he extended his arm once more as he took a step forwards, his crimson eyes softening in benevolence as they linger lovingly on her face, "shall we?"

"You bet we shall", Julie's grave voice was betrayed by her steadfast and graceful smile as she entwined her arm around his, linking them around the elbow and falling into step with him, their attention, for the next few timeless seconds, focussed solely on each other and nothing else. Even as they walked through the lounge door and Julie flicked the light off with her free hand, plunging the apartment into darkness, so perfect were their memories of the other that neither of them dropped their eyes.

They no longer needed sight to see the one they had chosen.

XXX

"Bloody, hell!" _Huh_; as she saw Julie's face suddenly fall, pupils shrinking to the size of pinpricks from where they'd previous been happily wandering over her mothers' old pearl bracelet, Cream looked puzzled for a second before she glanced over her shoulder to follow where the echidnas' attention was now fixed; _oh wow – here we go then_;

"Heya", excitement began pounding in her chest as two of the quintet approaching echoed her greeting; only the disbelieving grunt by the side of her reminded the rabbit that she actually had company for whom the sight of one of her closest friends would be something of a shock and leaned across to whisper our the corner of her mouth, "don't panic; I know, he takes some getting used to, but with Big", she looked around as Julie managed to blink and drag her gaze away from the mountain of purple grinding across the restaurant waiting area towards them all, the entirety of the Chaotix eclipsed by the cat's unintentionally looming presence, "what you see is definitely what you get". Julie gave a snort that could have meant anything from acceptance of her logic to still-further disbelief before shaking her head a second time, perhaps aware of the attentions of the other two Mobians present behind her creeping into the equation as she forced herself to smile and return Mighty's welcoming glance,

"Hmm, well he's something", the ex-Legionnaire managed to whisper back to the pilot in training before raising her voice to address the throng as a whole, aware that it would look too obvious if she tried to act subtle now, "so Mighty, this is the one?"

"Yep", stepping forwards proudly, the armadillo folded her arms as she lent softly against the flank of her former saviour, taking in a second of sweet pleasure as she felt one of his paws settle on her shoulder, the roughness of his pads still transmitting their caress through his gloves straight into her soul as they always could, "this is him. Big", she glanced up as she stepped forwards, clearly making some sort of introduction as Julie likewise came a little closer to the pair of them, "this is Julie-Su; Julie, Big".

"Hullo"; _which idiot was it that said the camera never lies?_; as she plucked up the courage to shake a couple of Big's pro-offered fingers, Julie dimly remembered back into the past to see once more the picture Mighty had shown her that she kept in her purse and the difference between reality and still-life hit her as powerfully as one of the armadillo's love-taps. Fortunately he didn't seem to be offended by her staring; _damn, I am staring – stop it_; she forced herself to look away from him and that was enough to break the spell; just as he released her comparatively tiny hand she was able to unknot her tied tongue and reciprocate his words,

"Hello Big", she looked back, the cat smiling at his name, "Mighty's told me a lot about you".

"Likewise; what she said was good wasn't it?" The cat questioned gently, peering forwards and purposefully ignoring his girlfriend's face as it grew a little darker, "like, she never mentioned the time she was walking through Mystic Ruins and it had been raining, so she…"

"She bumped into you", Mighty finished for him forcefully, Charmy just behind her trying visibly to suppress giggles and mouthing 'later' to Julie as soon as he was able to control himself properly, "and if you're sensible you'll leave it at that, got it?"

"Unquestionably", the cat slimed sycophantically as he lowered both his ears and his posture in deference to his better half's ire; Julie chuckled and nodded at the armadillo,

"That's the way to do it Mighty, get 'em trained early, save yourself the bother later". There was a snort from behind her, Shadow less than impressed with this latest line,

"And how would you know? What's your success rate in that regard exactly?" Her eyes flashed as she threw a look over her shoulder, the smile that matched it chilling in its promise,

"I'm working on it"; _hmm, okay, reckon I might have come off worse there_; still, he had enough wits about him to take the hit and move on as well as he knew how; folding his hands behind his head in a true Sonic pose, Shadow returned her silent oath with cheery blasé before moving his eyes past her and giving a start as he took in who had accompanied the pairing on this outing,

"Now this ladies and gentlemen, is a once in a lifetime event; get a good look now, it's for one night only I can assure you", with a flourish the hedgehog gestured expansively to one of the other Chaotix as though displaying a prized ornament, "Vector Crocodile, modelling a _suit! _And even shoes", the head of the former detective group glowered as the ebon hedgehog brought a palm to his forehead, stunned by the shock, "polished shoes, at that! Will wonders never cease tonight?" Unable to resist the urge to join in, Tails likewise stepped forwards, eyes cast upwards towards the heavens as though gazing for the word of the lord himself to be written large in the sky above him,

"Oh Lord, what awaits us next; floods, fire and the judgement of the end times – the crownless shall once more be king, the scruffiest shall appear as regal as lords, one of the signs is here, prepare thineselves for…"

"Shurrup!" Vector growled as he reached the limits of his already-strained tolerance; _as if I didn't get enough of this from the other two – just this once Esp you being quiet was a bonus_; "yeah, believe it or no' I actually scrub up pretty good…"

"Yeah, eventually", Charmy piped up from behind him; before the crocodile could twist and stop him the inventive bee had let loose his look of discomfort as he stretched an imaginary cramp out of his thumb, "you have no idea how many scouring pads we had to go through to get him ready for this". _I'll deal with you later buzz-boy_; swearing that promise silently and contenting the murderous part of his mind, already stoked to a fever-pitch of fury by the relentless teasing Charmy had harangued him with since he'd dredged his suit back up from the depths of his wardrobe, with visions of bloody and brutal insectile mutilation and gruesome death, the reptile took a calming breath before continuing,

"…when I've got a mind to, an' don't knock me togs", he said suddenly, shooting Shadow more than anyone else as reproachful glare at the same time as brush down his lapels fastidiously, guarded when it came to the topic of his one decent set of business attire, "it's done me proud this has; seen me through three funerals, a weddin' an' a duzen court cases". Cream gaped,

"A dozen; please tell me you were just a witness!"

"Well", the crocodile wheedled teasingly for a moment before grinning, "most o' the time". Cream snarled at his obfuscation but, true to form, she wasn't able to hold it and ended up chortling instead,

"Whatever, but I think you look great, we all do". Vector mimicked her slight giggle fit, not seeing someone else glaring daggers at the rabbit from just to the side of him,

"Thanks dame, but anyway", pleasure temporarily suspended, the crocodile's savvy business sense took over, "anyone know where the table's at; Knucks and the rest o' his crew shouldn' be too long now; prob'ly best if we're all seated and got a round in 'fore they get 'ere, whad'ya think?" There was a slight murmured discussion before Tails nodded and put into words what they were all thinking,

"Sounds like a plan, but please"; _okay Shads, laugh at me for a slip of the tongue, I'll see that and raise you a slip on something a lot worse_; with a grin, the fox jerked a thumb over his shoulder, "whatever you do, keep him on the alcohol-free stuff – we've all seen what happens and it's not pretty".

XXX

It was a short time later, when they'd managed to locate the table that had been booked in Lara's name and finally dissuade Shadow and Vector from sitting either side of Tails, no matter how much they both protested it was for perfectly amicable reasons, all in the name of friendship and in no way to do with testing the often-voiced and joked-about theory that the fox would probably make a fine wishbone if they managed to grab a tail each, that, alerted by a nudge from Espio, Charmy looked towards the entrance to the restaurant and his eyes widened. Taking just enough time out for a dirty glance towards the surly reptile, the chameleon still looking as though he was sucking on the lemon that had arrived in his ordered beverage, the bee half-stood to make his declaration to the table at large,

"Hello, over there", alerted by his shout, every Mobian present either gazed forwards or craned to see over the back of their seat to see the last four arrivals, "welcome one and all". Moving quickly under the table, one of Vector's feet pushed out a chair at the head of the table and, after a pause that all expected and gratefully gave one in her condition, Lara-Le settled down on it gratefully after shaking hands with Big as the cat span around in his seat, thanking the reptile with her eyes as her husband slipped into his seat next to her, only attending to his own comfort when he was sure both his wife and his soon-to-be son were settled. As the guardian's mother came to rest on her seat at the table head all eyes were on her, but one pair above all others scrutinised her with greater intensity; forgetting even to greet Rouge as the bat sat down next to her, Julie-Su observed the Mobian she'd heard so much about and, it still rankled but she had to accept it was true, she'd been part of the force that had both kidnapped and held captive; the one that the Mobian she had once been convinced was the only one for her and all who considered him a friend had been prepared to sacrifice everything for.

_So this is her_; at first there didn't appear to be much for the Legionnaire to notice; Lara's most distinguishing feature seemed to be the pregnancy bump protruding proudly from her otherwise-unremarkable figure – sure, you could tell just by looking at him that her husband was absolutely devoted to her and she was to be praised for that, but what else was there; _nothing. But then, that's just it_; the idea that dawned on her was almost so simple she nearly laughed out loud as it entered her mind; _she's just a completely normal, loving wife and mother_; she shifted her gaze a second to see Knuckles, sat as close to the head of the table as he could manage, reaching over to pour his mother a glass of the ice water provided by the waiter, as steadfast in his affection for her as Wynmacher was; _and that's a lot more than a lot of people can claim to be_. If part of her spitefully compared Knuckles' lot in life to her own, the way he'd been lucky enough to have a mother like Lara whilst her father had been only too quick to cast her hopes and dreams off in favour of a better deal she never acknowledged it as, finally noticing her scrutiny, Lara must have glimpsed her from the corner of her eye and tipped her a wink coupled with an understanding smile. _So_; as she returned such a gracious expression with a deferential nod, Julie had no problem in deciding that the Mobian who had organised this event was someone she could very easily get along with; _that's Lara-Le_;

"You bet it is"; _what, how did she…?_; the sudden panic in her eyes must have been as visible as a lighthouse beacon – Rouge quickly masked a smile before speaking again in the same quiet tone, "thinking out loud Jules; don't worry, we all do it, me more than most".

"Not in public though", the echidna complained, grateful only for Mighty occupying Shadow's attention so much he hadn't overheard her mental slip, "only me…"

"Not at all; I only get away with it because I can hear myself whisper", the bat assured her, reaching demurely for the wine list at the same time as flash her friend a smile, "but you were right; that is Lara-Le and I consider myself very lucky to have a mother-in-law like her".

"I don't blame you", the echidna told her quickly before Knuckles turned his attention towards her; the guardian grinned for a second and before Julie could either stop him or gather her thoughts he'd tapped his stepfather on the arm and announced pointedly,

"Hey Wyn, you too mum"; _oh don't point me out – you git_; the ex-Legionnaire felt her cheeks start to burn as one of the other echidna's pendulous hands extended in her direction, "this is Julie-Su believe it or not", embarrassed or not Julie had enough left in her to give a wry scowl in the guardian's direction for that comment before turning her attention back to the two who'd been kind enough to invite her to this function in the first place, "and the way Shadow's been telling it she's been looking forwards to meeting the pair of you for ages".

_Oh is that right?_; Julie whipped her head over her shoulder, attempting to carbonise the hedgehog sat next to her with her most fatal look before she was forced to disengage by another voice – glancing back she saw Wynmacher, the echidna she understood to be Lara's second husband, snort with laughter at his stepson's comment,

"Now why would someone like her want to meet a pair of old relics like us?" Lara's bottle-green eyes narrowed as she cut her partner off,

"Speak for yourself; I'm doing fine for my age"; he was tempted, Julie could see that even from where she was – Wyn was having to fold his lips inwards to stop blurting out a biting retort that would have doubtless had him in even deeper water as his wife left him in his place and turned her attention to her guest, smile back on her face, honest and open, "yes, Knuckles has told us a lot about you; I'm not going to go over what happened earlier, as far as I'm concerned what's past stays there".

"Thanks"; _that's a lot off my plate_; "in that case all I'll say is that a lot of us back then weren't keen on the idea when we heard about it but by then", she gave a shrug, toying with her glass idly, "what could we do about it – they say jump and we obey, over the hill and far away", she finished, the little Legion ditty coming back to her and sounding oddly comforting in the circumstances. Wyn gave a slight chuckle as he poured himself some water, topping up Lara's glass as it looked like she was going through a hot flush,

"Nice rhyme Jules; anyway, if anything I'm thankful for what happened – if it hadn't been for that I might never have screwed up the courage to propose, or I might have got the courage and then screwed it up, one of the two".

"Now that wouldn't surprise me", Mighty called out from further down the table, general chortling following that assertion, least of all from Wyn himself, the chef reaching for a menu at the same time as command the assembled at large,

"Alright missus, that's enough of that; people, start your ordering, the sooner we call the waiter the sooner we get full plates"; _and the sooner we clean them_; as heads went down, Wyn snuck a glance to the side of him, seeing Lara give the ghost of a reassuring smile before slipping her hand under the table to gently take one of his; _the sooner we make amends, and make sure everyone knows how grateful we are_.

XXX

Carefully blowing on her soup to prevent it scalding the inside of her mouth and her tongue, Julie carefully considered the spoonful in front of her before taking a small sip, ensuring it was the right temperature before letting the rest of it slide down into her stomach. The creamy texture and smooth, svelte taste of tomatoes, spiced to perfection with a kick of something the echidna couldn't quite identify, really hit the spot and Julie quickly helped herself to another spoonful, then a third before glancing to the side of her, seeing Shadow tucking into his prawn cocktail with equal relish. _Yep, this sure beats sitting in front of the goggle-box for the night_; now that thought she agreed with – not only was Shadow here, the others were great company too and some of the quotes they'd had even waiting for the starter to arrive beat any sketch-show hands down in the entertainment stakes. Closing her eyes for a slip second halfway through her soup, Julie was just thinking that this really was the life when someone tapped her arm; _Rouge, what's up?_ Turning to her left the ex-Legionnaire echoed the bat's grin as the former spy slipped down in her seat a little, her wings providing a slight arrest to her downwards progress before she could go to far as they wrapped around the back of her seat,

"Now this is good soup, and I've eaten plenty in my time I can tell you", she took another sip of her own dish, Julie in no hurry to say anything in this relaxed atmosphere and therefore letting the bat take her time and finish what she was going to say, "that's a neat dress by the way; how'd you get it to match your fur like it does?"

"No idea, Shadow actually found it; yes, strange but true"; _now that I wasn't expecting_; Rouge looked past the echidna to the hedgehog on her other side before giving her attention back to Julie, "it was just on one of the racks, he picked it off and, after a bit of wrestling, I 'persuaded' it to fit me, something I guarantee you've never had a problem with". Rouge sniggered for a moment at the grinning echidna's inflection before deciding to shatter her illusions a little, shaking her head and rustling her wings a little as if to prove a point,

"And that guarantee would be null and void at the till I'm afraid, more's the pity", the ex-spy gave a not-entirely fake sigh as she gazed wistfully at the shoulder straps of Julie's garment, knowing that in all probability such a luxury was probably always going to be denied her, "I can wear dresses like that for about an hour but they absolutely kill my shoulders and wings; I'd never make it through a night like tonight in one, have to wear these wrap-around things". _You know I never noticed that_; now that she pointed it out Julie saw with some amazement that the ex-spy wasn't lying; the bat's dress was strapless and she was having to constantly rearrange it as she moved around on her seat; _still, I bet not many women could get away with that sort of look_;

"But they look good on you", Julie saw her comment strike home with a gratifying amount of thankfulness in the bat's eyes before, to her surprise, a little twinge of shamed regret whisked over her face and she glanced down, licking her lips for a second before answering,

"Well, as long as there aren't any lifts about that is; no, sorry", she held up a hand, hoping to forestall the inevitable before her friend's look could grow too questioning, "I'm not telling that one, not in public anyway; I still wake up in a cold sweat some nights wondering if someone in the government hasn't still got a copy of the security tapes stashed away somewhere. Anyway, while we're on the topic of what looks good on whom";_ a roundabout way of getting there maybe but it works_; she might have gone a little off-track but Rouge reckoned it would be worth it if she could confirm her original suspicions, "where'd you find that little sparkler round your neck; don't tell me that was Shadow too?"

She could still do it; even now after being out of the service for nearly two years Rouge had a knack for reading people like they were open books and the way Julie suddenly looked down was a dead giveaway, especially as Knuckles and all his family with the possible exception of Spectre did the exact same thing when confronted with a topic they found embarrassing. She didn't say anything though; sizing up the situation, Rouge decided to wait and see, only giving a prompt if Julie wasn't forthcoming with the gory details. Fortunately, as the ex-Legionnaire raised her head, the bat realised she wasn't going to have to wait long,

"Well, yeah, he brought it, not out of choice mind"; _carefully does it_; Rouge let herself raise an eyebrow, desperate not to put a foot wrong a this delicate stage and jump in before she could see the whole picture, "we had a little bet, well, not so much a bet as a challenge going and he brought this", Julie gently clasped the J at the bottom of her pendent and held it forwards for her friend's inspection; a single glance told Rouge all she needed to know,

"So"; _what challenge would have got to this – I know he's on a bit more of a limited budget than he lets on_; keeping her thinking off her face with a great deal of effort, Rouge took up her glass and toyed with it for a second, the maroon liquid within swirling hypnotically, "what challenge did you hook him up to this time? How'd you do it, and would it work on…" Julie's chest hitched as Rouge's voice dropped at the end, the backwards jerk of her head telling the echidna exactly who was in her thoughts and allowing her to form an answer around that part of the question,

"Nah, sorry but it's too late now; challenge was set for tonight".

"Aww, oh well, always next time", the bat commented breezily before turning slightly more serious, "so, what happened?"

"Well, we had a, ah, a bit of a fracas previously; ask Wyn about the element of risqué when I'm not about, he'll fill you in", Julie murmured with a dark glance before brightening, "and because of that we hatched this sort of bet; we had to get something for each other that we could wear tonight, it had to go with our outfits and it had to be less than ten crests. I got Shadow his new watch, I know", she had to explain as Rouge's face fell, knowing what was on the tip of her friend's tongue, "it wasn't ten but I already owed him some money anyway, so that was me out of debt and honour satisfied all in one day – pretty impressive hey?"

"Oh", Rouge blinked and came back to herself just in time to both hear the last bit of Julie's sentence and realise she'd be waiting for an answer, "oh yeah, nicely done"; _thank heaven for that_; the bat breathed again as the echidna's attention was taken off her by a query from Charmy about something or other – Rouge took a fortifying sip of wine in the lull, sizing up the situation by looking at Shadow from the corner of her eye; _ten crests you say. Well I'll say nothing here_; she knew she couldn't, it would probably ruin certainly Julies' and probably Shadow's night as well and she was prepared to do nothing of the sort to two of her close friends; instead she mentally complimented Shadow for his eye at the same time as mentally commiserated Julie for not being worldly-wise enough to see what was actually before her.

_Sorry to burst your bubble girl but I know real white gold when I see it - there's no way that's fake_; taking another mouthful from her glass, Rouge caught the flash of the silvery metal as it clinked from the lip of Julie's bowl, the echidna reaching to pass some pepper across the table to Mighty as the bat was hoping the echidna could heed her mental implorations. _Keep hold of him Julie, especially if he's prepared to go to those lengths to pull the wool over your eyes and make you happy_; she smiled indulgently, recalling from her own past all the times she'd surprised her husband and he'd caught her out in kind, reaching over and touching the red echidna's arm for a moment and reflecting his smile as she finished her thought, putting it into context with the tribulations she knew for certain both Mobians had gone through and those she wasn't too sure of and grinning all the wider because of it; _there's no way he got that for anything under triple figures. He knows you're worth every penny and he's willing to give up everything to make sure you know and feel that, even if he never tells you it to your face._

XXX

"Do we start now?" Save for a spilt-second dart of his eyes, Wyn's face never twitched as he heard his wife's whisper and, knowing he couldn't keep it all bottled up inside him for much longer, he breathed back from the corner of his mouth,

"Not yet", he paused a second before risking another look, seeing Lara react slightly to the smile on his face, "just want to hear the end of this story; carry on Shadow", he raised his voice just in time, noticing the main voice speaking to the table at large beginning to falter as the ebon hedgehog noticed his preoccupation, "Lara and I were just discussing if we should go for coffee; I think it's a bit too early myself, everyone else?" General murmurs of assent drifted back to his lazily, Vector eventually electing himself spokesMobian as he slumped down in his seat with a groan,

"Too right", the crocodile groaned again as his hands quickly slackened the belt of his trousers off a little, "all that rich chow needs time t'go down an' caffeine ain't gonna help matters I can tell you".

"Fair enough", Lara conceded phoney defeat with excellent grace, nodding at where Shadow had easily left his tale of misadventure on pause in the lull, "now, what were you up to?"

"No good in the kitchen if I remember rightly", Tails chortled as Shadow directed a look blacker than his fur at the foxboy; _I'm telling this story and it's embarrassing enough as it is, I don't need you sticking your oar in and making it worse – ah well, we're all having a laugh I suppose_; the fact that it was true mollified the hedgehog somewhat. Following finishing the dessert, some hour and a half after tucking into their starters, a relaxed atmosphere had rolled over the table at large and encouraged by such relaxed surroundings stories were starting to be spawned, embarrassing tales coaxed forwards by the air of contentment around them. At present, having just sniggered their way through one of the Chaotix's misadventures and wondered how the former trio of inept detectives had ended up nearly getting carted off on a charge of kidnapping having inadvertently raided the house next to the one their target had been sheltering in, Shadow had eventually plucked up the courage to set the record straight on one particular incident that had dogged him since on of the earliest days of his Station Square life.

"Okay", having nodded at Lara with a smile, hoping the echidna was as certain as he was that absolutely no offence had been taken, Shadow picked up from where he'd left off, "so that was the deal, I had to get lunch sorted; now I'm first to admit I wasn't exactly a dab hand in the kitchen back then so I decided I'd keep it nice and simple and hooked down a can of soup from the cupboard. No problem, thought I; popped it in the saucepan and whacked the heat on full, grabbed the paper I had and kept my eye on the clock, should have taken ten minutes and everything would have been all hunky-dory. Thing is, and I know this sounds stupid now", as his face creased into a wistfully embarrassed smile he felt the levels of expectation steam up from the table at large, sure that the only reason Julie hadn't dropped a much less than complimentary remark on his culinary skills of the present day was that she was hanging on his words like everyone else, "but I didn't realise that when you wanted to cook canned food you had to take it out the can first".

There was a second's pause before, as he'd known there would be, a collective wince and moan of equal parts shock and horror rose from the throng around him, several of the party covering their eyes with their hands at the same time as chuckle; Shadow knew he should have carried on before anyone could get in a remark but held his tongue easily, ready and willing to accept what was to come was to come in this jovial, languid atmosphere,

"And, and that was the bomb Sonic was always on about", Tails managed to choke after panting for a breath of air after a couple of seconds, looking over to the hedgehog with weeping eyes, "it didn't actually blow up did it?"

"No, well, sort of; I was halfway through the letters page when I heard this horrendous crack; I looked over my shoulder in time to see the tin hopping around in the pan; I shut the heat off and had a look, saw the ends of the can had bowed outwards – well what was I supposed to think? I just assumed that meant it was done and reached for the tin-opener". A collective intake of breath followed the movement of his hand as he formed an unclenched fist,

"Psst", he clenched it a fraction before throwing both arms up in the air, almost throwing himself backwards to convey his point, "BOOM! Thank God it was only lukewarm – it went everywhere", he was forced to raise his voice as everyone with the possible exception of Espio fell about laughing, "I got covered, the stove was coated and I'm only grateful the floor wasn't carpeted, it would have been ruined. And of course, as I'm stood there looking at my absolute worst, dripping in cold soup with the tin-opener and attached can still in my hands, Sonic came in; need I say more? Just my luck it was mushroom soup as well", shaking his head Shadow made his face a mask of distaste, "I had to put up with the mushroom cloud jokes for ages".

"The, whahahaat?" Julie tried to compose herself a little better as Shadow sighed and looked around to where she was having to half-hold his former team mate up in her seat, Rouge long-gone into the midst of the giggles, "the what-jokes? Like what?"

"How do you tell if Shadow's making the soup course?" The hedgehog waited a second for an answer before shrugging, his expression almost bored as he wafted a hand around idly, "it's just something in the air". There was a fractional pause before Julie, along with most of the table for whom that joke was a novelty, saw the sting in the tail and collapsed once more in mirth, Rouge in particular having a hard time breathing before Lara managed to control herself properly and, giving Wyn a tap under the table with her toe, shared a glance with him and, both deciding it was time simultaneously, rose in unison to address all their guests at large,

"Well don't worry Shadow, that's far from the worst tale of culinary woe I've ever come across", the husband commentated breezily, the hedgehog turning to him with a hangdog expression that quickly brightened when he saw his friends' stepfather wasn't lying, "some of the sights I've seen in the trade, like this one time we took on a new starter and he was so nervous; he got the dish absolutely perfect, nothing wrong with it at all, but he forgot to turn the gas in the oven off – luckily no-one used it but it ignited due to another pilot light. You can still see the dent in the wall if you look hard enough, but anyway, that's beside the point", having injected a note of sobriety into the proceedings by indicating his wife, most of the assembled shook off their laughter in time to pay attention to what the expectant mother had to say. Taking in a breath, Lara took her time looking around the expectant table and smiled in the teeth of the expectancy, placing both hands on her bump and finally speaking, telling all of the decision she and her husband had reached mutually,

"Well, first of all the usual blather; Wyn and I are both glad you could make it, you're all looking well and I won't say any more because I know you're all desperate to know what all this", she indicated the demolished dishes in front of each Mobian present before continuing, "is in aid of. So I'll cut to the chase, come out and say it; after much discussion, argument and even the odd spot of outright bribery, we", she took hold of Wynmacher's arm, the chef looking down at both her and his future son with paternal pride and taking hold of his wife's hand, feeling the warmth and strength there for him, "have decided on what our little boy's name will be".

The words echoed in a void for a moment before with a noise like a steam engine whistle Knuckles sagged forwards, the picture of outright relief on his face reminiscent of the one time Vector had hidden the Master Emerald as a joke and only come clean about it when the guardian had been on the verge of taking off in the vague direction of Necronopolis to get it back,

"Praise the Lord for that; after all the times I had to nearly drag you pair apart", he glared at his mother and stepfather, though the gaze softened in benevolence as he understood what a milestone this announcement represented as the rest of the table muttered quietly amongst itself, coming up with some last-minute guesses at the same time as not interrupt the main speakers, "so you've finally made your minds up?" Wyn nodded, slipping his arm higher to hold Lara around the shoulder,

"Yeah, we reached a compromise", the chatter died away, every ear hanging on his next words as he cleared his throats, ready to address the room at large, "we were having some real problems coming up with a name, so in the end we decided that one name wasn't big enough for the both of us, so he's going to have two; firstly, Lara's choice, is Knecapeon and after that, the second barrel if you like, will be Mace, after my great-grandfather, a Mobian I loved when he was alive. So, Knuckles", the guardian looked around, interrupted as he was digesting both his meal and the implication of this new decision as Wyn ran a hand over his wife's midsection, "say hi to your little bro; Knecapeon Mace".

The silence generated by this declaration was both intense and brief; virtually everyone jumped in their seats as Vector suddenly let rip with a very audible snort, clapping both hands over his impressive jaws in a vain effort to stop himself giving in to complete hilarity. _He's either going to burst out laughing or burst a blood vessel_; Charmy, who was sat next to the great green lug he'd grown to love in his own unique way was torn in two of what to do next but before he could come to any cast-iron decision the crocodile managed to gather a modicum of control, his hands slowly falling loose from his face even if he could neither wipe the grin from his expression nor keep odd cheeps of laughter from his speech as he faced up to the expecting couple at the head of the table,

"Knecapeon?" Lara nodded; the reptile slumped for a second before managed to iron out that kink in the system and speak coherently again, "an' that was your choice? Man Lara"; _somehow I thought it'd be him that figured it out_; though she'd known this would be the eventual result she wasn't sorry – it had been a name that had grabbed her attention and the baby book promise of 'good fortune will follow in his footsteps' had only added to her adamant that this would be her future son's name even if Vector was able to quickly figure out the one flaw in that plan, "what is it w'you an' anatomy? Knuckles I can just about understand but _Kneecap_ the echidna?"

XXX

"Why not?" That was all the nurse was able to say before the table erupted in tumultuous chaos, equal parts affirmation, denunciation and general merriment at her announcement; _not like I wasn't expecting this though_.

"Well babe, you sure know how to kick-start a party that I can't deny"; _and I was definitely expecting that_; glancing from the corner of her eye Lara attempted to scowl at her husband's wit but defeated as the aura of outright optimism surrounding her undermined the attempt at annoyance – she merely smiled as he pecked the side of her cheek before looking up at a hail from Charmy, one of the guests who's reaction to his team mate's announcement had been to let his natural humour blossom and come up with a natural retort,

"That sounds like something the Mafia would come up with", raising his voice above the press the bee adopted a stereotypical Italian accent, "heya Joe, dat boyz been givin' us da lip; go over dere and kneecap de 'chidna for us, kapisch?"

"We were hoping", Wyn answered over the renewed roars of laughter, fastidiously ignoring the spectacle of his stepson virtually keeling off his seat as his bright pink face betrayed how hard the laughter was hitting within him, "to get that amended to Mace, but anyway, Lara's made her mind up and I for one don't fancy my chances of getting her to change it this side of Doomsday. But anyway, you shouldn't laugh"; _perfect timing_; with a jolt Wynmacher had realised he had a chance to spring this last surprise he and his partner had easily reached between them; _stir while the pudding's hot, then you won't get stuck_; "after all, we're going to be relying on you, and the rest of you Chaotix", the remaining three of the quartet sobered up as they felt the chef single them out, vortexing the silliness from the air as he imparted his next words to them, "a lot in the very near future".

As both Lara and Wynmacher reached downwards to the glasses within reach, everyone reacted the same as they all felt the tide of the mood turn from joviality to a more serious frame of mind; wordlessly, the last few bottles of wine were passed around, everyone, even the two youngest Mobians present, ensuring they had a charged glass to match their neighbour as Lara, specifically the most important Mobian present, raised her glass in appreciation of four of her son's closest friends, each of the Chaotix lowering their eyes in turn at the benediction as her words, cool and crisp now, bathed in solemnity and seriousness, reached their ears and offered them a pact they each silently swore to without hesitation or regret,

"We'll need you, just like my son does, just to be there; some days I can guarantee we'll be complete ogres but we'll need you to be there for us to hammer at, even if you're in no way to blame for our mood. When we need to escape for a while it's people like you we'll turn to; people like you we know we can trust with our baby son, because we know Knuckles would put his life in your hands and he'd never doubt any of you for a second…" Unable to hear any more, not trusting himself to lest the upwelling tears overspill, Vector had to cut her off,

"Y'can rely on us Lara", his voice came thick and guttural, his tightening throat barely able to force out the words that stuck in even his cavernous jaws, "I swear it, y'can count on us". Unseen but felt by him the rest of his team nodded in agreement, a vow as devout as the one they had all unknowingly sworn in the instant when Charmy had spoken for them at the head of the table of the Brotherhood of Guardians; unable not to sense such emotion, Lara ended her speech there and merely inclined her chin graciously,

"Thank you", she raised her glass, the movement echoed across the table, the Chaotix humbled in the sight of their friends as the mother-to-be took a sip to seal their pact, "that means more than you know". There was a poignant silence for a second; _better break this before it gets too serious, and mushy_; thankfully Wyn was able to quickly put his idea to work as he glimpsed his stepson from the corner of his eye as he lowered his wine from his lips – a smirk flicked across his lips as he broke the mould of seriousness for a second,

"And as for you pair, we'll need you as well", thankfully some of the tension was eased away as Rouge responded to the chef's sauce with a pert smile of her own at the same time her husband rolled his eyes, "you've just got to be there and play your parts; you never know", his eyes lingered on Knuckles for a split-second, "you might learn something about the whole baby-business playing with your new brother".

"First time for everything"; _thanks for that_; though he couldn't accurately tell who had spoken, the guardian's mood was mellowed enough to grudgingly raise his glass in tandem with everyone else's as Wyn toasted him – the slightly smoky aftertaste of the wine was just clouding up at the back of his throat as he heard his mother speak once more.

"But there's someone else here", _thanks darling_; the echidna lady held her husband's gaze for just long enough to convey a heartfelt thank-you to her other half as she seized the opportunity he'd given her, "someone else who we both hope will play a big part in Kneecaps' life; ladies, gentlemen, please charge your glasses one last time, to the Mobian we both hope and pray will consent to become our baby's godfather", she raised her wine goblet and looked down the table one last time,

"Miles Prower".

XXX

For a second normality endured; it ended as those words sunk in, silence descending like a ton of bricks as everyone heard that statement again and again in their mind, running it over and over again in their minds until a sudden thunk, as loud as the hammer of judgement in the current stillness, burst onto the scene; the sudden crimson stain soaking his shirt making it look for all the world like he'd just taken a snipers bullet to the chest, an image his deathly pale face and apparent lack of breath did nothing but support, Tails' fingers had lost their sureness – the wine stain spread out through both shirt and tablecloth as the fox slowly inverted one of his trembling hands and pointed at himself, his lips working,

"M…", he seemed unable to force the words out; he tried again after snatching down the very shallowest of breaths, "M…_me?!_"

"Yes, you", Wyn seemed to chuckle, but there was a deadly seriousness underpinning the humour in his eyes, "who else but you? After everything you've done for Lara and I, all the work you put in to send us to a world we'd never seen; you did that to look after us so…" He finished there for two reasons; firstly he could feel himself starting to choke up but beyond that, way beyond that in the grand scale of importance, was the sight of Tails trying to stand up, his chair scraping backwards as he fought to rise to his feet. It seemed that he would stumble, his bid would fail until Cream seized his arm and hauled upwards, supporting his movement as much as she was able to, lending him some of her moderate strength when he needed it more than ever before.

The fox stood up, his head drooping still and his stride more of a trudge as he inexorably came forwards, everyone still seated in his path shifting their chairs as far forwards as they could manage as he swayed with every step, each pace a mark of monumental determination, his relentless, bloody-minded refusal to give up especially this time, with something so pricelessly important on the line in front of him, driving him onwards. Everything else was still, still as could be; this was a battle Tails fought alone, one he would have no other way – eventually, eons after his journey began, his downcast eyes saw he corner of the table, a minute later there was Lara stood in front of him. His head felt as though someone had simultaneously stuffed it full of lead and replaced all the muscles in his neck with straw but he raised it anyway, forcing himself to look upwards; he gazed into the face of his own surrogate mother, the one who sheltered and nurtured him every moment he was on Angel Island and she reached out for him – he collapsed, forwards, falling softly into both her and her future son, his soon-to-be godson; the thought, the honour and all it represented for him, was too much.

In Lara's arms and with her husband's hand gently stroking the fur on his head acceptingly, in the midst of what sounded like concentrated gunfire, Tails the foxboy realised he was a boy no longer; he had always had someone to be there for him, look after him when he'd needed them and now, now as he felt he could hear a second heartbeat begin within the Mobian he was currently embracing as though she were life itself, he knew it was time to pass that gift onto someone else, someone who's life had yet to begin and someone who he could only pray he could have as positive an impact as his elder brother had bestowed upon him.

XXX

As he saw the fox fall forwards, chest heaving like it was being set upon by a pile-driver, Shadow didn't know what to think, had no clue about what to say and barely trusted himself to do more than continue observing the scene before him; Tails rolled his face out of Lara's dress, sobbing openly under the weight of the emotional impact but his eyes, his eyes were different. _What is going on in there Tails?_; Shadow for the first time wasn't sure what was going on behind the fox's sky-blue eyes; they were weeping copiously, that was for certain but at the same time they were hard, something behind them crystallising from half-formed dreams to solidified reality and giving him a strength Shadow had never seen, a sudden new clarity of purpose that somehow reminded the hedgehog of a handful of other occasions – of Amy, ready to give up everything to see through what she had decided was right, Sonic, when he learnt of this decision and raced away, heedless of any and all dangers to find her in the devastation. _He's done the same_; Shadow realised what was going on as Tails continued to rock from one side to the other, was Lara holding him or was it the other way around now? He couldn't be sure any more, not now he recognised the fox redirecting all his energy, all his focus on this new, vital goal in his life; _he'd die for that child – Lara, Wyn_; Shadow was forced to look down and blink, barely able to keep his eyes clear as such devotion awed and humbled him in equal measure; _you made a damn good choice today, and you'll remember that for the rest of your lives_.

Something like a thunderclap made him look upwards, the shock banishing the threat of his tears as he sought out the source of the sudden explosion; it came again, and again; Charmy was trying to stand up, tears trickling through the fur on his face but he wasn't deigning to spare them the effort of wiping them away, his hands occupied with clashing together over and over. _What…?_; dumbfounded, the former ultimate life-form looked down the table in time to see Big and Mighty share a look that spoke volumes and echo the insect's movement, standing up and joining the applause, the singular cannon shots becoming more a volley, more and more as others added their input – it was only when he looked down that Shadow recognised he was one of them, his palms colliding as frantically and with as much impact as he could possibly generate;_…why…? Forget why_; deep down Shadow knew he didn't care why he or any of the others were applauding exactly – the reason didn't matter, only the result did. Joy and exultation welled up within him as they did within all his friends, one in particular affected much more personally than any other; striding around the table end at the same time as brush his eyes clear with his forearm, Knuckles stood shoulder to shoulder with his stepfather for a moment, exchanging words the hedgehog couldn't hear over the din. Only when Tails finally stepped backwards, breaking away from Lara suddenly, feet catching in his shoes and only spared from tumbling backwards by a careful hand up from Espio, who was seated nearest; as the fox regathered himself, the impact finally beginning to sink in of what had been offered to him and how he had offered it, the guardian stepped in – for a second there was silence before; _no, Knuckles' hands never tremble, never_; the echidna offered forwards one hand. The impromptu round of applause died away as Tails didn't move as it settled onto his shoulder, looking up at his older friend with the same power Shadow had seen in his eyes now palpitating out from around his body,

"Welcome to the family kid", Knuckles managed to whisper into the stillness, the fox finally placing his smaller paw atop the guardian's and stepping in, breath shuddering from between his teeth as Knuckles embraced him like a brother, the guardian for once unable to hide anything to do with his emotions, "I was there when this all started Miles; I saw what you did to save my island, how you helped rip the Master out of Eggman's hands. You saved Station Square and without you Metal would have won, the Overlord would have been too strong if you hadn't figured out the weak points we all needed to attack, and then you helped make not only my wedding but my mother's as well a once-in-a-lifetime event. You are a hero Miles Prower, in every sense of the word"; _and it's true_; he was sure, Shadow knew he didn't need his memory book to corroborate what Knuckles was saying this time; _every word of it_; "and I've never been prouder, or more grateful, to call you my friend".

Unable to speak as he gazed at the scene before him, Shadow felt somehow huge and tiny at the same time; assailed by a feeling not entirely unlike vertigo, he groped out to the side of him; something gently came to rest against his side and he flicked his gaze sideways for a split-second before leaning his head on Julie's shoulder, the echidna likewise resting on him, both caught up with everyone else in the spectacle they'd been privileged enough to lay eyes upon and storing it away in their memories, their repositories of positive emotions recharged and their mutual feelings of friendship and deeper feelings hiding behind such a façade of friendship catalysed by such naked, unbridled and even fierce love between a tight-knit family and the Mobian who had brought them together for all time.

XXX

"What a night". Looking over from the chair he'd collapsed into Shadow saw Julie slump across the settee, massaging her eyes with her hand as he began to reach down to take off his shoes. Unable to think of anything to add to that blunt, unsubtle statement, the hedgehog only laughed,

"You said it; I mean Tails, a godfather", Julie raised her hand to meet his gaze for a second before he shook his head to refocus on his task, "I never, I couldn't have guessed that". The echidna laughed,

"Somehow I don't think he guessed it either – did you see his face?"

"Yeah, it was probably about the same state as mine", Shadow quipped, settling back in his chair and softly kicking his shoes off, "poor guy, well, I say that but – did you see his eyes, right when Lara was holding him, after he managed to walk to them?"

"No"; _I was too busy with my eyes to take a note of anyone elses_; "what did they look like?" Paying attention to Shadow's reaction to her question, the former Dark Legionnaire raised her eyebrows in surprise as he shivered before being able to answer,

"Hard, determined, like something you really wouldn't want to get in the way of", the hedgehog shivered again, "put it like this, if a godfather's supposed to be the one to protect the baby from evil influences, Kneecaps has got nothing to fear from Old Nick". Julie bit back a giggle,

"Kneecaps", she repeated, shaking her head, "boy that's a new one on me; still", with a grunt of effort Julie managed to heave herself into a sitting position on the settee, looking across directly at Shadow, "Lara looks like a woman who you don't argue with when she's made her mind up".

"Gee I wonder who that reminds me of", the hedgehog remarked with a slightly sarcastic bent before snickering, "but nah, enough of that; I'm just glad you two hit it off well enough".

"When she said the past was past was a load off my mind", Julie confided before thinking for a second and adding, "just like it was when she said Tails would be staying over at theirs for the night, Cream as well; I don't think he'd have been in a fit state to fly after that". _Now that I do agree with_;

"Too right, least of all when Sonic got in on the act", for a second Shadow recalled that scene, froze it in time with his mind; Rouge had leant over to the fox as they had all been about to leave the restaurant, handing him her phone and letting him know who was on the other end of it; without fuss the fox had gone into the gentleman's room for a more private talk whilst the rest of the party had made themselves comfortable in the lounge area, waiting patiently for their friend to return. Tails eventually had rejoined them some half an hour later, full of apologies even if it was obvious that he'd spent some of that time crying even more; his words of recrimination had been easily waved away and all present had seen the fox, his co-pilot and his future godson's parents to the front door of Lara and Wyn's house before bidding each other a final goodnight and setting off for their respective abodes. Only now, when he was once more in his own house and his own space with his one and only flatmate, was the surreality of the whole scenario hitting home on Shadow; _Tails, the godfather to Knuckles' half-brother – oh boy, that's…I don't know, it just is!_

For some time, neither of them paying attention to how much, the pair sat alone in silence, contemplating the night and how it had gone overall; it was only when he felt tendrils of fatigue tugging at his mind and was forced to beat them back with a mighty yawn that Shadow slapped the armrests of his chair and made to heave himself upright,

"Right, I'm done for the night…"

"No you're not – stay where you are"; _eh?_; who was Julie to tell him what to do, but on the other hand, why had she said that and what was the reason behind her standing up? Those were just a few of the questions circulating in the hedgehog's mind at the sudden rebuttal from his flatmate; it was just as she was halfway out the lounge door that his befuddled brain managed to put them in some sort of order of priority and call,

"Where are you going?" Pausing but not turning around, the echidna said softly back,

"Wait there, you'll find out" before disappearing, leaving Shadow completely in the dark both figuratively and literally.

XXX

_Okay you_; reaching forwards after giving the matter undisturbed contemplation since she'd come in for the night, Julie unhooked one of the possessions she'd had for a long time now but just never, never really felt the time was right to use; _but if tonight isn't the night, after everything that's happened to get us in the mood for celebration_; bringing it forwards she smiled, she was right, she was certain that now was the time; _I doubt there ever will be a time to crack this open_. With a sudden roguish grin, the ex-Legionnaire clutched the centrepiece of her idea to her chest before moving on to the other lesser but equally as important items for this last act of the night.

XXX

His mind had been ablaze in her absence; Julie's last words, had they been a cryptic clue he should be able to guess her intentions from or a mere prelude designed to keep him guessing until she returned? Just one of the queries he was struggling to overturn in what felt like tortured eons of brain-wracking, soul-searching and borderline nail-biting; all sorts of ideas had sprung up from his imagination about what Julie's plan was now and a good deal of them were exploring avenues that were making him squirm uncomfortably in his seat; it was tempting, so very tempting to storm off after the echidna but at the same time he'd been told to wait where he was and the echidna's softly-voiced command had anchored him to the seat more completely than any length of chain was ever likely to. Fingers virtually gouging grooves in the armrests, Shadow sat forwards on his seat, breathing shallowly as sweat began to prickle through the gaps on his back quills, blood suddenly hot and sticky as it pounded in his temples, several of his previous ideas running through his mind in tandem and simultaneously increasing his confusion and clarifying his mind about what to do next; the only thing that was certain was that he was waiting here for Julie-Su – apart from that, everything else was in her hands. _And all I can hope_; a near-hysterical snigger broke the silence as his unvoiced concerns sought an escape route from being bottled up so long; _is that she doesn't drop it. Or at least, not from too great a height!_

In the space of such a few scant minutes he'd raced through so many ideas that when the door to the lounge finally swung open again Shadow was both relieved and disappointed that Julie's dress was still around her shoulders; fortunately before such ideas could show on his face he caught a glimpse of what was occupying her hands and, after peering forwards a little to make sure he was seeing things right, gave a nod,

"Ah, I thought that one was yours", he exclaimed, nodding at the bottle in the echidna's left had, not even attempting to protest that he'd had enough for the night; _for a little more company a couple of swallows of wine is well worth it_; "I didn't remember buying it – where'd you get it from?"

"Work", Julie answered shortly as she paced across the floor towards him, "they had a whip-round the day after Enerjak made his big-screen appearance, brought this for me, sort of a celebration kind of thing. I was hoping to crack it open that night but", she shrugged as Shadow looked away, the hedgehog knowing all too well what was going through her mind about those kind of memories, "well, like Lara said, what's past is past". _Really!_;

"Really?" Just for once Shadow's brain and body were on the same wavelength, "can I get that in writing?" It was only as Julie flipped the bottle up, catching it by the slimmer neck and beginning to pull back for a wind-up home run shot that the hedgehog reconsidered the haste of his words, "ah, forget it, if you haven't already".

"Forget what exactly – you acting the prat or me wanting to knock out all the teeth in that smart mouth of yours?" Shadow ummed and ahhed for a few seconds, just long enough to test Julie's temper a touch, before making his mind up,

"Both of them, if that's okay with you?"

"For now", the ex-Legionnaire huffed, though she wagged the butt end of her bottle warningly as she added, "unless you learn to put a stitch in that tongue of yours, or I'll do it for you. Anyway", carefully balancing the pair of wine glasses between her fingers so she could manipulate the corkscrew in the palm of that hand, Julie glanced insinuatingly at the chair Shadow currently occupied, "shift up BB, I want to sit down".

XXX

She glanced down, giving the impression that the bottle cork was troublesome to prize loose when in reality she was more concerned with keeping the look of smug satisfaction on her face out of Shadow's line of vision as she could virtually feel the intensity behind his latest lethal glare; _oh, that got him going and no mistake_;

"Rouge told you that I see; well", Julie turned slightly further around, almost having to bite her tongue to stop laughing as Shadow grated his next question, "did she tell you what happened last time she called me that?"

"N,no"; _don't laugh – laugh and he might just snap and tempting as that is I've had too good a night to risk a punch-up now_; "she, ah, she never got around to that bit". Sensibly deciding to keep it short and sweet, Julie cut her speech off then and devoted her attention to uncorking her wine; it was merely good fortune that prevented both glasses and bottle smashing into the floor as she felt something seize her waist and yank backwards – she had just enough time to hold in a shout of alarm before she felt her knees hit something, followed a second later by the rest of her impacting on a landing that was, if not comfortable, a good deal less painful that the floor would have been. _What the…well hello_; glancing around in a panic a very familiar face greeted her own at a very short range; from such data she was swiftly able to deduce where she was and, for that, come up with the comment the situation was simply begging for,

"Hmm, well I know she's got high standards", fastidiously observing the immediate area she now occupied Julie shrugged and leant backwards, feeling warmth at her back matched in twin bands around her middle, Shadow's arm encircling her stomach and trapping her in a place she had absolutely no desire to vacate, "but I can't see Rouge being too upset at ending up here". Shadow chuckled just behind her ear; she almost shivered in response,

"You know she made a comment very similar to that – had a good laugh about it if I remember rightly", the hedgehog gave a sigh, his hands flexing gently over the echidna's belly, making her skin flutter in response, "in fact she only stopped laughing when I flipped her over and started tanning her tail, and I only stopped when she swore on pain of death never to mention that name in my presence again – BB I only just let her get away with because, well, I'm such a nice guy". _Now that is classic_; even snorting as she was trying to picture such an image Julie had to compliment her housemate on such an impromptu scenario – it was only when she looked over her shoulder and caught a glimpse of Shadow's subtly threatening grin that she realised he wasn't telling tales this time. Blinking, she looked desperately for some form of denial in his face, some minute crack in his mask of impassiveness, the barest, tiniest hint of humour that would tell her he was making all this up; only when her eyes seemed to be failing her in this task did she dare let her mouth open to try and break down this bulkhead,

"You're joking?"

"Nope", the hedgehog favoured her with the sort of smile a shark might have flashed at a passing tuna, "one of the first memories I got back, first time I saw her; believe me she had to do some pretty fast talking when I blurted that one out in the middle of A and E; everyone was there, even Knuckles". Julie drew in a sharp breath, even her relatively slight experiences with the two guardians letting her see exactly what would have unfolded right there in the waiting room,

"And I bet he loved every second of watching her squirm, but Shadow", she half-span in his lap, her eyelashes fluttering enticingly, "Rouge I can just about understand, but surely you'd never raise your hands to me", he was cracking and she knew just how to break his poker face completely; bringing her finger to the point of her chin, Julie settled back as much as she was able to, trying to picture Cream at her cutest and force her rather more mature body to try and adopt such a posture at the same time as put on her sweetest, butter-would-melt tone of voice, "would you?"

_Got him_; she felt the laughter more than heard it as Shadow couldn't help himself; she grinned right into the face of her flatmate's helplessness and turned back around, refocusing her attention on the bottle she still held and listening to his answer with half an ear,

"As if, as if I would", Julie started to smile and relax and that was her undoing; there was a rustle of movement up her front and before she could react both his hands were parallel with her temples, gently gripping her face in a vice grip, "I'd do this though".

"N,no you cheat", as his thumbs began to softly trace the downy fur on her jaw-lines Julie was only able to mewl that pointless accusation; sleepiness was starting to extend its soft tendrils through her mind and she was helpless, both her hands full and unable to move hr head out the way – there was only one thing, one last-ditch defence that might help her here, "stop, I…I'll drop, the wine if you put me under". For a second longer she hovered on the border of dreams and wakefulness before suddenly the motion stopped; the inevitability of the night retreated from the moment and she was herself again, shaking her head to bring her body back on line,

"Hey, quit", a sudden call from behind her protested, "I'm getting a face-full here". Julie merely snorted as she turned to face him, expression deadly serious and matching Shadow's terse mindset,

"Try that trick to often you'll be getting a fistful as well buddy", both housemates glared for a second before, inevitably, both dropped their eyes and, smiling in wry benevolence, Shadow reached forwards and unhooked one of the glasses from Julie's hand, holding it upright and steady, allowing the echidna to fill his glass for him.

"Ah well, I guess it was inevitable that was going to slip out sooner or later", Julie cocked an eyebrow as Shadow spoke, holding her tongue as she filled her own glass, quietly confident enough to let the hedgehog dig his own hole, "why do all the women in my life love embarrassing me – I mean Cream wasn't too bad, she usually picks on Sonic when she can get away with it, but ever since I got up here it's been pretty much non-stop. So far I've got Rouge spreading around the name I abhorred and you giving my two best friends on the world below mental scars for life…"

"So I guess", Julie broke in suddenly, making sure she had a tight a grip on her wine glass as she cut across his mild ranting, "this would be a bad time to mention that she never actually told me what BB stood for?" Shadow gaped for a second before finally managing to get his brain back on line and stammer loudly,

"She, she what?!"

"She said she'd tell me if I filled her in on what I'd meant when I said about the table and things I'd shouted out about when she arrived, but I couldn't do that now could I?" Julie gave a shrug as she remembered the bat's whispered words perfectly, tempted by the offer even now but know she couldn't in all honesty take it upon herself to answer, "after what you did to me a couple of months back, I've got to make sure I keep you secret otherwise everyone'll be after you".

XXX

_I don't…what am I thinking?_; Shadow raised his free hand to his face, shaking with badly-suppressed mirth and feeling Julie doing the same through his thighs; _of course I believe it, it is Julie after all. Look on the bright side – I never told her outright what it stood for myself_; that was certainly true and, on a whim, he suddenly moved his hand forwards, clinking the rim of his wine glass to Julies and speaking as the echidna looked down at the sudden noise,

"And therein lies the lesson; always be grateful for small mercies, and if you're not a hundred percent sure about something, it always pays to keep your mouth shut".

"I'll drink to that", Julie answered chortling a few minutes later, toying with his words for a few seconds before finding herself in agreement with them; both Mobians took a sip of wine and sat back, considering the flavours stimulating their palettes before Julie spoke again, "umm, not a bad bottle that".

"Nah, got a pretty decent kick to it that one", Shadow concurred, carefully swirling the remaining liquid in his glass around before adding, "but aside from that, plenty more to drink to".

"Tell me about it – my turn now", Julie held up a finger as it seemed Shadow was about to speak again; when she was certain he was ready to let her speak, she tapped their glasses together this time before adding a toast of her own, "this one's for Lara, her husband and her children, both of them; I wish them every happiness in the world, they sure deserve it". Shadow nodded solemnly,

"They do", was all he said before taking a sip of his own goblet and then raising it once more, "as does one Miles Prower, bless him; I just hope that stain comes out of his shirt". Julie spluttered, nearly inhaling half her remaining wine up her nose before she could control herself, shaking her head at Shadow as the hedgehog leant back into the seat comfortably, attempting to look innocent as she half-gasped, half-giggled,

"You really think that's going to be bothering him right now – he's probably still off in Lala land; what's just happened probably won't catch up with him until about next week some time".

"Nah, it'll catch up with him tomorrow I can assure you", Shadow corrected her, looking smugly superior for a moment before smiling, "and I know that for a fact because tomorrow is when Sonic will catch up with him and there is going to be a party we'll probably hear from Angel Island".

"And he deserves it; to Miles", Shadow raised his glass in unison with the echidna still on his lap, "and everything he'll go through for his new family, especially…", not even her iron will, backed up by years of the finest drilling the Dark Legion could pound into her, could keep the grin off her face, "…Kneecaps". Shadow glanced away, virtually biting his cheek to stop himself laughing; _if Lara ever gets them side by side Knuckles is never going to live it down, I can see it now – oh hello, yes this is my elder son Knuckles and his little brother Kneecaps – no-one would be able to keep a straight face, least of all any of us_;

"No wonder Wyn wanted that changed to Mace – if he turned out anything like his role-model brother I'd understand it too".

"Especially after the last sports day we took part in", Julie snickered, recalling exactly how worried her housemate had gotten the guardian at once stage in the their play-fight; _Knuckles must have been scared to death that he'd killed his friend – bloody sweet left hook that was_; "how'd you explain your fat lip on Monday morning exactly?"

"Ah that was easy", Shadow leant forwards, the movement compressing his waist slightly; Julie felt new pressure on her side and part of her back, glanced down at it then back up at him, his next words purring through into her, the tone sloughing away any falseness he might have been previously harbouring, "I told them you were just a heavy kisser".

XXX

Julie's comeback was crisp, cutting, straight to the point and never actually physically spoken; as she glared at the hedgehog for his sudden revelation, the biting retort on the tip of her tongue, a spark jumped straight from his eyes to hers; the same instincts that had once reared up for them both before returned resurgent and both Mobians pressed forwards, almost slaves to them. Both paused just long enough to unseeingly dump their glasses on the side table next to them before almost tearing into each other, their lips slamming together, hungry as their hands raked around each other, squeezing tight, compressing their bodies together with no thought for anything else. Julie tried to twist around even as her hands gripped onto the back of Shadow's shirt and pulled him forwards and upwards, not caring that she might be hurting him as she was certain of what she was doing; his arms were so tight around her it ached around the bottom of her ribcage but she didn't care about the either. Aware of nothing beyond her own sudden cravings the echidna forced her body around almost brutally, one of her legs ramming across her body, gouging into the hedgehog's taut stomach as Julie hoped to come around to let her sit astride Shadow; it was in the middle of this movement that the hedgehog suddenly gave a convulsive thrust forwards. He pushed against her knee unknowingly and the force of him coming forwards pushed her back, she leaned as far as she could without breaking contact with his body and by the time she realised she was over the tipping point it was too late; one of her hands broke away from around the hedgehog's back, wind-milling furiously as she fought for balance before she slid out of his arms, a slight peep of a shriek slipping from her lips at the same time as her partner managed a despairing,

"Whooopppss!" The floor loomed up before her and she braced for impact; the pause seemed to stretch from here to eternity before she heard more than felt her landing, a low flat boom echoing though the floor, followed a second later by another impact from above her; _what was…?_ Looking up again, the echidna saw the sight above her, Shadow hanging suspended in the air by her knee, his face torn between expressions of shock and pain, before his stomach muscles gave out and he flopped onto her like a boned fish – Julie was already gone into laughter, the mood of a few seconds ago slipping away completely, when the hedgehog's ghostly, pain-wracked moan floated up from around her diaphragm and set her off utterly and helplessly,

"Owww; I've been skewered".

XXX

In the end it was all she could do to lowered her still-raised knee; Shadow stayed atop her for a moment before rolling to the side, impacting on the carpet next to her with a low 'umph' as tried to suck down a breath at the same time Julie was busy expelling hers, hugging her own stomach as she couldn't stop herself laughing – his face, the way he'd been dangling just above her, if her knee had been just a fraction lower – it was one of those moments where she'd have been ready to sell her soul for a camera. How long she was convulsed with virtual hysteria she had no idea; she only started to come back to herself when there was a sudden impact on her shoulder and she heard Shadow's indignant voice,

"Shut up, it's not funny – bloody typical of you that is", Julie didn't answer, too busy trying to keep air inside her so she might have been able to answer later, "even when I'm trying to be affectionate you can't help but stick the boot in".

"In case you didn't notice Shadow", finally managing to convince her lungs of their main function in her life again, Julie turned on the floor to see Shadow from the corner of her eye, "that was my knee you landed on, and just as well too", his eyes glowered for a moment before she explained herself, "if it had been the other way around I'd have been run through by your bony legs".

"What are you on about; if it had been the other way around you'd be scraping me off the floor with a fish-slice", he retorted indignantly, just about able to block the back of Julie's fist as it descended upon him a split-second later,

"Cheeky sod; if my diet's been failing that badly how come you weren't worried about me breaking your legs when you dragged me back onto that chair with you?"

"You know what I meant", the hedgehog sighed, throwing her hand back to her before giving a sudden shout, "dammit! How is this even bloody possible?" Julie rolled onto her side, propping herself up on one elbow as she gazed down at him, perturbed by his outburst,

"How's what possible?"

"This", Shadow gestured explosively around the room, quite an achievement for someone prostrate on their back as he was, "this whole thing, and you", Julie was definitely about to question that statement but before she could get a word in edgeways Shadow had ploughed on, "you're rude to me constantly, insult and humiliate me in front of my closest friends as a matter of course, and not to mention the fact that you've viciously attacked me on more than one occasion. I've been through absolute hell and back because of you, twice now no less, so how on all of God's green earth, in the name of all possible sanity", he looked over at her, shuffling towards her on his back, as close as he could be before sighing, reaching over with his closest hand, toying with one of her dreadlocks carefully, "how did I end up falling for you?"

XXX

He was damned if he knew the answer and if she had any idea he'd have also been very surprised as well; still, the ball was in her court now – it was up to Julie if she could or even wanted to reply and as she'd said before so often, that was the lady's prerogative. As it was though, the former Legionnaire didn't respond immediately; instead her face softened and Shadow felt his hand gently immobilised from where it was trailing through her hair; Julie lowered her head, softly kissing his palm before pressing it to the side of her face, palm up as she spoke, her normally strident clarion-call of a voice reduced to a feminine purr as she rested her head on her arm, Shadow hand between them for support,

"I don't know Shadow"; that was her answer before she gave a cheep of laughter and smiled, "but if you ever do figure it out, let me know the answer okay?" The hedgehog nodded solemnly, rolling up next to her, his free arm hooking over Julie's shoulders to hold her closely, tightly again as he breathed in both her perfume and her, the Mobian he'd somehow developed feelings for that were more than just playful spats between close friends,

"Sure Jules, I can do that"; _somehow I knew you would_; this time it was the echidna's turn to move, hold her chosen against her, provide some reassurance that unlike everyone else in her life up to now Shadow was real, and he was not going to walk away from her, "when I get the answer, you'll be the first to know".

"Thank you". Nothing more was said; nothing more needed to be said.

Scant hours later, the dappled moonlight peered in through the lounge window of a first-storey flat in the city of Echidnopolis, scattering and reflecting through a twin pair of half-full, elegant glasses to illuminate a most curious and most enchanting scene. On the floor in almost the exact middle of the spacious room, beneath a single unzipped sleeping bag and with a pillow each, two Mobians lay together still-clothed in the finest garments they had; garments and finery that meant nothing compared to what lay beneath such robes and surface thoughts. In the darkness and beneath sleeps soft caress, as they had before in the roughest, most terrible times of their young lives so far, Julie-Su and Shadow Hedgehog both held onto their priceless second chance, something that, now they realised they had been blessed enough to have and to hold, they were each determined to never again relinquish, because second chances that arise in the teeth of adversity are the rarest and most precious gifts of all.

A/N: And with that last poignant but ever-so-true statement, this story in the arc comes to an end.

Well, that was a bit of a marathon; listen guys, everyone who reads this, I'd like to ask a bit of a favour of you. This is the longest thing I've ever written in my life period (750 Word pages) and I'd like it to rank up there with my other long work A Bloodstone Rose in terms of feedback; I'm on 96 reviews now, I'd like to get this story into triple figures – reckon you can help?

Aside from that ask, the next work is ready now, and it's time for another couple to come into the limelight; brace yourselves for a light-hearted romp – for a couple of Mobians, Christmas is coming early!


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